LOS ANGELES—Philanthropist and arts patron Eli Broad has announced that he is expanding his ambitious museum plans in Southern California and intends to double the size of the arts center he has proposed to show his 2,000-piece art collection and house the offices for his various nonprofit projects.

Like any good businessman, Broad also seems to be promoting a bit of competition, revealing that he is considering Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and a third, unnamed location in the Westside area of Los Angeles County. Unsurprisingly, the local governments of those cities are rushing to compete for the project, which could prove to be a tremendous boon to their local economies.

Santa Monica councilman Kevin McKeown told reporters, "I'll do everything I can to make this happen,” while Cheryl Burnett, the spokeswoman for Beverly Hills, released a dueling statement, declaring, “There's no better place than Beverly Hills to showcase this world-class contemporary art collection.”

According to a report released by Broad’s foundation to municipal authorities, he hopes that governments will subsidize permit costs and pay for the required environmental review of any project. The foundation also hopes to lease land for the museum from the chosen city for a “token” amount of money.

Broad plans to establish an endowment of $200 million that will pay out $12 million a year to run the institution, making it the single largest cash donation to the arts in Southern California since J. Paul Getty donated $700 million in 1976 to create the J. Paul Getty Trust, an amount equal to a staggering $2.65 billion in today’s dollars.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.