LA County Board of Supervisors exploring buying property from the Judicial Council
By Dolores Quintana
Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl has, in the final five weeks of her term in office, officially placed a measure on the agenda to complete the purchase of the West Los Angeles Courthouse, located at 1633 Purdue Avenue, on October 18 at the LA County Supervisor’s meeting.
This measure says, “Recommendation as submitted by Supervisor Kuehl: Instruct the Chief Executive Officer to work with appropriate County Departments and the Board to locate the balance of the purchase price in the amount of $32,202,000 to complete the purchase of the West Los Angeles Courthouse located at 1633 Purdue Avenue in Los Angeles (Property), and funds for closing costs, estimated to be $30,000.” and “approve a Notice of Intention to purchase for the proposed acquisition of the Property for a purchase price of $35,780,000, from the Judicial Council of California, and advertise and set November 15, 2022, to receive public comment and consummate the proposed acquisition; and find that the proposed acquisition is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.”
This is part of the hotly debated West LA Commons Project that has two developers attached to build the new community project, Avalon Bay Communities and Abode Communities. The property has been vacant since June 2013. The developers are expected to pay the county $32,202,000 to close the deal “without any reimbursement for closing costs or the $3,578,000 in payments already paid by County to Judicial Council, which was to incentivize development of affordable housing for the site.”
According to the motion, it would approve the Notice of Intention to Purchase, in the form attached, for the proposed Acquisition of the Property for a purchase price of $35,780,000, from the Judicial Council of California, and set November 15, 2022, as the date for the Board to meet to receive public comment and consummate the proposed acquisition.
