S S Construction Co

The state's largest law firm will ask a Superior Court judge to set aside a verdict by an Orange County jury that awarded $70,000 to a former Huntington Beach homeowner who accused the firm of malicious prosecution, a lawyer for the firm, Robert W. Loewen, said Thursday. The jury ruled Wednesday that the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher acted with malice when it filed a defamation lawsuit on behalf of its client, S&S Construction Co.

The state's largest law firm will ask a Superior Court judge to set aside a verdict by an Orange County jury that awarded $70,000 to a former Huntington Beach homeowner who accused the firm of malicious prosecution, a lawyer for the firm, Robert W. Loewen, said Thursday. The jury ruled Wednesday that the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher acted with malice when it filed a defamation lawsuit on behalf of its client, S&S Construction Co.

A deal to buy a 40-acre parcel for Yorba Linda's first high school has received unanimous approval from the school district's board of trustees, officials said Wednesday. Under the agreement ratified Tuesday evening in a 5-0 vote, the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District will have three years to buy the lot on Fairmont Street. District officials said the time is needed to conduct environmental studies and for the seller, S&S Construction Co., to make the land suitable for a school.

The chairman of the board of Shapell Industries Inc., Nathan Shapell, has offered to buy the houses of dissatisfied owners in the Kite Hill tract in Laguna Niguel. At least half a dozen homeowners have sued S & S Construction Co., the home-building unit of Shapell Industries, since 1984, alleging that the builder and subcontractors failed to correctly grade the site and test and compact the soil.

Mark Bader, 75, who survived the Holocaust to immigrate to the U.S. and become a Los Angeles real estate developer, died of lung cancer Saturday in Los Angeles. Born in Auschwitz, Poland, in 1927, Bader was incarcerated in five concentration camps from 1940 until he was liberated from Dachau on April 29, 1945. Moving to the U.S. four years later, Bader soon found himself in the U.S. Army as the Korean War was developing.

The Courtyards, a development of 335 condominiums, opens today in San Diego's Mission Valley. Priced from $85,000 to $280,000, the units are available in eight floor plans with one to three bedrooms and one to three baths in 832 to 1,981 square feet of space. Among the features are wood-burning fireplaces, private decks, wet bars in some plans and a recreation center with racquetball court, two tennis courts, swimming pool and saunas. The monthly homeowners fee is $150.

Phase 1 of Northridge View Estates opens today with 17 single-family homes by S & S Construction Co. and Liberty Builders in Porter Ranch, Northridge, featuring sweeping views of the San Fernando Valley. Four floor plans on one or two levels are available for the homes, which range from 2,600 to 4,162 square feet, and are priced from $309,900 to $469,900. They contain four or five bedrooms with three or four baths.

More than half of the 41-unit first phase of S&S Construction Co.'s development of 148 planned condominiums, priced from $69,900, were sold at Village Niguel Terrace in Laguna within the first three months of release. Orange County bond financing is available for the units with a fixed rate of 9.9% for 30 years.

El Dorado Village by S&S Construction Co. opens today in the Bouquet Canyon area of Saugus, with large single-family houses in a country setting near the Angeles National Forest, Castaic Lake and other mountain recreation areas. The first phase of the 112-unit development features 22 three- and four-bedroom houses in five floor plans with 1,747 to 2,842 square feet, priced from $175,900 to $225,900. First move-ins are expected in January.

Residents will have an easier drive north in a few months with the opening of three six-lane sections of Alicia Parkway between Aliso Creek Road and Moulton Parkway. The county and two private developers have been working since December, 1991, on widening or building separate sections of the road, which will improve traffic flows for motorists trying to get from Aliso Creek Road to Interstate 5 in Laguna Hills, said Ken Montgomery, Laguna Niguel's public works director.

WayCon's Bonita Palms, a gated community in Bonita with 11 luxury homes, is celebrating its grand opening this weekend. The classic, two-level Mediterranean-style homes are situated on view lots on Annie Laurie Lane near Bonnie Brae in San Diego County. The project, a design of Robert Bowlus of Bowlus, Edinger & Stark, features two floor plans ranging in size from 2,775 to 3,046 square feet. Prices range from $349,000 to $399,900.