A Los Angeles city councilman suggested Wednesday that the city buy a portion of the downtown Da Vinci apartment complex site that went up in flames in December to use for parking.
A concrete parking structure at the under-construction complex in the 900 block of West Temple Street remained intact after the Dec. 8 fire and could provide additional parking for surrounding city and county buildings, including one that houses the county Department of Public Health, Councilman Tom LaBonge said.
“I just think that’s an opportunity. The basement of the building, the parking structure, was not destroyed. It’s just a request,” LaBonge said during the council meeting, suggesting the city explore the possibility of purchasing the property.
He told City News Service the apartment complex should not be rebuilt at the same site, which he said is “too close to the freeway.”
The City Administrative Officer will look into the possibility of buying the site, LaBonge said.
“It may make sense, and it may not make sense,” he said.
A representative of the building’s developer, Geoffrey Palmer, declined to comment on the idea. Palmer issued a statement last month saying a part of the complex that was not burned will open this month as planned.
The fire, which was determined to have been the result of arson, cost the city tens of millions of dollars in labor costs and damages to two nearby city buildings, one of which sustained hundreds of damaged windows, city officials said. While one building re-opened soon after the fire, the other could take about six months to re-open.
— City News Service