Development And Redevelopment

For years a chain-link fence surrounded the contaminated 25-acre lot near the junction of Interstate 5 and California 118 in Pacoima, a daily reminder of the thousands of well-paying manufacturing jobs lost to Mexico in the last decade.

A proposed $2-billion real estate development that would replace the historic Hollywood Park racetrack and change the face of Inglewood may get the go-ahead tonight from the City Council. The track's owner, Bay Area developer Wilson Meany Sullivan, plans to start work on a massive retail and residential complex in about a year if the council approves the project.

The economic downturn has stalled big construction projects across the globe, but here in Panama, smoke-belching steam shovels and dredges work around the clock on what people here call simply la ampliacion, or the expansion. This month, officials will award the principal contract for the $5.25-billion expansion of the landmark Panama Canal, a project that will probably alter global shipping patterns and cement this Central American nation's place as a center of global logistics.

When the Concerto high-rise condominium project opens this year in downtown Los Angeles, developer Hassan "Sonny" Astani will be lucky not to lose his shirt. With the market for condos in woeful decline, he already knows he won't make much money -- if any. Progress, at this point, would be to complete the $300-million project while staying out of bankruptcy.

Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it would submit plans to build its first theme park in mainland China, targeting one of the largest and most prosperous markets in Asia. The Burbank entertainment giant released a statement confirming its plans as news broke that the company was working with the Shanghai municipal government to build a $3.59-billion park to open as early as 2014. It would be Disney's fourth theme park outside the U.S., after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

This part happens all the time: A construction crew putting up an office building in the heart of congested Tysons Corner in McLean, Va., hit a fiber-optic cable no one knew was there. This part doesn't: Within moments, three black SUVs drove up, half a dozen men in suits jumped out, and one said, "You just hit our line." Whose line, you may ask? The guys in suits didn't say, recalled Aaron Georgelas, whose company, the Georgelas Group, was developing the Greensboro Corporate Center.

Eight decades ago, William Wrigley Jr. added amenities to the tiny harbor community of Avalon that transformed Catalina Island into a storied getaway for movie stars and the early power brokers of Los Angeles: steamships, hotels and a landmark "casino" building featuring a theater and a ballroom. In the 1960s, development slowed as big spenders and tourists gravitated toward newer resorts -- Disneyland, Palm Springs, Lake Arrowhead -- blossoming on the mainland.

Mexico will postpone construction of its planned Punta Colonet port on the Pacific Coast and may scrap the project entirely as interested bidders struggle to find financing for the $4.88-billion complex. The first simultaneous recession in the U.S., Japan and Europe since World War II has led to a 30% drop in port traffic on the U.S.

After buying 17,750 acres in Palmdale for an intercontinental jetport that has not gotten off the ground, Los Angeles airport officials say they might finally have a use for much of the property: a solar power facility capable of generating up to 100 megawatts of clean energy.

Even as Culver City's downtown has evolved into a vibrant hangout with bustling theaters and restaurants, the commercial district in the town's southern Fox Hills area has remained a gritty mix of offices, mini-malls, tire outlets, pizza joints and an occasional erotica shop, all in the shadow of a tangle of freeways. A $180-million overhaul of Fox Hills Mall -- now rebranded as Westfield Culver City -- promises a more up-market ambience. Residents report feeling a burst of retail pride in the now-gleaming center, and city officials are enthused about the prospect of additional retail revenue amid challenging times.