[First & Broadway via blogdowntown; Parker Center via USC Geography]
The city may just have figured out a way to unload the almost-empty Parker Center and get some nice, new developable Downtown land out of the deal. Today the city council approved the assembly of a work group to discuss a swap of the Parker Center land for a federal government-owned plot at First and Broadway. The feds had intended to build a new courthouse at the site to consolidate the Roybal Building and Spring Street courthouse operations, and a state office building on the site, damaged irreparably in the Northridge earthquake, was torn down in 2007. The budget skyrocketed and plans came to a halt. Now the site is home to a hole in the ground.
The Parker Center's been just about empty since the LAPD's new building opened last October and the last division will be out within the next two years. So now several city departments and the federal General Services Administration will get together to talk swap.Blogdowntown points out that "The move would allow a smaller courthouse to be constructed on the block adjacent to the Roybal building," and that "The larger site at 1st and Broadway is adjacent to the planned Grand Avenue Project and offers more options for potential development than the Parker Center site." An environmental impact report analyzing options for the Parker Center is underway, but if a courthouse is coming, the building is probably going.
· Swap Proposed: Courthouse Site for Parker Center [blogdowntown]
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