Both the Examiner and Chronicle have updates on the Japantown sale, with the Examiner discussing one of the potential buyers, and the Chron reporting on Mirkarimi’s bid to create a Special Use District.

From the Examiner, “The top contender to buy a handful of properties at the cultural and economic heart of Japantown is a non-Japanese, Beverly Hills-based mall and hotel developer. Representatives of 3D Investments LLC, which is owned by the Daneshgar family of Los Angeles, have been presented as the potential buyers of two hotels and two malls in meetings with city officials this week.”

“3D Investments LLC owns a number of malls, hotels, condominiums and other properties around the country, including the Waianae and Waikoloa malls in Hawaii.”

From the Chronicle, “San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi added a new weapon to the battle to save Japantown this week when he proposed legislation to classify the neighborhood as a special-use district. Prompting Mirkarimi’s legislation is a fear that new owners may not maintain the area’s cultural identity. Introduced Tuesday, the ordinance would require any changes in the property’s use to be faithful to the neighborhood’s cultural and historical integrity.”

“Don Tamaki, an attorney representing Kintetsu, said the potential buyer “is willing to be contractually bound to keeping the Japanese theme and to holding the properties for a long term.”"

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 2nd, 2006 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.