It is still possible that Park Fifth, the long-stalled 76-story mixed-use project across from Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, will get built. But its current ownership group won’t be involved.

Park Fifth LLC, the venture led by Israeli investment company Africa Israel Investments Ltd. that also includes bankrupt local investment company Namco Capital Group Inc. and local developer Houk Development Co., put the property up for sale this month. The nearly 99,000-square-foot property at 427 W. Fifth St. currently operates as a surface parking lot but has entitlements for hundreds of condos, a hotel and retail space.

If built as planned, Park Fifth would be the tallest residential tower west of Chicago and one of the biggest developments in L.A. history.

Jona Rechnitz, director of acquisitions and dispositions for the U.S. arm of Africa Israel, said in an e-mail interview that the property is being marketed by brokerage Cushman & Wakefield Inc. without an asking price. Given the recession and the frozen state of capital markets, it’s unclear what the property might fetch.

But Carl Muhlstein, the executive vice president of Cushman & Wakefield who is spearheading the sale effort, said the site’s development approvals, which were granted by the city last summer, differentiate it from other projects being shopped.

“It’s got to be one of the finest residential and mixed-use sites in the Western United States,” said Muhlstein, who was to begin marketing the property on June 29. “It bridges Pershing Square with Bunker Hill and is served by mass transit and has great access. It will be unique in that area.”

Ever since the project was announced in spring 2007, Namco’s involvement has raised eyebrows. The company, which is the main business of bankrupt Brentwood businessman Ezri Namvar, had never previously been involved in such a high-profile development.

While Namvar had a local real estate empire valued at $2.43 billion last summer, his various businesses began collapsing in the last half of 2008 amid the real estate downturn. He’s since been accused of stealing money from investors and running a Ponzi scheme to prop up his failing ventures. According to bankruptcy filings, Namco owes more than a half-billion dollars to 464 creditors. Namvar’s attorneys did not return calls seeking comment.

In December, David Houk, who heads his namesake development company, told the Business Journal that Namco’s stake in the project was being shopped because the company was no longer able to fulfill its role in the venture – supplying capital and financing.

In 2006, Houk, who has owned the site for about 30 years, brought in equity partners Namco and Africa Israel, which is headed by international billionaire Lev Leviev and has interests in construction, real estate and other businesses.

While Rechnitz said that Namvar’s financial troubles are unrelated to the decision to sell, Houk said that Namvar’s problems are part of the reason, though he would not elaborate.

“I have nothing but good things to say about Ezri,” Houk said. “He helped us a lot until he ran into trouble.”