Los Angeles City Council approves Staples-area Sports and Entertainment District with community benefits, sets hotel and convention parcels aside

The Los Angeles City Council on Sept. 4 approved land-use entitlements, a development agreement and the environmental clearance for the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District, the master plan to develop property adjacent to Staples Center into a mixed-use entertainment, retail, housing and hotel area.

The Council approved the specific plan, a new zoning designation (the L.A. S.E.D. zone), a development agreement and related ordinances after more than two hours of public comment and debate. The actions include a requirement for an annual community-benefits status report from the developer and a direction that the City Administrative Officer and Chief Legislative Analyst study the feasibility of dedicating a portion of the district’s tax increment to the city’s housing trust fund.

Why it matters: Council members and dozens of community groups, labor unions, business leaders and neighborhood organizations described the package as unprecedented for the degree of community benefits negotiated with a private developer. Supporters said the project is intended to spur downtown economic activity, produce thousands of jobs and add affordable housing, parks and program funding. Opponents and some attorneys urged more analysis — especially on the environmental review and on whether a promised hotel and convention-center expansion are sufficiently certain.

The plan and what the council approved The entitlements approved by the council create a new L.A. Sports and Entertainment District (L.A. S.E.D.) specific plan that governs roughly 3,750,000 square feet of potential development and includes provisions for transfer floor-area ratio (some parcels could reach up to 13:1 within overall limits), a traffic program and parking standards, and a negotiated framework for up to 21 on-site and three off-site alcohol retail uses with community…