The corner of Third St. and Ogden Dr., across from the Grove, just keeps killing density dreams, over and over. The property has sold to Ross Stores Inc. and development plans for the site are now dunzo, reports the LA Business Journal (sub. req.). It'll continue to serve as the home of the exploding Ross Dress for Less, which is not as exciting as it sounds. For the past several years, developer Alan Casden had been hoping to build a 300 unit complex (including a 13 story tower), with some mix of senior and market-rate housing units--the most recent numbers were 225 for the condos and 75 for the senior rentals. Neighbors hated the plans from the get-go, concerned about traffic, as well as the height, and things stalled out anyway when Casden started feuding with partner Cerberus Capital Management LP.
Cerberus took control of several LA sites they worked on with Casden and put them up for sale last fall. There was word that Casden wanted to buy the Ross site, which is infamous for a 1985 methane gas explosion that effectively put the kibosh on the Subway to the Sea, and the LABJ also reported that Grove developer Rick Caruso "has long expressed interest in buying the Ross property." Ross paid $45 million for the site, "well over what the property would have been worth to a developer." A rep for the listing firm says that there more than ten offers made on the property, but that Ross's was "cleanest."
· Clothing Chain Picks Up Property Near Grove Mall [LABJ, sub. req.]
· Rendering, More Details on Casden's Ross Project [Curbed LA]
· More Tales of the Exploding Ross [Curbed LA]
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