SACRAMENTO — State officials Friday earmarked $30 million in voter-approved housing bonds for a group with ties to Staples Center owner Philip Anschutz, for sprucing up the street next to his multibillion-dollar entertainment projects in downtown Los Angeles.
Legislation governing access to the bond money, and tailored to Anschutz's purpose, passed just hours before lawmakers adjourned last year. The funds come from a pot of $2.8 billion that voters gave the state permission to borrow for affordable housing in California.
Nearly 100 affordable-housing projects in needy neighborhoods were among the applications that were not recommended in the first round of funding Friday by state housing agency staff, whose choices are routinely ratified by a grant panel.
Backers of the Anschutz-related group, the South Park Business and Community Improvement District, said the bond money would help the ongoing revitalization of the Figueroa Street corridor, which has pockets of blight.
"It will be tremendous for the area," said Cliff Hoffman, chairman of the board of the South Park business group.
Advocates for affordable housing objected to funding for the Staples area. Voters intended the bonds to provide affordable housing to help low-income residents, they said, not to improve the marketability of the billionaire Anschutz's pricey downtown attractions.
One project put on a waiting list for possible funding would help support a housing project in the Boyle Heights area.
"It's extremely disappointing that underserved areas don't seem to be able to compete, while really well-financed entities are able to get these public subsidies," said Maria Cabildo, president of the East Los Angeles Community Corp. "These dollars should go where the need is, and that area doesn't seem to have the same need."
Anschutz, who owns a share of the Lakers, was ranked 41st on the most recent Forbes list of wealthiest Americans, with a net worth of $7.6 billion. L.A. Live, a $2.5-billion, 4-million-square-foot development under construction at Figueroa Street and Olympic Boulevard, is owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, also known as AEG.
The project, which is subsidized by the city, includes the new Nokia Theatre and is slated to also feature a 54-story luxury hotel and condo tower, broadcast facilities, a 15-screen movie theater and nearly a dozen restaurants and clubs.
AEG spokesman Michael Roth sought to distance his firm from the $30 million.
