Officials in Los Angeles Tuesday approved a mega development project, which is expected to alter the city's skyline and set a course for future development of the United States' second largest city.

The 2.05-billion-dollar Grand Avenue project, including a 185-million-dollar hotel, shopping, offices, high-rise residential units and a park, would revitalize downtown Los Angeles, which city officials have been trying for decades to make a place convenient for living.

The Los Angeles city council unanimously approved the project and bed-tax breaks Tuesday, while the Los Angeles county Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to okay the environmental impact report and lease agreements.

billionaire and philanthropist Eli Broad, who spearheaded the three-phase development project, said the project would change the entire complexion of Los Angeles.

"This is truly a historic day," Broad said. "We've had unprecedented cooperation between the city and county. We believe that this project is a win-win for everybody."

The Grand Avenue project has emerged as perhaps the most ambitious effort in Los Angeles in creating dense high-rise developments that attempt to place housing in the city's sleepy downtown area.

The city council granted the project's developer, New York-based Related Cos., parking lot and hotel tax breaks of up to 66 million dollars over 20 years for the first phase of construction.

Earlier the city's Community Redevelopment Agency already signed off on 24.4 million dollars in public assistance for street improvements and payments to the developer to subsidize affordable housing in the complex.

Architect Frank Gehry designed the three-phase project, with the first-phase construction set to begin in October and expected to be completed in 2011.

Gary Toebben, president of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, called it a "significant redevelopment project" that "signals a surge in economic stability that we will all be proud of."

Source: Xinhua