CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

The Community Redevelopment Agency board unanimously agreed Thursday to begin negotiating exclusively with an Italian rail company that has drawn up plans to build a rail car factory on a city-owned parcel east of downtown.

The CRA board’s approval was just a first step for the rail company, AnsaldoBreda, which is lobbying the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for a $300-million deal to build 100 additional light-rail cars for several Metro lines, including the Gold Line and Expo Line extensions.

The company is already under contract to build 50 cars for the agency, but the MTA staff had recommended opening the bidding for the new contract to other rail companies because the AnsaldoBreda cars were late and overweight, MTA officials said. The company has blamed the problems on last-minute MTA requests.

The tentative agreement approved by the CRA board Thursday set the terms for the rail company to lease a prized parcel of city land -- a deal that would be executed only if the MTA board agrees, as early as next Thursday, to let AnsaldoBreda build the 100 cars.

AnsaldoBreda officials said they would build an energy- efficient “green” building on 14 acres of city land near the intersection of 15th Street and Washington Boulevard in the city’s old industrial core. The company would pay $906,000 in rent annually -- with reappraisals at various points over the 50-year lease -- and make a rent payment of $15 million up front to help the CRA pay off its loan on the property.

-- Maeve Reston