Yarmouth Group

The firm that formerly managed the Northridge Fashion Center has agreed to pay an $87,000 fine after admitting that it made laundered campaign contributions to local politicians in San Diego and Los Angeles, including a $2,000 donation to Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson. Bernson, who represents the Northridge area, was not accused of wrongdoing in an accusation filed against the Yarmouth Group by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, nor were the other lawmakers involved.

The firm that formerly managed the Northridge Fashion Center has agreed to pay an $87,000 fine after admitting that it made laundered campaign contributions to local politicians in San Diego and Los Angeles, including a $2,000 donation to Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson. Bernson, who represents the Northridge area, was not accused of wrongdoing in an accusation filed against the Yarmouth Group by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, nor were the other lawmakers involved.

Barratt Irvine, a division of home builder Barratt American, has named Stefan Markowitz president. In his new post, Markowitz will oversee the development, construction and marketing of the division's projects in Orange, San Bernardino and north Riverside counties. He will be working out of the Irvine office. Ted Peterson, vice president of Asset Management Group in the San Diego area, a division of Collins Development Co. and La Jolla Development Co., has been made a partner in Collins Development.

Barratt Irvine, a division of home builder Barratt American, has named Stefan Markowitz president. In his new post, Markowitz will oversee the development, construction and marketing of the division's projects in Orange, San Bernardino and north Riverside counties. He will be working out of the Irvine office. Ted Peterson, vice president of Asset Management Group in the San Diego area, a division of Collins Development Co. and La Jolla Development Co., has been made a partner in Collins Development.

Had Charlotte Grossman seen it, those who knew her said, she would have chuckled at the blunder made Monday morning by city officials in Northridge as they tried to honor her memory. Councilman Hal Bernson stood on a recently completed bridge designed to ease traffic on Nordhoff Street. He dedicated the structure to the late Grossman, a Northridge merchant, but as he spoke, a few of the 60 people listening whispered that something was wrong.

The Sherman Oaks Fashion Square has been acquired by a British insurance company that plans to hone the mall's upscale image to cash in on the relatively healthy high-end segment of the otherwise anemic retailing market. Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd. had been in discussions to purchase the shopping center for about a year and completed the acquisition last month for $120 million.

In another example of increased Japanese interest in San Diego real estate, Marriott Suites at Symphony Towers, the 264-room luxury hotel high-rise that adjoins San Diego's largest office building, has been sold to a Japanese development company for $41 million. Dia Pacific, a Honolulu-based subsidiary of Dia Kensetsu, Japan's third-largest condominium developer, acquired the Marriott Suites at Symphony Towers on Jan. 12, the same day that the 27-story hotel opened for business.

The Sherman Oaks Fashion Square has been acquired by a British insurance company that plans to hone the mall's upscale image to cash in on the relatively healthy high-end segment of the otherwise anemic retailing market. Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd. had been in discussions to purchase the shopping center for about a year and completed the acquisition last month for $120 million.

Howard F. Thompson Associates Inc., a Newport Beach-based architecture, land planning and interior design firm, has announced four promotions to the post of senior associate: John S. Delacy, project manager; Sohrab Charna, project manager; Daniela Bogdan-Kennedy, director of planning coordination, and Leonard Malmquist, director of design.

In a few months, visitors to the Media City Center mall in Burbank will be able to play a game of laser tag, "fly" in an F-16 simulator and browse through a cyberspace library. For the crayon crowd, there will be an interactive indoor playground. Oh yes, there are also places to shop. Perhaps it's only fitting that a mall in the self-proclaimed entertainment capital of the world should have some serious fun and games. But the Media City Center isn't the only one to choose that course.

Whither Japanese investors in Los Angeles 1990? That's the question real estate observers all over town are asking. Price Waterhouse issued a press release this month predicting that the Japanese may soon begin selling some of their "trophy" office buildings in major U.S. cities. "Japanese investment firms are looking for better economic returns on their investments than they've received in the past few years from their American real estate," noted Daniel S.