Developers are lobbying LA council members at a record pace

Los Angeles developers and other business interests spent a total of $13.5 million lobbying city council members, staffers and commissioners in the first quarter of 2016, according to a new report from the Ethics Commission.

If this spending pace were to continue, this year would break lobbying records.

And a lot of the money is being spent by the biggest players in the game. The top 10 out of 400 lobbyists and lobby firms accounted for roughly half of the $13.5 million figure, KPCC reported. The top nine spent $1.4 million simply contacting city officials about building projects.

By a wide margin, the top project is the redevelopment of Hollywood’s Famous Crossroads of the World. Spearheaded by Harridge Development Group, the new Crossroads has spent $220,660 in lobbying, according to Curbed. The project calls for the construction of eight buildings, including a hotel and two residential towers.

Second on the list is Palladium Towers, a project by developer Crescent Heights that would massively revamp one building and add two mixed-use residential towers next door. The controversial project has cost $198,566 in lobbying.

Another unsurprisingly controversial project, 8150 Sunset Boulevard, came third with $166,715 spend on lobbying. The mixed-use residential complex is planned by developer Townscape Partners and designed by Frank Gehry. [Curbed] [SCPR] — Cathaleen Chen