Thomson signed an agreement this month with a Belgian movie theater chain that will have its Technicolor Digital Cinema unit installing equipment as part of the rollout of digital cinema in the European market. Technicolor will have the Barco projectors and Dolby Digital Cinema playback items installed in 50 Kinepolis Group theaters by early 2007. Another 80 theaters will undergo the conversion by the end of 2007. Kinepolis got involved with the roll out because of its desire to use the latest in technology at its theaters, said Joe Berchtold, president of Technicolor Theatrical Services, and head of Technicolor Digital Cinema. “It is a reasonably self-contained market that you can do this test and understand how it impacts a lot of things,” Berchtold said. The Technicolor Digital Cinema unit is based in Camarillo. Technicolor began its rollout in U.S. theaters in June, a month later than expected. What the company learned about using the digital equipment in the U.S. theaters can be applied to the European rollout although there are issues specific to Europe, such as power supply, Berchtold said. “Because the business is different in Europe with potential workflows we want to understand on a limited scale the implications of those workflows before we do a substantial rollout,” Berchtold added. The transition to the digital format will change how entertainment companies distribute their films as well as provide higher quality prints, a means to increase revenues through more showings, and a better method for long-time film storage. Five major film studios DreamWorks SKG, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, 20th Century Fox – have partnered with Technicolor in support of its rollout. The company is in negotiations to get New Line Cinema and The Weinstein Co. on board as well. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, a division of Burbank-based Walt Disney Co., has signed on with rival digital cinema firm Christie/Access Integrated Technologies to release its films in a digital format. Valley Filmmakers “The Night Swim” won’t be shown in digital cinema anytime soon but the feature film from two graduates of the cinema arts program at Los Angeles Valley College was among the entries of the 9th annual DancesWithFilms festival that took place in Los Angeles recently. James Gabriel and Dan Casserole based the film partly on a funeral of a family member of Casserole’s. The pair approached filming of “The Night Swim” much differently than they did their first project, “Holiday,” a film they couldn’t finish because their money ran out. For their second film, the pair scaled the production to what they knew they could afford without bankrupting themselves. Gabriel said that while the Valley College program was good in teaching about film theory and production, little attention was given to the distribution and marketing side of the business. “They taught how to make the film but nothing about what to do with it once you are finished,” said Gabriel, who grew up in Arleta. Gabriel and Casserole wrote the first draft of “The Night Swim” script in one month. They completed filming in 13 days done on weekends using a cast partially assembled for “Holiday.” Robert Macklin stars as the lead in “The Night Swim,” a story of a man facing the death of his wife and the complications arising at the reception following the funeral as those in attendance find a way to cope with the circumstances. “The Night Swim” will be shown at another festival in September and the pair will continue submitting their film at other festivals in hopes of attracting the attention of a distributor or anyone else able to move their careers along. “I think of it like a big stock exchange,” Casserole said of film festivals. “You hope your film stands out and attracts the attention of those shopping for films like yours.” Reader Contributions Got a little Hunter S. Thompson, H.L. Mencken or Matt Drudge in ya? Daily News officials are hoping to take what they call “citizen journalism” mainstream with the launch of valleynews.com, a Website that allows anyone to post a story, an opinion or even a news flash. The site, which will launch on Aug. 21, grows out of an increasingly popular trend, blogging, that has peppered the Internet for some time now. Organized into eight hubs covering the different communities of the San Fernando Valley, it will allow ordinary folks an opportunity to post stories or pictures about their pets or kids, their communities or views, just about anything that inspires them. The content will not be edited (save for an automated swear-word filter) but Daily News staffers will monitor it, pulling what they believe are the most interesting of the contributions onto a home page. Those stories too will appear in the Daily News community editions published weekly in print form. Three additional community editions, for Santa Clarita, Burbank/Glendale and Antelope Valley, launch on Oct. 5. Ron Kaye, Daily News editor, even foresees issues and events brought to light on the Website landing on the front page of the daily newspaper. “One of the things that excites me is that it allows for a real community, and you can reach all the people you can’t reach now,” Kaye told a meeting of the Livable Communities Council of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley recently. Addressing the group, Kaye noted that Internet sites like youtube.com, flicker.com and myspace.com, broadcast news and blogs are changing the way that news is delivered. “The newspaper is going to be boiled down to a very different product, and nobody knows what that is,” he said. For the meantime, what is clear is that folks in all walks of life are playing a bigger role in chronicling their own histories. But perhaps more important, providing such a forum, Kaye hopes, will help to unite communities, bringing them together around issues and causes and giving them a voice and a public forum. Perhaps ironically, it was that promise of a voice that seemed to most concern those assembled at the Livable Communities meeting. Many of those in attendance expressed concerns about the potential to disseminate information that is mean spirited or just plain wrong. “Who’s going to have the most influence in a public communication?” Kaye responded. “The people who are informed.” Annie Hundley, who was formerly with Rocky Mountain News, will serve as editor of valleynews.com, working with a staff of about seven who also work on the print editions. Posting will be free on the site. Advertising will drive revenues.

By SUE BENDAVID-ARBIV and NICHOLAS KANTER Guest Columnists The California Supreme Court just ruled on an issue that could have an enormous impact on how employers pay temporary workers on completion of job assignments. Under California law (Labor Code section 201) an employer who discharges an employee must pay that employee all wages earned and unpaid at the time of discharge. The Labor Code imposes stiff penalties for employers who fail to timely pay all final wages upon discharge. The issue before the Supreme Court was the meaning of the term “discharge” in connection with employees on temporary job assignments. In Smith v. Superior Court of Los Angeles; L’Oreal USA, Inc. L’Oreal asked plaintiff Amanza Smith, a salesperson at a Beverly Hills boutique, to be a hair model at an upcoming show. L’Oreal agreed to pay Smith $500 for one day’s work at the show. Smith attended the show and stayed until she was told she could leave. L’Oreal waited for over two months to pay her and did not pay her immediately after her job assignment ended. Smith later brought a lawsuit against L’Oreal. She sought $15,000 in penalties representing 30 days of unpaid wages at the rate of $500 per day. L’Oreal asked the court to dismiss the case arguing that Smith could not recover penalties because the termination of the one-day job assignment did not constitute a “discharge” requiring an immediate wage payment. Ultimately, the case went up to the Supreme Court. In ruling in favor of the employee, the Supreme Court said that the state has an interest in requiring the timely payment of employee wages. This is: “because the average worker . . .depend(s) on wages for the necessities of life for himself and his family (and) . . .it is essential to the public welfare that he receive his pay when it is due.” The Court also relied on dictionary definitions of the term discharge to mean “release from service or duty,” or “dismissal or release from employment ” The Court held: An employer effectuates a discharge . . . not only when it fires an employee, but also when it releases an employee upon the employee’s completion of the particular job assignment or time duration for which he or she was hired. The Court did not believe that an employee who is released after completing a specific job duty is any less deserving of immediate payment of wages than the employee who is actually fired from his or her job. This ruling means that employers need to reconsider how they pay temporary workers when the assignment of those workers has ended. It is no longer okay to wait until the next payroll period to pay those workers. The following are a few suggestions for employers to follow: 1. Always pay employees at the time of termination. If you know you are going to terminate an employee, have a check ready to hand to them. 2. Have the terminated employee sign a written acknowledgement confirming they received their paycheck on the day they were terminated. The acknowledgement should also ask them to confirm that the final paycheck accurately reflects all wages and accrued vacation due them. 3. For temporary employees, keep detailed records of their employment including their job assignments and the day their assignments are expected to end. Have a paycheck ready to give to the temporary employee on the last day of his or her job assignment. As with terminated employees, have the temporary employees sign a written acknowledgement confirming they received their paycheck on their last day of work and that it accurately reflects all amounts owed them. Sue Bendavid-Arbiv and Nicholas Kanter are lawyers that counsel employers and management on employment law matters. They are with the Lewitt, Hackman firm in Encino.

The route of next year’s Los Angeles Marathon will now include portions of the San Fernando Valley barely. Race organizers have announced that the starting line for the March 4 race will move from downtown to Universal City. The new point-to-point route will start at Universal Studios Hollywood then head southeast on Cahuenga Boulevard into Hollywood before zigzagging across the city to a downtown finish line. The 26.2-mile race had used a circular route that started and ended in downtown. Next year’s is the 22nd running of the marathon, which brings an estimated 25,000 athletes annually.

Barry Gump, president and CEO of the Santa Clarita sanitation company Andy Gump, has been elected chair of the advisory council for the California State University, Northridge, Family Business Center. Gump will lead the 11-member board in fundraising, organizing events, allocating resources and finding sponsors. The fledging organization, part of the College of Business and Economics, was formed several years ago to help family-owned businesses in San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, along with portions of Ventura County. It hosts mixers, seminars and speakers for small- and mid-sized businesses. Dr. David Russell, the center’s director, said the organization has about 25 members and it is growing. “The center is really gaining momentum and we need a strong sense of leadership and governance,” he said. “This is the first time we selected a chairman of the board and I think Barry is an excellent first one.” Gump said he plans to add more speakers and boost membership. “One of my goals is for more family businesses aware of the center, so they can benefit as much as I have benefited,” he said. “It’s such a wonderful resource.” Gump said the Family Business Center has been especially beneficial as he lines up who will take over his business after he retires. His father, Andy, started the company by creating portable toilets for construction sites in the 1950s. Today, Andy Gump has around 100 employees and provides portable restrooms, temporary fences and generators to most of Southern California. Gump’s only child, Nancy Gump Melancon, has been involved with the business for years and is being groomed as its next president, he said. Gump said the center helped him and his daughter look at how other businesses tackle the transition. “I want to expose her to different types of family businesses,” he said. We want to eliminate as many mistakes as possible. We’re in the throws of succession.” Ernie Doud, a principal with the Glendale consulting firm Doud Houser, said university-led small business programs like CSUN’s help family businesses wade through often-complex situations, such as who will take over in the next generation. “Such programs are one of the few places at which family businesses can come together to focus on their unique opportunities and challenges,” he said. Doud said Gump’s nomination to the chair post makes sense. “It is a great combination,one of the most respect family business leaders in the Valley taking a leadership role in a program that is the premier source of information and networking for all family businesses in the Valley.”

With less than three years left in her final term as Los Angeles City Controller, Laura Chick feels she has a lot left to do. Known for her active use of her office as a watchdog agency for taxpayers since taking office in 2001, Chick has undertaken performance audits of many city departments exposing inefficiencies, waste of taxpayers’ money and possible fraud. “My motivation is to change city government for the better,” Chick said. A former social worker and City Council member representing the Valley for eight years, Chick was the first woman in Los Angeles history to hold a citywide office. Chick is the first controller to hold the office following charter reform in 1999 which increased the controller’s powers. Her bold, no-nonsense style has helped raise the profile of the office. While some have accused the 62-year-old, who now lives in Silver Lake, as being a media hound, Chick said she recognized the need for more public accountability of city government if any real change will take place in how the city performs its duties. Her years at City Hall in two different posts have given her a unique perspective on city government and what it needs to be more effective. Question: What do you think is the biggest challenge or problem with L.A. city government? Answer: The biggest challenge is to have a cohesive and agreed upon city vision where the leadership of L.A. is united in both framing the priority problems and in the strategy to attack those problems. Instead of internecine and comp and jealousy and separate agendas. I’ve watched this for over 13 years and have to ask why aren’t we further along in how we approach certain problems. It’s because there isn’t an agreed upon, unified city vision and then teamwork in going forward. Q: Why do you think there is not a unified vision? A: Some of it is about the individuals and some of it is about the system. To take the system first, we have such unbelievable checks and balances. The charter started to make the mayor and the controller stronger positions. There is still a lot of power in the council and the 15 City Council members. Some of it is systemic and then you have 15 council members competing. Term limits have also changed the face of politics and the movements of politicians and their staying power of committing to a vision and long-term solutions. I’m hopeful we have the right leadership now in the mayor’s office to shape a stronger mayor’s position. It’s doable but it takes individual and collective will. That hasn’t been the nature or politics of city government in Los Angeles except for sporadic moments post earthquake and for a period during Tom Bradley’s era when he had a team with the council. Q: The nature of Los Angeles itself is so huge and there are so many interests, could it be that perhaps we’ll never have a cohesive vision? A: On certain key issues there needs to be a cohesive vision. Here’s one: traffic. That’s something where politics doesn’t have to come into it and shouldn’t. It’s a problem that’s non-partisan and hitting everyone in the face. There’s also public education. If people are logical and think about it that’s an issue that impacts everyone. I guess maybe one of my own personal struggles is we have to surmount personal interests and partisan interests on a regular basis to move forward toward solutions. That’s probably why I have never been interested to date in an office that’s a partisan, political office. I don’t think those politics work well in solving problems. Q: Are you saying that you’re not going to run for Congress or Senate? A: It’s not been on my plate. Q: What about mayor? A: I’ve thought about it very seriously twice in my political career and rejected the idea. I would say it’s an automatic rejection going forward for many of the same reasons. I would find it very difficult to raise the kind of money needed for a successful, competitive race, and to do the job right you have to do it the way this mayor is doing it. There are too many other things in life that pull on me to want me to completely turn myself over to it. It’s a total and entire turning over of your life to being the mayor. That is what this city needed and will continue to need. You have to be somebody who is willing to turn your life over. I am not. Q: You found a lot that needs to be changed in a lot of the departments. What changes have happened because of your audits and your work since becoming controller? Can you cite specific changes in specific departments? A: I’m not comfortable or relaxed that the changes are permanent. How things are done relies on written rules and procedures, relies on transparency and people watching but also relies on the people doing the work. And two, the changes are still very new. These changes haven’t become an entrenched, traditional way of doing things yet. But one change I would have to cite is contract awarding. It’s still evolving and I’m still pushing for further changes. It has become more transparent and I think more fair and about the public benefit because, one, they know somebody is watching and two, because in particular the proprietary departments who have awarded so much in the way of contracts have changed the way they are doing business. Ethics is a biggie. In record-breaking time, there was a huge change and it disallowed commissioners from raising money anymore for elected officials’ campaigns, which had been at the root of awarding contracts. I think I changed the mayor’s relationship with his commissioners. There is a reason why this mayor has a very top legal expert advisor on his staff. At Department of Water and Power, they didn’t have an audit committee. Well, they had it but it never met. They weren’t fulfilling their fiduciary responsibility. They had their own internal audit department but their audit had to go through bureaucratic channels. That has changed. These are written changes that have been voted on in open meetings so that for them to change now and go back to the old way would be a big deal and noticeable. The Community Redevelopment Agency, DWP, (the Los Angeles) port and airport commission meetings are now televised. I would say one of the biggest categories is that city government has become much more transparent. Now, when I come out with audits instead of the status quo at City Hall saying “she doesn’t know what she’s talking about” there’s a very different reaction. Q: Out of the audits so far is there a common thread or a similar theme? A: I think there are multiple similar themes and it depends on how far down you want to go because I could give a technology theme, a transparency and accountability theme, a good business practices theme. I would say the biggest overarching theme or message is has nobody been paying attention here, how come nobody has asked the questions before. Right inside the departments they haven’t been asking questions and I pitch that to general managers all the time. Don’t sit around and wait for me to come in. Read my audits and see what the findings are for your friends next door because I bet your people are doing the same thing. Q: Did the change in the charter allow you to be as aggressive as you’re being? A: The change in the charter allowed me to do performance audits. The change in practice and resources inside City Hall had taken away that from the CAO office who had in the past been the place that had done management audits and reports that looked at things. Q: Why should the business community care about the audits? A: It’s their tax dollars and it’s their business success. If this city is not well run I say it affects every single business and their bottom line because businesses need the world around them to go smoothly. They need streets cleaned, need crime prevented, they need schools educating kids, and they need building permits issued quickly. But the public also needs to know there are safe buildings going up and businesses need to know their tenants are occupying safe buildings. Businesses should want relief on business tax and the way we get there is running city government more efficiently and effectively. I’m all about talking to the business community. I get frustrated sometimes because they don’t see the importance. I need their voice behind me also when I am pushing for change. Q: How would you feel if after you leave office some bureaucratic faceless person who does not have the vitality that you have displayed, replaces you because no one else wants to run for controller? A: I hope I can play an influential role in who succeeds me and it is my intent to do that. Q: How will you do that? A: Through an endorsement and helping on somebody’s campaign. Q: Do you have somebody in mind right now? A: No, I do not. It’s too early. My body isn’t cold yet. I am not a lame duck. I won’t be a lame duck until the day I walk out of office. But I will weigh in. Here’s my other wishful thinking: I think the public’s attention on the office is there now and there will be people running for the office. Term limits create an interest. People have to look for their next job. People should eyeball it. It’s an important place, an important office. It’s a powerful thing for a city to have an elected official who is not voting on things, who’s not creating policy who can speak directly to the public and say this is what’s going on.

Power-One Inc., a maker of power conversion products in Camarillo, and Silicon Laboratories Inc. said today that they have entered into an agreement to settle a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Power-One. Under the terms of the settlement, Silicon Laboratories in Austin, Texas, will join the Z-One Digital Power Alliance and Power-One will offer licenses to Silicon Laboratories customers using the Z-One compliant interface. Power-One is not providing any intellectual property licenses to Silicon Laboratories.

The Lancaster City Council has approved an ambitious proposal to turn a vacant 44-acre parcel of city-owned land into a Tuscan-style mixed-use complex with as many as three hotels, including what would be the first Hilton in the rapidly growing Antelope Valley. Plans for the site at 27th Street West and Lancaster Boulevard call for a 250,000-square-foot, pedestrian-friendly center with a combination of retail, restaurants, an office element and an 86-room Hampton Inn and 92-room Homewood Suites. Vern Lawson, economic director/redevelopment director for Lancaster, said the city was approached several months ago by developer SC Premier Properties LLC with plans for a mixed-use center. Under the arrangement, the city will sell the property for $8.2 million to SC, which will create a master plan for the site. Lawson said SC would then resell about five acres to KPartners Hospitality Group, a San Antonio hotel developer that operates nine hotels in four western states, including the Hampton Inn & Suites in Palmdale. For the Lancaster site, KPartners will team up with Beverly Hills-based Hilton Hotels Corp. to develop and operate the two, three-story hotels. Then, depending on demand, the companies could return and develop a third hotel under the Hilton banner, Lawson said. The project would dovetail with Front Row Center, an expansive retail and entertainment center that includes the 4,600-seat Clear Channel Stadium, home to the Lancaster JetHawks minor league team, an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The hotels will be geared toward fans, out-of-town players and visitors to Lancaster and other areas of the Antelope Valley. It will also be the closest hotels to Edwards Air Force Base and the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, according to the city. Construction on the hotels could start as soon as 90 days, Lawson said, and wrap within 10 months. Details of the Tuscan-themed center have yet to be hammered out, although the general concept has been approved by the city, he said. The proposed mixed-use project is one of a bumper crop of projects in the high desert city, which for many years was mostly seen as a sleepy agricultural-centered enclave. Today, Lancaster is the fastest growing city in Los Angeles County, with home values up 29.2 percent this year, according to the County Assessor’s office. Hundreds of tract homes are planned, creating entire communities out of the desert. Lawson said the new homes have spawned development of the commercial front. “That residential growth is driving retail growth,” he said. “It’s a boom town. Our whole area has a very, very strong retail market.” Much of that development has centered on Clear Channel Stadium, constructed for $14.5 million a decade ago in part to lure new development to that area of the city. The concept has apparently paid off. A languishing nearby outlet center was redeveloped into Lancaster Market Place in 1999, the same year the $20 million Cinemark 22 movie theater opened on a 19-acre site across from the stadium. Retail has also popped up next door at the Lancaster Power Center, which has a Wal-Mart as its anchor tenant. Brad Seymour, general manager of the JetHawks, said development is at least partially due to the stadium, which draws in 3,000 fans for a typical game. “When the stadium was built in 1996, development was promised. It was always earmarked to take place with the stadium as the cornerstone,” he said. For the team, which brought in its 2 millionth fan last year, the prospect of three new hotels bringing even more ticket-buyers is exciting, he said. Right now, the nearest lodging is about four miles away, he said. “It makes it more of a destination,” Seymour said, adding that more rooms would surely bring in more fans. “It’s a built-in audience literally staying across your parking lot maybe looking for something to do an easy stroll away. It’s ideal for us,” he said. That makes sense to Steve Malicot, president and CEO of the Antelope Valley Chambers of Commerce, who said the area’s growth is possible because Lancaster is one of the few areas in the county in which land is plentiful and the cost to build is moderate. “We have room for growth when, generally speaking, Los Angeles County doesn’t have a whole lot of available land,” he said. “This area is primed for growth.”

The Warner Center insurance and planning consulting firm TIME Financial Services has been acquired by New Jersey-based The Bisys Group Inc., a finance outsourcing company that is the largest independent wholesale distributor of life insurance in the country. Bisys paid an undisclosed sum for the private company, which specializes in estate, charity and business planning and life insurance. Amy Conti, vice president of investor relations for Bisys, said that TIME fits into a plan by Bisys to expand its point-of-sale insurance portfolio on the West Coast. Bisys operates a similar company in Charlotte, N.C., called LifeSource, which it bought several years ago. The idea was that the two sides would complement each other, Conti said. “It’s strategically a great fit for us because we’re both supporting national firms,” she said. Conti said TIME Financial would continue to operate out of its headquarters in Warner Center. No personnel changes are planned for the 25-year-old company’s 100-member staff. Conti said Time founder Kate Kinkade would continue in her role as CEO and president. Kinkade did not return phone calls seeking comment about the purchase, but in a statement, she said that Bisys is an ideal company to assist in expansion. “We see an excellent fit with the LifeSource team, both philosophically and geographically, and believe that combining the resources of these organizations will provide the scope and coverage and quality of service that financial advisory firms require,” she said. Bisys Group was founded in 1989 to help community banks improve service and today has 4,800 employees in 11 offices around the world. It operates an investment services branch, which provides administrative services for hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity funds and retirement plans, and an insurance services group. Revenues topped $1.06 billion last year. Since going public in 1992, the Roseland, N.J., company has aggressively expanded in the market by acquiring 37 smaller competitors. In March, it sold an information services unit. Conti said Bisys sought to purchase TIME because the two sides were rivals. “They have basically been competing with us in the marketplace for awhile,” she said. Bisys came under fire earlier this month when a company truck carrying the personal information of about 61,000 hedge fund investors was stolen, putting their identities at risk. In June, accounting errors were uncovered in its restate financial statements that were filed in its annual report for fiscal 2005. The errors, which totaled less than $3 million, involved the acquisitions in life insurance services during fiscal year 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Asking rents for apartments in the San Fernando Valley continued to soar in the second quarter, rising an average 7.4 percent in the past year, according to a report just released by RealFacts, a tracking service for the multifamily market. As of the second quarter of 2006, rental rates in the San Fernando Valley averaged $1,498 a month, up from $1,395 per month in the second quarter of 2005, the report data revealed. The largest increases were seen in two-bedroom, one-bath units, where rents rose 10.8 percent. On average, rents for one-bedroom, one-bath units rose 7.2 percent. The submarket seeing the largest rent increases was Woodland Hills, where asking rents rose 10.7 percent year over year to $1,644 a month. Studio City saw the smallest rent increases, 1.5 percent on the year over year basis to $1,682 a month, followed by Valencia where rents rose just 2.3 percent to an average $1,624 per month. Thousand Oaks also experienced double digit rent increases. Rents in that community rose an average 10.5 percent to $1,658. As of the second quarter, the community with the lowest average rents was Reseda, where monthly rates averaged $1,048. (Rental rate averages include units ranging from studios to four-bedroom apartments. RealFacts does not survey properties with fewer than 100 units.) Perhaps not surprisingly, multifamily sales have decreased as interest rates and property prices have risen. According to RealFacts, just three properties changed hands so far in 2006, compared to nine in 2005 and 12 in 2004. (Here again, RealFacts data is limited to large complexes with at least 100 units). The average price per square foot for 2006 so far was $275.31 compared to an average per square foot price of $224.40 for Valley multifamily sales in 2005. Woodland Hills Sale A 51,396-square-foot office building in Woodland Hills has sold for $9.5 million. The property, at 21731 Ventura Blvd., sold to Beverly Hills-based developer Black Equities Group. Roger L. Beck, a broker with Colliers International, represented the buyer. Jeff Resnick, a broker with First Property, represented the seller, Woodland Park Development Co. Valley Village Sale A Valley Village shopping center has been sold for $5,050,000. The buyer, Agora Realty & Management Inc., is the development company that built Plaza del Valle and is currently renovating other shopping center properties in the Valley. The 41,000-square-foot center, Bellingham Valley Plaza, at 6418-6446 Bellingham St., was built in 1955. Agora plans to renovate it to accommodate retail and office tenants. “This is a great opportunity to restore and enhance the utility of a centrally located building,” said Cary Lefton of Agora. Yubin Tao, Collin Plume and Warren Berzack at Investment Real Estate Associates, represented Agora in the transaction. The seller, a private investor, was represented by Chuck LeRoy with Anchor Management Services. Cleaning Sylmar Tony Torres, the owner of B & W; Towing in Pacoima, has acquired an industrial site in Sylmar. The 66,000-square-foot parcel, which includes 21,000 square feet of buildings at 13151 San Fernando Road, sold for $3.7 million. Torres said he hopes to rehab the site, which he called a “blight,” but has not yet determined how he will use it. “We’re trying to decide what would be best at this point,” said Torres, who has been active in improvement projects in Pacoima. “The first thing we want to do is clean it up.” George Stavaris, a broker with Colliers International, represented Torres. Adam Comora, a broker with Delphi Business Properties, represented the seller, a private investor. D & J; Expands The principals of D & J; Rock Products Inc., a supplier of import automotive engine parts, have acquired a 19,500-square-foot facility in Chatsworth to expand their plant capacity. The property, at 8960 Lurline St., sold for $2.9 million. It includes about an acre of land. D & J;, currently located in Pacoima, expects to employ 20 people at the Chatsworth site. David Hoffberg, a broker with Delphi Business Properties Inc., represented the buyer and seller, Container Components. Correction & Omissions Due to incorrect information supplied by Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura in a press release announcing the sale of a 51,000-square-foot Newbury Park building (Real Estate Column, July 17) the brokers representing the seller in the transaction were misidentified. Lee Black, with Newmark Knight Frank, represented the seller in the transaction, Newbury Park Associates. Jim McDonald with Group100 represented the buyer, B-M Properties, along with Bob Flink and Bob Shafer, both with Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura. In the same issue, one of the brokers involved in the sale of Warner Business Park East in Canoga Park was omitted from the item. Scott Silverstein, a broker with Lee & Associates LA North/Ventura, represented the seller, a private investor.

CUB California United Bank reported total assets of $142.5 million at the end of its first full four quarters of operation on June 30, 2006, an increase of 22 percent over assets as of March 31. The Encino-based startup said deposits increased 32.2 percent to $98.8 million as of the end of its second quarter on June 30, compared with $74.8 million as of March 31. For the second quarter, CUB lost $618,000 compared to a net loss of $666,000 for the first quarter of 2006.