Amid protests from local community groups and politicians, the
U.S. Army will be offering 10 acres of Veterans Affairs land near
Westwood to commercial developers.
The land includes three buildings ““ Holderman Hall and
Munemori Hall, each a two-story Army Reserve Center building, and a
detached maintenance building ““ for a total of about 83,406
square feet, according to a statement on the U.S. Army West Los
Angeles Real Property Exchange Web site.
This area of land has been a topic of controversy on the
Westside, as local community representatives and politicians have
voiced opposition to commercial development on the Veterans Affairs
land as well as to the expansion of the FBI headquarters in the
Wilshire Federal Building, located at the corner of Wilshire
Boulevard and Veteran Avenue.
Online bidding for the land, which starts at $1 and increases in
increments of $100,000, will start June 12 and last until June 23,
according to the Web site.
As a result of the exchange, buyers would agree to build
replacement facilities at existing government property in the
Southern California cities of Bell and Miramar and tentatively at
March Air Reserve Base in Riverside.
Currently, the land can only be used for institutional uses that
could benefit the veterans, and development could require a zoning
change.
But Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has opposed
any rezoning of the area, adding that he and local officials were
“on the same page.”
Jay Greenstein, a spokesman for State Assemblyman Paul Koretz,
said the assemblyman is also opposed to the exchange.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep (the land)
from falling into the hands of private developers,”
Greenstein said. “We’d prefer it revert back to the VA
for purposes of serving veterans.”
Laura Lake, co-chair of the Federal Building Coalition, which
opposes the expansion of the FBI headquarters in Westwood and the
U.S. Army land exchange, said the coalition heard rumors of the
land sale months ago but did not actively oppose it until the
Army’s April 16 advertisement in the Los Angeles Times
offering a “real property exchange” cemented the
rumors.
She cited the notice as “one more example of why a
(Federal Land Use) Master Plan for all federal property on the
Westside is needed.”
A Federal Land Use Master Plan would be used to determine how
the federal building site, as well as other locations delegated to
veterans, could be of best use to those veterans.
“It’s an example of how we can lose the land for
veterans very quickly,” Lake said. “The community wants
this land returned to the VA for veterans to be used for veterans
only.”
City Councilman Jack Weiss proposed a motion April 19 that
requested a master plan be developed for the site and opposed the
FBI building expansion.
“I don’t know a single party that supports this
sale,” Lake said. “Anyone who cares about and supports
our veterans would not support that.”
Members of the coalition do not believe the U.S. Army has the
right to sell or trade the land because “it is for veterans
forever,” according to its Web site.
The Web site also says the coalition wants the “government
to keep its commitment to veterans and act as responsible stewards
for this valuable land.”
Yaroslavsky and Lake both said they believe the government is
seeking to sell the land in order to raise money.
“I think it’s very clear the Bush administration is
trying to balance its budget on the back of veterans,” Lake
said.
The coalition plans to protest the exchange outside Holderman
Hall on May 3, when the U.S. Army Reserve will host an
“industry day,” which will include property tours for
prospective clients for the 10-acre parcel.
Coalition members will also be organizing other protests, but
details have not been worked out yet, Lake said.
She added the coalition expects to be “protesting
side-by-side with veterans.”
“It is veterans’ (land), it should stay
veterans’ (land), and we’ll mount an (offense) to keep
it that way and to find a way to stop the sale,” Lake
said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.