Officials Try to Avoid ‘Air Rights’ Tussle

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A tussle between Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Council over a proposal to boost downtown development has exploded into a power struggle that is expected to come into public view today at City Hall, the Los Angeles times reports.


But even as the two sides prepare to face off, both are looking for a way to avoid a potentially embarrassing showdown that would further aggravate their already frayed relations.


At the center of the conflict is Councilwoman Jan Perry, who is pressing her colleagues to override Villaraigosa’s veto this week of their plan to sell 9 million square feet of unused “air rights” over the Los Angeles Convention Center. The plan was meant to further downtown’s residential boom by allowing developers to buy the vertical space and use it to expand projects beyond what zoning codes allow. The sale of these air rights would generate an estimated $200 million to pay for projects in and around downtown, such as affordable housing and parks.


Villaraigosa vetoed the plan because he said it would not give him an opportunity to review, and possibly reject, council decisions on air-rights deals.


Read the full L.A. Times story

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