RECOVERING FROM THE RIOTS: THREE YEARS LATER : Developer Cries Foul After Loss on Crenshaw Bid : Ladera Heights resident files protest after his $17.7-million plan to renovate an office complex is turned down.

By ERIN J. AUBRY

April 30, 1995 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

For over a year, architect and developer Michael Anderson nursed hope that he would finally get the chance to help redevelop Crenshaw from the ground up.

When the federal government was looking to lease office space for a military processing center, Anderson figured it would do well in a five-story office complex he had proposed to build on Santa Rosalia Drive--the Crenshaw district’s first large office building in 30 years.

Winning the lease would guarantee a solid anchor tenant with 500 employees--just what he needed to convince financial backers, including the city and Bank of America, that the $14-million project would be worthwhile.

But Anderson has suffered a setback to what would have been the linchpin of the Anderson Development Co.’s Crenshaw Economic Development Proposal, an ambitious economic stimulus package that called for nine new office and retail projects.

The federal government has decided to continue to lease space for the processing center at La Brea Avenue and Rodeo Road, in a building that was damaged in the 1992 riots. The building owner, Connecticut-based Stamford Holdings, will make renovations and offer the government lower rent.

The government made the decision despite the support of politicians from Washington and Los Angeles for Anderson’s project.

In typical pit-bull fashion that has characterized his efforts thus far, the 36-year-old Ladera Heights resident filed a protest with the General Services Administration, which oversees federal buildings.

Anderson contends that the Anderson Development Co.’s bid--and the positive implications it held for the Crenshaw community at large--was simply not given the consideration it deserved.

“The General Services Administration never looked into our proposal, never met with us, yet we were one of the two finalists for the project,” said Anderson, who drafted the proposal with his partner, developer Nyal Leslie. “We were offering more than just a rebuild job, but something very symbolic in the community, a place where people would be proud to work.”

GSA spokeswoman Mary Filippini said that Stamford Holdings was awarded the lease largely because its proposal was lower in cost and met all the project requirements.

“In Mr. Anderson’s case, he did not meet either criteria,” Filippini said. She said she could not elaborate on project requirement specifics because the decision is officially under protest.

Stamford’s bid called for charging the government $15.8 million over 10 to 20 years; Anderson’s would cost the government $17.7 million. But Anderson argued that his included a new building and ancillary benefits to the community.

Since the riots, though many damaged small businesses such as gas stations and food stores have been rebuilt, only one small office building--a two-story structure at Vernon and Fourth avenues--has opened its doors. Another building that will house a Social Security office is under construction on Crenshaw Boulevard near Coliseum Drive.

Though it is still operational, over half of the Military Entrance Processing Service, or MEPS, was destroyed in the riots, along with a Thrifty Drug store and Trak Auto supply shop. Federal officials briefly considered relocating its facility--which employed 500 before the riots and has 200 workers now--out of the city, but decided against it after local politicians lobbied for MEPS to stay, citing it as key to the Crenshaw district’s economy.

Filippini said that the decision to remain in the Crenshaw area more than demonstrates MEPS’ commitment to the community.

“Our objective was to rehabilitate the area without compromising our procedures,” she said. “The community should be pleased that we’re here and we’re doing that.”

Anderson contends that the government is not doing nearly enough.

He says his proposal, which entails developing a vacant site at 3720 Santa Rosalia Drive, would benefit Crenshaw far more than simply rebuilding the existing site at La Brea and Rodeo, which is what Stamford Holdings proposes to do.

First, he said, the office building would be constructed on the border of Santa Barbara Plaza, within the Community Redevelopment Agency’s Crenshaw Redevelopment Project area, translating into more local revenue.

Second, its close proximity to the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza would mean that MEPS’ 500 employees could greatly stimulate mall sales. Third, he said, Crenshaw sorely lacks new office space. “To me, the federal government has a role to serve a larger economic purpose. Here it was, and they blew it,” Anderson said.

Those who supported Anderson’s plan by writing to GSA officials and urging them to consider it included U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.

Many supporters expressed surprise at Anderson’s failure to win the lease.

“Michael’s whole economic plan has a lot of good ideas. It would do a lot more to benefit the overall community,” said Bill Price, project manager of the CRA’s expanded Crenshaw Redevelopment area. “With the things happening in Crenshaw, the Santa Barbara Plaza would be the next big nut to crack. If it doesn’t happen for him this time, it’ll go to the back burner.”

Anderson says he’ll continue to push for a reversal from the General Services Administration, which must rule on his protest by August. He is applying to supporters once more to fire off letters objecting to GSA’s decision. “I’m not just a developer putting up a building,” he insisted. “I’ve made a major sacrifice in my life to do this, because someone needs to put forth a first product in the community. We have the land, we have the team, but (federal officials) ignored us.”