Property

I am the principal of Lynwood Adventist Academy and have been for the past six years. Our property at 11081 Harris Ave. in Lynwood is the center of controversy as a result of the Lynwood Unified School District Board of Education's eminent domain and condemnation procedures. The property controversy has been evident since 1983. Opposition to the takeover has heightened recently through a community coalition called STOPPS (Stop Taking Our Private Parochial Schools). Times staff writer Lee Harris has given a very objective account of the proceedings every time he has been assigned to write an article in the Southeast/Long Beach sections.

Re "Justices Back Forced Sale of Property," June 24: The Supreme Court ruled that nice working-class homes -- with their owners living there for decades -- can be demolished to build for the high-end market. It's bad enough that the housing boom is generating luxury houses and precious few affordable ones, and that rents have skyrocketed. But now even if you already own, the rich can take over your property if they like the view and have bought friends in government. With decisions like this one from the Supreme Court, the American dream has been downgraded to owning your own tent.

The rebuttals to your excellent editorial on Proposition 13 display an amazing logic. They seem to say that it is not fair, not consistent with our system, to tax everyone on the same value basis. The "fat cats" of Brentwood, Bel-Air, Palos Verdes, etc. believe it is their God-given right to sit on properties whose values appreciate at a far faster rate than the average, or of inflation in general, then, at their convenience, sell at huge profits having enjoyed the largess of taxes at a small fraction of their less fortunate neighbors over the years.

Dovie Beams DeVillagran, former B-movie actress and former lover of deposed Philippines President Ferdinand E. Marcos, is no stranger to public controversy. At times she has courted the spotlight and at others she has rejected it, as she did last week when state Sen. Paul Carpenter charged that her 30-room Pasadena mansion was bought with Marcos' money. For now, she is not returning phone calls.

Your reporter, Shawn Doherty, contacted my husband several weeks ago, indicating that she wanted to do a story on our plight to stop construction within spitting distance of our Malibu residence. My husband, Richard, spent hours accumulating and disseminating information to your reporter regarding architectural data and court documents, even measuring property lines for her. We are currently suing a new neighbor and our association. Bottom line: We stand to lose up to $500,000 in the property value of our home if this construction is finalized.

Nearly $50 million in prime residential and commercial properties throughout California will be offered by auction at starting bids averaging about 50% below previous asking prices, according to Robert D. Friedman, president of the Santa Ana-based Real Estate Disposition Corp. The auction is scheduled for Aug. 23 at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine, beginning at 11 a.m.

Writer Jack Canfield, who co-created the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, will sell an oceanfront estate in West Maui, Hawaii, by auction May 12. The suggested opening bid is $7.5 million. Canfield, who makes his primary residence in Santa Barbara, is a key investor in the property, listed at $15.9 million. Called the Jewel of Kahana, the half-acre property has 250 feet of ocean frontage. The main house and two-story detached guest quarters include eight bedroom suites.

A young man from Garden Grove man and four youths, stopped by Costa Mesa police while driving through an industrial area at 3:20 a.m. Monday, were arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen property, authorities said. "There was no reason for them to be driving around there," Costa Mesa Police Lt. Tom Durham said Monday. He was referring to the industrial complex at Cadillac and Scenic avenues, in the northwest corner of the city.

Bill Hoffman has logged more than 1.5 million airline miles in his travels to troubled hotels, office buildings and other business properties. As a court-appointed receiver who takes care of distressed commercial real estate, Hoffman has a long way to go to catch up with George Clooney's ambitiously nomadic character Ryan Bingham in "Up in the Air." But Hoffman is adding mileage points fast. These are boom times for receivers. With the brutal real estate market causing owners to lose their buildings to their lenders, more professionals like Hoffman are being tapped to look after properties until they can be resold.

The Andaz Maui at Wailea , a LEED-certified hotel, is set to open this summer along Maui 's Mokapu Beach, a 1.2-mile stretch of white sand. The resort occupies the 15-acre site that was previously home to the Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort. It closed in 2007. The hotel will feature 297 rooms and suites, plus seven villas. A series of cascading infinity pools will provide views of the Pacific. Guests will enter the resort's spa through the Apothecary Lounge, where an herbalist will create customizable treatments and products.