A COMMUNITY PROPOSAL FOR THE AMBASSADOR SITE

A CONCEPT FOR THE AMBASSADOR PROPERTY
A Community Position

Ambassador Site Plan (pdf)
The Ambassador property, in the heart of Wilshire Center, presents an opportunity to create a unique development in the middle of dense urban area. This development would become the anchor of the community, a catalyst for the continuing revitalization effort and serve several needs of the community (school facilities, retail amenities and housing) with a pedestrian orientation toward Wilshire Boulevard. The goal of this proposal is to advance the immediate construction of a school and a mixed-use concept that will better integrate the school facility into the community. There is the assumption that the main hotel will be preserved and retrofitted for use as a school.

LAUSD is now putting forward as one of their alternatives to keep the 5.6-acres for private development and retrofit the hotel for a high school and middle school. The plan leaves 5.6-acres on the Wilshire Boulevard frontage, allowing for compatible commercial development opportunities that can contribute to Wilshire Center's economic revitalization.

The concept is that the property would be developed as a 5.6-acre commercial parcel and an approximately 17.5-acre school parcel consistent with its current parcel configuration. The 5.6-acre parcel that fronts on Wilshire Boulevard will be improved with retail, entertainment and housing and based on sustainable design per LEED Certified standard. This complex would provide additional needed jobs, taxes, housing and retail services and provide a needed destination center for the Wilshire Center Urban Village. The concept is within the motion approved by City Council and the Mayor on February 26, 02 that calls for a buffer between the proposed school and Wilshire Blvd.

A development team would reimburse LAUSD fair market price for the 6-acre parcel assuming approved entitlements. Other options could be a land lease. The development team could assist the LAUSD to obtain additional properties for
additional seats. The Ambassador site would be the hub for a number of smaller schools located in the surrounding area. Currently, the Wilshire Enhancement Group has one approved charter high school and is proposing to build two more schools for a total of about 1,500 seats. This plan allows for more total school seats in the community and the addition of sorely needed retail services while mitigating the negative impact of locating a school on Wilshire Boulevard in the heart of a dense commercial district

This concept will allow LAUSD and the community to work together to construct a community based school and a retail, entertainment, housing complex, that will
continue the Wilshire Center's revitalization efforts which started in 1994. This concept eliminates the uncertainties that have enveloped the Ambassador site and moves the development forward with a win-win solution for the entire Wilshire Community.

Presented by Gary Russell
Supported by the Wilshire Center Business Improvement Corp., Wilshire Center Chamber of Commerce, Korean-American Federation of Los Angeles, the Korean-American Chamber of Commerce, Korean American Coalition, CRACAC Urban Design Committee, L. A. Conservancy, Wilshire Enhancement Group