Real Estate Developers

Meeting again in private on a proposed sports arena complex for downtown Los Angeles, the City Council on Friday voted 10 to 2 on a set of instructions for its negotiating team that some officials predicted will yield a finished deal within days.

A group of developers is hoping to build as many as 1,100 homes in the hills above San Clemente, making it one of the largest residential projects in years targeted for this seaside community. The Irvine-based partnership, which includes Laing Homes, Institutional Housing Partners (IHP) and New West Properties, has signed a letter of intent to purchase about 875 acres. The property is being sold by Westinghouse Credit Corp. in the Forster Ranch area.

An obscure agency with a controversial record of enforcement is emerging as a key player in Los Angeles County's drive to tighten and reform its regulation of land developers. Thrust into the spotlight by the Marshall Redman land-fraud case, the county Department of Regional Planning is part of a task force devising new ways to detect and prevent illegal land subdivisions and real estate fraud.

An proposed amendment to the Westlake North Specific Plan that would triple the number of permitted homes received a cool reception from Westlake Village City Council members, who questioned the cost effects on the city. Following a presentation on the amendment Wednesday night, the council instructed city staff and the developer to come up with an analysis comparing the costs and benefits of the original 1989 plan, which permitted 179 homes, with the amendment, which would allow 540 homes.

A developer may have abandoned plans to build a pedestrian bridge in Little Saigon, city officials said, but there are still bills to be paid for the project. The City Council voted Tuesday night to levy a $250,000 tax on the group of property owners who had proposed to build a $3-million bridge spanning Bolsa Avenue. That amount will cover the city's cost of establishing a special tax assessment district, as well as related legal, financial and engineering fees, officials said.

About 30 west San Fernando Valley residents showed up Wednesday night at a community meeting to learn more about a builder's "very preliminary" plan to erect a sports complex in Canoga Park. "We are interested in what they have to say," said Leah Newman, a West Hills resident, walking into the gathering of the Neighborhood Planning Advisory Council, a panel composed of community members appointed by Councilwoman Laura Chick.

Seeking to bring professional sports to the San Fernando Valley, a Tarzana entrepreneur has announced plans to build a 9,000-seat sports arena and entertainment complex in Woodland Hills that could house a minor league hockey team. Mark Steele, a 32-year-old would-be developer, recently tried, and failed, to build a similar complex in Northridge.

The Building Industry Assn.'s board of directors has unanimously endorsed an annual developer fee increase enacted by the public agencies building the state's first toll roads. The BIA, an organization that represents 30,000 to 40,000 members of the real estate community, including home builders, developers and others, had initially balked at the increase, which averages 2.4%. But the group, whose endorsement is advisory only, approved the hike Monday after a presentation by tollway officials.

City officials announced Tuesday that an agreement had been reached with a prominent developer to end a lawsuit filed against the city over the largest proposed residential development in Glendale's history.

A Calabasas development company will try again Wednesday to convince a skeptical City Council that its proposed condominium project is appropriate for the city. The Currey-Riach Co. presented its plans on March 6 for 57 detached, two-story condominiums units on 8.6 acres at Las Virgenes and Lost Hills roads. The homes would range from 2,147 to 2,776 square feet, including garage space. But council members had reservations.