Los Angeles County Development And Redevelopment

Los Angeles County's real estate market continues to climb out of the depths of the recession of the early 1990s, but the region's more affluent neighborhoods have made markedly greater gains than other areas, according to property tax data to be released today. Overall, the county's real estate assessments increased by $30 billion, or 6%, last year, a boost that shuts the door on years of decline in property values that led to government crises and financial hardship for homeowners.

Paving the way for an urban village of hundreds of apartments and shops next to North Hollywood's subway station, an MTA committee unanimously recommended on Thursday that the agency enter into an exclusive deal with an Orange County development team. The proposed project, the second for the last northern stop on the Red Line, would create a $90-million pedestrian-friendly, multistory complex of up to 534 residential units and 28,000 feet of retail space.

Dillard's Inc., the country's third-largest department store chain, will open its first store in Southern California next year. More branches will follow the one in Palmdale, a company representative said Tuesday. The mid-priced retailer will set up shop in a new building at Antelope Valley Mall, said Dillard's spokeswoman Julie Bull. She declined to say how many other stores Dillard's plans to open in Southern California or where they might be located, but acknowledged there will be more.

A luxury hotel planned as the centerpiece of a controversial $250-million multiuse project in the heart of West Hollywood's famed Sunset Strip will not be built, officials said Tuesday. Financing for the proposed five-star Sunset Millennium hotel evaporated in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a spokesman for the Maefield Development Corp. said.

The slow-growth movement faces one of its biggest political tests Tuesday in Los Angeles County's 5th Supervisorial District, which contains a treasure of undeveloped land ranging from the Santa Monica Mountains to the hills, canyons and high desert north of the San Fernando Valley.

The Board of Supervisors has quietly handed one of Los Angeles County's most generous and best connected campaign donors a deal that cements his hold on a prime piece of Marina del Rey through much of the new century. The supervisors--acting without public discussion--on Tuesday unanimously approved 39-year lease extensions on two waterfront parcels in the publicly owned marina. The leases on the prime property are controlled by lawyer Doug Ring.

One of the last links to Arcadia's colorful founding family, a historic Italian Renaissance-style mansion, may soon be demolished to make way for a gated community if a developer wins city approval. The 50-room Anoakia mansion, built by the daughter of the city's founder and first mayor Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin, has sat empty for nearly a decade behind its towering walls.

Throughout the country, businesses that cater to nudists--everything from cruise lines to resorts--are expanding their market. The American Assn. for Nude Recreation says its membership has grown 75% in the past 10 years. And many nudist resorts are adding such amenities as health clubs to attract new members. But at Elysium Fields in Topanga Canyon, there are no restaurants, no indoor pool, no lighted tennis courts.

The string of shopping centers, squat office buildings and parking lots along Rosecrans Avenue seems typical of the South Bay's suburban landscape. But a barely mile-long strip that straddles the El Segundo-Manhattan Beach border has emerged as one of the area's hot new commercial districts, where tenants pay top dollar for scarce vacant space.

Leaders of a San Fernando Valley women's group said plans are underway to build what will be the largest long-term shelter for battered women in Los Angeles County. "At most emergency women's shelters, you can only stay between 30 to 60 days," said Melissa Hilario, a board member of Women Advancing the Valley Through Education, Economics and Empowerment (WAVE). "Our transitional shelter is going to be the second stage. Women and their children can stay up to 18 months," Hilario said.

Burbank officials will learn Tuesday whether efforts to restrict the size and scope of Burbank Airport will fly with voters in the first mail-in municipal election in Los Angeles County. Apart from the long battle over the airport, the election is of keen interest to other Southern California cities looking to boost voter participation while cutting balloting costs.

If the state approves a deal to buy 30 acres of proposed parkland along the Los Angeles River near downtown, the seller--a Florida developer--stands to make a nearly $10-million profit at taxpayers' expense. The proposed transaction has some park advocates wondering if state park money is fast becoming a financial trough for companies that acquire key parcels and jack up the value before selling to conservationists desperate to buy.

The protest against architect Frank O. Gehry's involvement in the Playa Vista development turned personal Wednesday when a longtime friend chained herself to the door of his Santa Monica design studio and was arrested. Valerie Sklarevsky, 56, was booked on suspicion of trespassing and resisting arrest after police snipped bicycle-lock cables connecting her to the main entrance at the Cloverfield Boulevard office. "Go home.

Just about everyone who's anyone in West Valley politics turned out for a packed hearing Saturday on Ahmanson Ranch, signaling a united Los Angeles front against the 3,050-home project planned on the fringes of Ventura County. Though billed as an informational hearing, it was more of a workshop aimed at keeping local opponents informed on the latest twists in a complex, decade-long development saga.

With prodding from Mayor James K. Hahn, the city agency that operates Los Angeles International Airport announced Tuesday that it will extend the public comment period on its controversial $12-billion expansion plan and schedule additional public hearings.

Armed with a foot-thick stack of reports, the firm planning the largest housing development in Los Angeles County history assured officials one more time Wednesday that they have enough water to supply the new suburb. The 21,600-home Newhall Ranch project was temporarily blocked last June by a judge who demanded more proof that there is enough water to support the new community in the Santa Clarita Valley, especially during dry years. After an eight-month analysis, Newhall Land and Farming Co.

To the dismay of environmentalists, a crucial piece of a 30-mile-long wildlife corridor in eastern Los Angeles County has been purchased by a redevelopment agency known for its warehouses and office parks. The city of Industry's Urban Development Agency has purchased the 2,533-acre Firestone camp from the Boy Scouts of America for $16.5 million. Industry officials say they want the property, which lies in rustic Tonner Canyon two miles outside city limits near Diamond Bar, to build a reservoir.

New sound stages are in the works for the Santa Clarita Valley and downtown Los Angeles as demand for state-of-the-art filming facilities remains healthy across Los Angeles County. The latest sound stages, however, are expected to put more pressure on outdated facilities that have failed to modernize, industry observers say. "The new facilities that come online with state-of-the-art features . . .

Five environmental groups and the city of Calabasas have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Interior Secretary Gale Norton, hoping to block the development of Ahmanson Ranch by getting a rare plant on the site listed as endangered. Although the courts can't give the San Fernando Valley spineflower protected status, a U.S. District Court judge could force the Fish and Wildlife Service to make a decision, said John Buse, a lawyer with the Environmental Defense Center in Ventura.

Beverly Hills merchants trying to preserve parking spaces in the city's main business district claimed a victory Tuesday as a judge temporarily blocked construction of a $37-million commercial project on a municipal parking lot. Superior Court Judge David Yaffe set aside the Beverly Hills City Council's approval of the construction project, suggesting that an underground parking garage planned as part of the development would not sufficiently replace the capacity of the current surface lot.