Amidi plan gets agency approval

CITY HALL ? The Redevelopment Agency gave a preliminary go-ahead Tuesday to a plan to convert the former Department of Public Social Services building into a mixed-use condominium and commercial project, choosing a developer’s late submittal over 11 other proposals.

Developer Amidi Real Estate Group ? the same company that wants to build twin residential and hotel towers at the Meadows property on Wilson Avenue and Brand Boulevard ? offered the city $6.5 million for the Broadway building and an adjacent parking lot. The Redevelopment Agency purchased the site from the county in 2001 for $3.6 million.

The 66,500-square-foot building ? constructed in 1956 by W.A. Sarmiento, the designer of the Glendale Federal building ? was initially slated to become an animation museum, but that plan ran into funding problems. In November 2005, the agency began soliciting for proposals from other developers.

None of the proposals received, which ranged from a community center to mixed-use projects and even a hotel, came close to matching the amount of money that Amidi offered for the property, Development Services Director Philip Lanzafame said. He added that an appraisal in February valued the property at $6.5 million.

Amidi’s proposal, which involves converting the building into 45 residential units, with 15,000-square-feet of retail on the ground floor and 60 more units on an expanded site, drew support from resident Patrick Masihi.

“Amidi seems to be the front runner, since they are offering the largest amount of money,” said Masihi, a former Parking and Transportation commissioner. “It makes sense. I have come before you many times to lobby for a condo building at this site, because you keep trying to put condos in single-family areas. This is a perfect site for this kind of project because it does not bug anybody in a [residential] zone.”

But some members of local conservancy groups said that the development would harm what they consider to be a historical asset to the community.

“This is the first international modern building in downtown, and it predates the Glendale Federal building, which is a state landmark,” said Alan Lieb of the Los Angeles Conservancy. “If you have 6.5 million reasons to choose Amidi, which apparently you do, please try to develop a plan that would guarantee preserving the historic significance of the building.”

Arlene Vidor of the Glendale Historical Society accused Amidi, which also owns the Glendale Federal building, of not doing its part to maintain the historical integrity of that building and others it owns in the city.

“This developer has demonstrated very deceptive and destructive practices by removing and discarding the louvers from the Glendale Federal annex and the valuable built-in bank-lobby features in the tower building at 401 N. Brand,” she said in an e-mail to agency members.

The developer will use a 75-day due-diligence period built into its offer to work with all the parties involved in maintaining the historical integrity of the structure, said Richard Nahas of Capquest, Inc., an equity partner in the project along with the Amidi Group.

“Our goal is not to demolish this building,” Nahas said. “We feel it has very interesting architectural elements that can be incorporated into a residential plan.”

Nahas added that his group would also use the 75 days to negotiate the purchase of an adjacent apartment building to expand its site, though he said that buying the apartment building was not crucial to the development of the Broadway building.

Mayor Dave Weaver said that both the developer and local historical groups need to find a middle ground on the project.

“I am convinced that the right architect working on this building can make adaptive reuse work,” he said. “What I would hope is for the historical society and any other group concerned about this project work with the Amidi Group. To think that it is going to stay exactly the same is unreasonable.”While the agency voted to give Amidi a shot at developing the site, the proposal still has to go through the environmental impact and design review process before breaking ground.