Wilshire Grand developer seeks public assistance on $1-billion project
Los Angeles Times
By Ann M. Simmons
The developers of a proposed $1-billion hotel, office and retail complex downtown say the project would reap huge benefits fro Los Angeles, but that they need a guarantee of economic assistance from the city before they can move forward...
...In 2005, the City Council agreed to provide up to $290 million in subsidies and loans for construction of a 55-story hotel next to the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Such deals often invite controversy because other existing hotels might feel slighted, said Richard Green, director of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate and a professor at its business school.
Other hotels are "going to feel, what's so special about these guys relative to us?" Green said...