Newhall Land

The Newhall Land and Farming Co. has filed a motion in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that a judge presiding over its controversial development cases has a conflict of interest and asking that she disqualify herself. In the motion filed Thursday, attorneys for Newhall Land accuse Judge Ann I. Jones of failing to disclose her work with environmentalists in an effort to stop a property near her Santa Clarita Valley home from being divided. Among those environmentalists were Sierra Club members who also oppose Newhall Land's proposed community of 60,000 residents along a six-mile stretch of the Santa Clara River, about 35 miles north of Los Angeles and four miles from Jones' home.

The future of a proposed multiuse development in the Santa Clarita Valley could rest partly on its relationship with some short-legged, bug-eyed amphibians. Toads, to be precise. Construction of Sterling Gateway, a 75-acre business park, won't be able to get underway until the developers fulfill at least one environmental requirement: Dedicate land where Western spadefoot toads can breed. Sterling's proposed business park in Valencia's Hasley Canyon just north of California 126 will complement the nearby construction of some 250 single-family homes the company also is planning.

Newhall Land & Farming Co. of Valencia reported net income of $6.3 million for the second quarter that ended June 30, down from $12.7 million for the same period last year. Revenues also dipped to $55.3 million from $63 million. Newhall Land is a large landowner and developer of master-planned communities in north Los Angeles County, including Valencia and the proposed Newhall Ranch.

The Newhall Land and Farming Co. has filed a motion in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that a judge presiding over its controversial development cases has a conflict of interest and asking that she disqualify herself. In the motion filed Thursday, attorneys for Newhall Land accuse Judge Ann I. Jones of failing to disclose her work with environmentalists in an effort to stop a property near her Santa Clarita Valley home from being divided. Among those environmentalists were Sierra Club members who also oppose Newhall Land's proposed community of 60,000 residents along a six-mile stretch of the Santa Clara River, about 35 miles north of Los Angeles and four miles from Jones' home.

Newhall Land & Farming said it has scrapped for now its proposed $32.9-million acquisition of Newhall Resources after learning that the limited partnership's oil and gas reserves are substantially less than it thought. But Newhall Land said it may make a lower offer for the partnership. Newhall Land wants to buy the limited partnership to obtain mineral rights Newhall Resources holds to land in California.

Thomas L. Lee will step down as chief executive and chairman of Newhall Land & Farming Co. on March 31, the Valencia-based company said. Gary M. Cusumano, currently president and chief operating officer, will succeed Lee as chief executive. Lee, 58, said he had recommended to the company's board that he retire to "provide new opportunities and responsibilities to other members of management."

Newhall Land & Farming Co., a Valencia developer, said it has closed escrow on an $18.3-million apartment complex in a deal that is expected to boost first-quarter net income by $12.8 million. The 208-unit StoneCreek apartment complex is nearly fully leased. The buyer is a investor group affiliated with Western National Property Management based in Los Angeles, which manages 38,000 units throughout the country.

Despite a year of record earnings, record revenues and record land sales, Newhall Land & Farming Co. isn't getting much respect on Wall Street. The price of Newhall Land shares, or units, has been under $25 for most of the first quarter, down from a 52-week high of about $32 a year ago.

Newhall Land & Farming Co. has signed a deal with Edwards Cinema to build a 12-screen movie theater complex and big-screen IMAX theater in Valencia. Construction will begin in the spring, and the cinema complex is expected to open in 1998. Newhall Land is the developer of the master-planned community in Valencia.

Newhall Land & Farming, a real estate and agriculture company, said it reached a definitive agreement to buy Newhall Resources, an energy concern, for $30.7 million. Newhall Land, which is developing the community of Valencia, and Newhall Resources are both Valencia-based limited partnerships whose investment units trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Newhall Resources was created in 1983 when Newhall Land spun off its oil and gas assets.

Just another day in … Awesometown. Newhall Land Development has used a variety of marketing slogans over the years to sell homes and recruit new residents to Valencia, its master-planned community in the city of Santa Clarita. "Built as promised" was kind of a snooze. So was "The place to be. " But the website, print ads, billboards and banners now branding Valencia as "Awesometown" are generating plenty of buzz over the relative awesomeness — or lack thereof — of the massive development 33 miles north of Los Angeles.

A key creditor of LandSource Communities Development wants the bankrupt developer to sell its 15,000-acre tract of land north of Los Angeles to repay $1.1 billion in loans. Barclays Bank, agent for the lenders who made the loans, proposed a plan that would grant some creditors the right to trade the debt owed to them for some of LandSource's property through a bidding process. Barclays filed the proposal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., on Oct. 13.

LandSource Communities Development, the land development company that owns Newhall Land & Farming Co., has defaulted on a $1.1-billion loan but is working with lenders to restructure the terms, a company spokeswoman said Friday. LandSource declined to disclose the amount of default, but a bankruptcy filing could put building plans for the massive 21,000-home Newhall Ranch community near Santa Clarita in jeopardy. "LandSource is still in discussion with the lenders on trying to find a way that they mutually can agree on how to restructure the loan," said Tamara Taylor, a spokeswoman for LandSource.

The state Public Utilities Commission has decided not to hold public hearings into an out-of-state consortium's plans to take over a Santa Clarita water company as part of its proposed buyout of the Newhall Land & Farming Co. The Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club, which asked for the hearings, is concerned about outside interests controlling the local water supply. Opponents may file briefs by Oct. 22, according to a PUC ruling. Florida-based Lennar Corp.

Santa Clarita Valley residents have joked for years about living in a company town. Today, they are wondering what will happen now that the company -- Newhall Land & Farming Co. -- is being sold to out-of-towners. The 120-year-old agricultural and development firm has long been Santa Clarita's key power player, credited with transforming the area from orchards and ranchland into one of California's fastest-growing suburbs. When Florida-based Lennar Corp.

In a deal that would mean a massive shift of Southern California property, century-old Newhall Land & Farming Co. -- developer of the Valencia master-planned community and one of the state's largest landowners -- agreed Monday to be acquired for $990 million by a partnership based in Miami. The proposed sale would transfer vast tracts of land and the controversial Newhall Ranch project to the nation's third-largest home builder, Lennar Corp.

Newhall Land & Farming Co., Valencia, announced net income for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 of $11.9 million compared with $16.3 million for the same period last year. The company develops new towns and master-planned communities; Valencia was its first such venture. Newhall Land owns 36,000 acres 30 miles north of Los Angeles.

The state Public Utilities Commission has decided not to hold public hearings into an out-of-state consortium's plans to take over a Santa Clarita water company as part of its proposed buyout of the Newhall Land & Farming Co. The Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club, which asked for the hearings, is concerned about outside interests controlling the local water supply. Opponents may file briefs by Oct. 22, according to a PUC ruling. Florida-based Lennar Corp.

Two companies accused of leaving oil contamination on the Newhall Ranch property in northern Los Angeles County have agreed to clean it up as part of a tentative settlement, a spokeswoman for developer Newhall Land & Farming Co. said Wednesday. The developer sued the companies in 2001, claiming they were responsible for "severe and extensive" contamination on about 1,300 acres of the roughly 12,000-acre proposed Newhall Ranch subdivision, a 20,885-home project that L.A.