After being owned by the city for over 10 years, The Paskan House will be given to the Center Theatre Group — owners of the Kirk Douglas Theater located adjacent to the property — for redevelopment. The property has been vacant since the death of Dr. Julius Paskan, the building’s previous owner, in 2010.
The house is located at 9814 Washington Blvd., and was originally supposed to transfer hands in early 2012.
A deal was in place for the Jazz Bakery to develop the property into a 250 seat theater in after the company had lost its place at the Helms Bakery complex.
However, those plans fell apart, and the Jazz Bakery eventually found a home at the Moss Theater in Santa Monica.
With this agreement being made, the city and Center Theater Group can search for suitable developers. While there are no specific plans in place, the goals is to create an “affordable housing mixed use development with ground level arts venue”
The move was made in part to satisfy California’s Surplus Land Act, which requires that the property be under contract for development by Dec. 31, and sold by Dec. 31, 2022. The act also requires that priority be taken on developing affordable housing, parks and recreation, and school use property.