Battle Brews Over "Significant" Hotel's Fate

"Rosenfeld, who bought the property a year ago for $366.5 million with backing from D.E. Shaw Group, has said his idea was influenced by a proposal unveiled in early 2007 to make Century City greener, less car-centric and more pedestrian-friendly. His architect, Henry N. Cobb, contends that the new configuration would help connect key parts of the neighborhood and create a public gathering place.

National Trust President Richard Moe took issue with that.

'The owners bought it and called it a jewel in their hometown but now want to demolish it as part of the greening of Century City?' he said. 'They're doing just the opposite. They couldn't do a more un-green thing.'

Moe maintains that the building contains a great deal of 'embodied energy,' the energy required to manufacture the materials, transport them to the site and assemble them into a building. He has recently been speaking to groups nationwide about this notion to demonstrate that historic preservation can be a tool to achieve sustainability."