A plan for $100 million in tax-payer assistance to expand the L-A Convention Center and an adjacent J-W Marriott hotel at L.A. Live is set to be considered by the City Council today.
The hotel project would add a new tower with 850 rooms, and help the city reach a stated goal of eight-thousand hotel rooms within walking distance of the convention center.
City Controller Ron Galperin says he supports this project, but cautions the city needs more transparency and accountability when issuing huge tax incentives for large-scale real estate developments.
”If I want to build a new house, and it’s going to be a million dollars, and I only have 800-thousand dollars, does that mean that somebody pays the 200-thousand dollar feasibility gap to make it happen for me – I don’t think so. And that doesn’t work that way for everybody else, either. We should be very thoughtful about how we give these tax incentives out.”
Ron Galperin was a guest on McIntyre in the Morning.
By Sandy Wells
KABC News