Stalled Scandal Ridden Arts District Development Showing Signs of Life
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520 Mateo, the Carmel Partners' DTLA project associated with disgraced Los Angeles City Councilman, Jose Huizar, shows signs of activity for the first time in over two years. The mixed-use development broke ground in early 2020 but was stymied with the start of the pandemic and revelations of the developer's ties to a corruption scandal that rocked the Los Angeles City Council.
Huizar was alleged to have received illegal political contributions for his wife's short-lived city council campaign. This was part of a pay-for-play bribery scheme that would have saved the developer an estimated $14 million by lowering affordable housing requirements within the project.
Carmel Partners has since paid $1.2 million in fines to rectify its involvement in the corruption probe while Huizar is currently awaiting trial in federal court.
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