Development And Redevelopment

A decade ago, the stretch of downtown L.A.'s Main Street between 4th and 6th streets was a desolate collection of empty buildings and homeless encampments, an area where drug dealing was conducted in the open, and the only longtime residents lived in residential hotels. These days, that stretch resembles a bustling small-town main street. There's the neighborhood bookstore, where an attentive shopkeeper knows her customers by name.

A coalition of Los Angeles business groups put forward an affordable-housing plan Thursday that its leaders said would lead to more apartments and condos for working people without imposing restrictions that could cast a pall over entrepreneurial efforts. Its centerpiece is a network of "housing incentive zones" where developers building housing with at least some workforce units would be allowed to relax height and parking requirements and receive expedited approvals.

A plan by a private company to build a $320-million desalination plant along the coast of northern San Diego County was unanimously approved Wednesday by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. Proponents say the plan could provide more than 56,000 acre-feet of drinkable water by 2012, enough to satisfy the needs of more than 100,000 families.

When Rick Caruso first bought a triangular lot near the intersection of Burton Way and La Cienega and San Vincente boulevards nearly 15 years ago, he had yet to make his name as the baron of developments such as the Grove and Americana at Brand. The property has sat undeveloped ever since. But in the last few years, the area around it has been on an upswing -- buoyed in part by the success of Caruso's Grove project to the east. Shops and restaurants along 3rd Street have become regional draws.

Disney unveiled plans today for the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, provided updates on its $1-billion expansion of Disney's California Adventure and said it would modernize the popular Star Tours ride at its domestic parks. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo chose the D23 Expo in Anaheim, the first-ever gathering of Disney devotees, to announce the ambitious new project in Orlando, Fla., that will nearly double the size of Fantasyland.

The federal government is looking for contractors to build a possible detention center in the Los Angeles area that would hold up to 2,200 illegal immigrants and others suspected of violating immigration laws. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said last week that the agency was "exploring the feasibility of such a project," though she said no definitive decisions had been made.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. has bought 53 acres in Victorville, where it will build a large-scale bottling plant and distribution center, the company said Wednesday. The Texas-based soft-drink maker will start work shortly on a $120-million facility to produce such beverages as 7UP, A&W root beer, Sunkist orange soda and Hawaiian Punch for customers in the Southwest. After the plant opens in spring 2010, it is expected to pump out as many as 40 million cases of drinks a year.

Moving to save what has been billed as a cornerstone of downtown L.A.'s revitalization, local officials are considering a proposal that would defer a $250,000-a-month penalty that the Grand Avenue project developer is supposed to start paying Sunday. The hefty penalty was negotiated last year after numerous delays in construction of the $3-billion, Frank Gehry-designed complex. At the time, the developer promised to begin construction by Feb.

Opening day at the Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels at LA Live is still five months away. But Room 1055 is a beehive of activity. One worker attaches metal pins to the door of what will become the room's closet, his drill a quick, metallic syncopated whir. Another grunts away as he carefully attaches a mirror to the wardrobe's door. When this two-man crew started installing wardrobes in the hotels, on the 52-story building's fifth floor, it took them 60 minutes to assemble the piece.

Los Angeles Zoo keepers Sunday appealed to city officials to complete a $42-million elephant enclosure, saying it would be the best place for Billy, the zoo's lone remaining elephant, to breed and thrive. The exhibit, they said, would allow for more exercise and stimulation than an animal refuge, where critics have suggested the 23-year-old Asian bull be sent. Creation of the 3.