Los Angeles World Airports launches tender for urban development project

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Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has issued a draft Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the development and maintenanceof facilities for a variety of uses, including officeresearch and development and recreation uses, in up to 775,000 net square feetof land located north of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)and south of the Westchester-Playa del Rey community, in the Westside Region of Los Angeles CountyCalifornia, known as Areas 1 and of the LAX Northside Area.

LAWA intends that the project transform this under-utilised land to serve the local community and LAX. Development should complement community efforts to revitalize and support local businesses, provide more jobs, meet the needs of the airport and of local groups, and address the growing demand for recreation and amenities for the surrounding communities. Allowable uses include campus-like office and research and development facilitiescommunity and civic uses, along with open space and recreational uses for the community and a secured landscaped buffer zone.

The successful developer will be responsible for the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the project, entering into a ground lease with LAWA for a period of minimum 30 years. This includes the implementation of all necessary parking, pedestrian walk ways, buffers, and other project amenities that will support the LAX Northside Area.

In order to be eligible, interested parties must have been the lead developer for a development project of at least US$100 million in the last five years.

Responses are invited until 1 May 2018LAWA will arrange meetings with development teams qualified to respond to the RFP. For more information, see the Business Opportunity.

LAX acquired the land known as the Northside Area in the 1970s, mostly with funds from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Initial planning for its development began in the 1980s, and the first proposal for the site was called the LAX Northside Plan. The current effort to modernize the proposal is therefore known as the LAX Northside Plan Update.

LAWA began developing the Update in 2011. The plan was approved by the Los Angeles City Council inJune 2016, following the approval of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, the City Planning Commission and the L.A. County Airport Land Use Commission. It covers 340 acres of land in total, split into thirteen separate Areas.

 

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