Beverly Hills Pulls Out Of Competition To Host Broad Art Museum ... Sort Of

Eli and Edythe Broad.

The city of Beverly Hills this week sent a letter to Eli Broad notifying the billionaire developer and art collector that it is pulling its proposed site from consideration for a museum that would house his art collection.

"The Beverly Hills City Council has confirmed that it has concluded discussions with The Broad Art Foundation regarding the potential site of a museum at the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. and Santa Monica Blvd.," a city statement reads. "As part of upcoming discussions on the adoption of the City's fiscal year 2010-2011 budget, the Council will be reallocating to other project priorities the funds it had set aside for the potential acquisition of the property."

The gilded city seems miffed that Broad's people continue to flirt with Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles in their search for a location for what will be a top-flight collection that includes 2,000 pieces with work from the likes of Andy Warhol and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

In a letter to Broad, city manager Jeff Kolin said, "While our City Council remains convinced that Beverly Hills offers an attractive location for your renowned art collection, we understand that The Broad Art Foundation is now considering other locations."

He went on to write, however, that B.H. is still there for him if the other locations fall through. The City Council had reportedly considered buying a building at Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards for $15 million in order to lease it to the museum for $1 a year.

The city of Santa Monica, however, forwarded its own $1-per-year lease deal for a municipally owned building, but the beachside community also threw in a proposed $3 million in cash and improvements for the museum venue.