L.A. Calls Off Highland Park Landmark Sale

The Los Angeles City Council has rescinded an agreement with a developer who was planning to buy and renovate a landmark 1920s police station in Highland Park and build retail shops around it.

Alhambra developer Maurice R. Chasse has been planning to restore the building and develop the 1.3 acres around it since 1986, but City Council members said negotiations have taken too long.

The council also instructed the city Division of Engineering to solicit new proposals to purchase and restore the historic station.

Councilman Richard Alatorre called the council action a frustrating but necessary end to negotiations that had dragged on for more than two years with Chasse.

In 1986, a three-year city search for a private partner to preserve the historic building appeared to have ended successfully when the City Council approved the property’s sale to Chasse.