The Los Angeles Archdiocese will sell its administrative headquarters and perhaps other non-parish properties to help pay upcoming settlements of molestation claims against clergymen, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said Tuesday.
Attorneys and other representatives for the alleged sexual abuse victims immediately dismissed Mahony's announcement as an attempt to generate sympathy for the archdiocese, which faces more than 500 molestation cases.
If recent payouts are a guide, the final settlement bill could be $500 million to $600 million, and the archdiocese and insurance companies are fighting over how much of the total the church should pay. Mahony has been under pressure to pay half the amount, as the Diocese of Orange did in a $100-million molestation settlement in 2004.
Settlement talks have dragged on more than four years.
"The cardinal has instructed his attorneys to pull out every weapon to try to deny victims a single nickel," said plaintiffs attorney John Manly. He said the church has enough insurance coverage and other assets to settle the cases without unloading real estate. "The notion that the cardinal would have to sell buildings to pay settlements is just laughable," Manly said.
A Mahony spokesman declined to answer any questions about the prospective sales, and an attorney for the archdiocese did not respond to an interview request.
The church has land holdings in Southern California worth an estimated $4 billion, a Times analysis has found.
The administrative headquarters in the Mid-Wilshire area could fetch $40 million or more in the red-hot office market, said Tom Bohlinger, a senior vice president for investment properties with commercial broker CB Richard Ellis.
"At the high end, I would maybe see $47 million," he said.
In his announcement, made on the archdiocese's website, Mahony said that the insurance companies should cover "the major share" of the settlements but that the church must be prepared to pay a portion.
He said the archdiocese has assembled a list of 50 properties it could sell, starting with the 12-story building at 3424 Wilshire Blvd., which the Thrifty Payless firm donated to the church in 1995.
The structure houses offices for the archdiocese's central administration, ministries and other services. Mahony said the archdiocese would either lease office space back from the buyer or find quarters elsewhere.
