NEWSMAKERS Airports Los Angeles World Airports has promoted Kathy Van Ness to financial manager II in its financial planning division, managing the operating budget for its four airports. Van Ness previously headed the budget and audit division at LAWA. Career Services Career services company Lee Hecht Harrison has appointed vice president and senior consultant Bruce Barnes to the position of director of professional services. In his new role, Barnes will be responsible for providing career management and transition services to senior executive, management and staff level personnel. Engineering Charles G. Novak has retired from Hall & Foreman Inc., an engineering, surveying, planning and landscape architecture firm in Chatsworth. Novak has served on the board of directors of the Chatsworth Chamber of Commerce. Stephanie Bloom has been appointed to assistant project manager for the newly created project expediting group at Van Nuys-based VTN West, Inc., a civil engineering firm. Bloom has been with VTN for 15 years, serving as a liaison between the firm’s project managers and its clients, public agencies and consultants. Finance James Walker, executive vice president and chief information officer at WMC Mortgage Corp. has retired from the Woodland Hills-based company. Walker, who is 60, has been with the company since January, 1993 when it was Weyerhaeuser Mortgage and was part of the team that led the transition to WMC. Walker was instrumental in developing WMC’s loan origination Web site, at the center of its marketing strategy as an Internet-based lender. Government Yusef Robb has been appointed press deputy to Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn. Robb will oversee coordination of all press conferences and media interviews with the mayor and handle general media inquiries. Robb previously served as deputy communications director for former Gov. Gray Davis. He was also the press secretary to the New York State Democratic Committee and served as press officer on the 2000 Al Gore presidential campaign. Rita Robinson has been appointed by Mayor James Hahn to serve as general manager for the city’s Bureau of Sanitation. Robinson will oversee a department with a budget of $207 million and more than 2,600 employees. Robinson previously served as the interim general manager for the Los Angeles Housing Department and as interim general manager at the Department of Transportation. Real Estate Barry Rothstein has joined NAI Capital Commercial’s NNN Group, which specializes in net leased credit single tenant investments. As part of his duties, Rothstein will form an international network of net leased brokers within NAI. The 17-year commercial real estate veteran was most recently with Charles Dunn Co. Rental Agencies Enterprise Rent-A-Car has promoted Lora James to area manager in charge of rental offices serving a portion of the San Fernando Valley including Northridge, Chatsworth, Granada Hills and Canoga Park. She will supervise the four rental offices with 26 employees out of the company’s Northridge branch. She was previously an Enterprise branch manager in Beverly Hills. Manufacturing Rudolph (Rudy) A. Schlais, Jr. resigned from the Superior Industries International Inc. Board of Directors citing personal reasons. He had been elected in March 2003. Technology Valencia-based 3D Systems Corp. has named Fred R. Jones as vice president and CFO and Robert M. Grace, Jr. as vice president, general counsel and secretary. Jones was previously at his own consulting firm and before that served as CFO of two NYSE-listed firms. Grace worked at NYSE-listed Sealed Air Corp. for 22 years as general counsel and secretary. He is also a member of the New York Bar.

Capitol Punishment: Our Legislators Can Work Together Guest Column By Gregory N. Lippe The recent collaborative effort resulting in the qualification of Proposition 57 “The Economic Recovery Bond Act” and Proposition 58 “The California Balanced Budget Act” for placement on the March 2 ballot proves that our legislators can work productively, efficiently and cooperatively for the betterment of California. Only two of our seven valley Assemblymembers, Frommer and Strickland, and two of our five valley Senators, Margett and McClintock voted against ABX5 9, the bill to place Proposition 57 on the ballot. ACAX5 5, the bill to place Proposition 58 on the ballot passed unanimously. As many of you know, the key provisions included in both ABX5 9 and ACAX5 5 and, therefore, Propositions 57 and 58 (a $15 billion bond measure to deal with the budget deficit and a requirement that the state enact a balanced budget annually) were requested by Gov. Schwarzenegger to enable California to stop its current fiscal hemorrhage, to boost its credit rating and to provide fiscal stability and economic strength for the future. I believe that our governor and legislators deserve our praise for working together for the common good. I also believe that it is our duty to support them in their efforts by voting in favor of both propositions on March 2. Now that we know our elected officials can work together effectively for our benefit, we must demand that they continue to do so and stop introducing and voting for bills that punish jobs and businesses. During the prior regular legislative session, there were 51 bills introduced that were identified as “Job Killer Bills” by the Coalition for California Jobs, a coalition spearheaded by the California Chamber of Commerce to fight anti-job legislation and to protect and create jobs in California. The drafting, introduction and processing of these bills wastes valuable time and money and, if passed, the legislation causes businesses to either close or relocate to other states and results in the elimination of jobs. I believe that it is important to note that of the 51 “Job Killer Bills”, ten were authored by four of our Valley legislators as follows: Assembly, Frommer (1), Koretz (3); Senate, Alarcon (3), Kuehl (3). Therefore, although these Valley legislators constitute less than 4 percent of all California legislators, they are responsible for introducing 20 percent of the “Job Killer Bills.” Additionally, to date, 16 of the 51 bills have passed. Of those that passed, the four Valley legislators mentioned above voted as follows: Assembly, Frommer (14 aye, 1 no, 1 absent or abstaining), Koretz (15 aye, 1 no); Senate, Alarcon (16 aye), Kuehl (16 aye). On what I consider to be the positive side, it should also be noted that these same legislators voted for the placement of Propositions 57 and 58 on the March ballot. For the past seven months I have provided information about the bills that are hurting our jobs and our businesses and about those legislators who have voted for and against the bills. Our power is in our collective voice and our vote. I urge everyone to write, phone or e-mail your legislators. It’s time for us to deliver annual performance reviews and suggestions for future improvements. If our voices are heard and improvements occur, we will all benefit. If not, 2004 is an election year. The following are the bills I have chosen to profile this month: – SB 923: Adds new conditions and provides for additional costs to obtain waivers for waste discharges. Existing laws provide that, subject to certain conditions, a regional board may waive certain waste discharge requirements for specific discharges or specific types of discharges if the waiver is not against the public interest. This bill would impose new costly conditions and authorize the state board or regional board to require payment of an annual fee. The result will be additional costs to employers and increased costs to consumers. It creates an incentive for employers to reduce their work force and/or relocate to other states. Status: Passed Senate and Assembly, approved by governor on Oct. 10, 2003. Valley legislators voting for bill: Senate, Alarcon, Kuehl, Scott; Assembly, Frommer Koretz, Levine, Montanez, Pavley. Valley legislators voting against bill: Senate, Knight, Margett, McClintock; Assembly, Richman, Strickland. – SB 128: Requires that providers of cellular radiotelephone service extend a minimum grace period of an unspecified number of days to new customers during which the customer may rescind the agreement, without cost or penalty, if the customer is not satisfied with the service quality. This will burden cellular service providers with additional costs and place requirements on them that are not imposed on other industries. It will be a disincentive to providing new jobs and could cause the loss of existing jobs. Status: Passed Senate on May 12, 2003, currently in Assembly. Valley senators voting for bill: Kuehl, Scott. Valley senators voting against bill: Knight, Margett, McClintock Valley senators absent, abstaining or not voting: Alarcon Omission: In my December 8 column, I omitted the names of the Valley Assemblymembers who voted against SB 288, a bill that provides more stringent requirements than those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with respect to new and modified sources of air pollutants. Assemblymembers Richman and Strickland voted against the bill. Gregory N. Lippe, CPA, is managing partner of the Woodland Hills-based CPA firm of Lever, Lippe, Hellie & Russell LLP (LLHR) and a director of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA).

VALLEY BRIEFS Image’s Asian Rap Chatsworth-based Image Entertainment, Inc., a licensee and producer of DVDs, inked an exclusive distribution deal with New York-based Ruff Ryders Entertainment for a series of releases featuring an up and coming rapper, Jin. Jin, who is Chinese-American, has generated buzz within the rap music industry after a successful run on several rap contests on Black Entertainment Television, a national cable channel with programming oriented for African-Americans. Ruff Ryders, which signed him to a record deal, plans to release his first CD in March. The first DVD, “Jin: The Making of a Rap Star,” will be released in April. Shipping Software to Brazil Westlake Village-based CaminoSoft Corp., a leading manufacturer of software used to store and manage large quantities of data, signed a distribution agreement with CSF Storage of Brazil. Under the agreement CSF will distribute CaminoSoft’s software to value-added resellers and their users in Brazil and the South America region. The agreement marks CaminoSoft’s first distribution partnership in South America, vice president of channel sales and marketing Richard Krueger said in a statement. The company already distributes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. PS Adds to Portfolio PS Business Parks Inc. has acquired three buildings totaling 3.6 million square feet of space in Arizona, Florida and California. The total cost of the acquisitions was $242 million. With the acquisition, the Glendale-based real estate investment trust develops owns and operates commercial properties in nine states. PS Business Parks acquired four multi-tenant buildings in Phoenix totaling 110,000 square feet for $9.5 million. The company purchased another two office buildings totaling 107,000 square feet in Orange, Calif. for $15.5 million. And it entered a new market, Miami, with the purchase of a 53-building portfolio of almost 3.4 million square feet for $217 million. Homestore Goes National Homestore Inc., a Westlake Village- based provider of real estate media and technology products, has moved back to trading on the Nasdaq National Market. The company had traded on the SmallCap Market since November, 2002, after its share price fell to the $0.50 range. The company’s shares were trading at $4.88 on Dec. 31, up from a 52-week low of $0.48 in April. Panel on Health Care Planned David Helwig, president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross of California and Chris Wing, executive vice president of Health Net Inc. and president of Health Net of California will take part in a panel discussion on some of the critical issues facing health care insurers, employers and workers Tuesday, Jan. 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sheraton Universal hotel in Universal City. The forum is being sponsored by the Los Angeles Association of Health Underwriters (LAAHU) and the Employee Benefits Planning Association of Los Angeles. James Frey, president of PacificCare of California will also join the panel, which will address a variety of topics on the industry, including the rising costs of health care, the movement away from managed health care plans or HMOs and on-going efforts to stem the rising costs of prescription drugs. For more information, contact the LAAHU at (323) 466-3445.

Valley-Based Insurance Firm Brought to Brink by Temblor By SHELLY GARCIA Senior Reporter Richard Andre calls it the perfect storm. “We were headquartered in the epicenter. We wrote business in the epicenter and our employees lived in the epicenter,” said the senior vice president for 21st Century Insurance Group, recollecting the days immediately following the Northridge Earthquake. Back then, the company, then called 20th Century Insurance, sold auto and homeowners insurance, and many of its homeowners policy holders, like its employees, were Valley residents. Unsure of the safety of its own headquarters offices, the Woodland Hills-based company set up shop in the parking lot by the very next day following the quake, and conducted business in what employees came to call “tent city.” Upstairs in the offices, files had completely spilled out of their receptacles and lay scattered across the floor along with glass shards from the windows that had shattered. Below, much of the staff, many Valley residents with their own problems at home, sat at makeshift desks with portable generators and toilets, answering questions and even handing out checks to those policyholders who came by. “We certainly have emergency plans for fires, but it did not entail setting up temporary facilities in the parking lot,” said Andre. “We did that because we couldn’t get back into our own building immediately.” The company paid out $1.1 billion in claims as a result of the quake, nearly as much as 21st Century now has in assets, and enough to bring the insurer to the brink of insolvency. In 1994, 21st Century lost nearly $500 million. An agreement reached with American International Group Inc. by the end of 1994 kept 21st Century afloat (AIG has since acquired a controlling interest in the company) and, with the cash infusion about $200 million the insurer rebuilt its business, including an expansion into Arizona and later, Oregon, Nevada and Washington, and the construction of a state-of-the-art Internet site that now allows 21st Century to handle much of its direct underwriting business electronically. Still it wasn’t easy. A decision to discontinue offering homeowners insurance sent many of 21st Century’s auto insurance clients elsewhere for those policies as well. And the insurer spent years settling claims originating from the Northridge Earthquake, in some cases only after protracted court battles. Ten years later, those disputes are resurfacing. Legislation signed into law late in 2000 gave quake victims another year to file earthquake-related claims, and is expected to result in new lawsuits. New legislation has extended the deadline for claims originating from the earthquake and 21st Century has set aside $37 million to fight those cases. But the company that will wage those battles is quite different, and far stronger, from the one that doled out temporary living expense checks to homeowner policyholders in the days and weeks following the Northridge Earthquake. 21st Century Insurance, which now conducts business in five states including California, boasts revenues of $981.3 million and assets totaling $1.5 billion. In 2002, the company wrote $965.3 million in premiums and for the most recent quarter ending Sept. 30, 21st Century earned $12.7 million. “Not only did we survive,” said Andre, “but now we’re thriving again in the business we do best.”

Homeowners Obtained More Rights in Quake Aftermath Guest Column By Brian S. Kabateck It’s been a decade since the Northridge earthquake. While new laws and regulations were enacted because of post-earthquake insurance misdeeds, Californians are still vulnerable to insurance nightmares when the next big disaster hits. Here’s a quick look back on what many homeowners discovered when filing insurance claims after the Northridge earthquake. Claim adjusters who where responsible for determining the extent of earthquake damage were not properly trained. Because the demand for adjusters was so great, adjusters were from other parts of the country where earthquakes are virtually nonexistent. They simply did not have the experience to properly determine damage. Even local adjusters were untrained. Untrained adjusters would look at cracks in a wall or chipped stucco and order a “patch and paint” job, not knowing that earthquake damage works from the inside out. A crack in a wall could mean problems with tweaked framing or even a damaged foundation. Insurance companies realized that they had grossly underestimated damage and had inadequately compensated their policyholders. Instead of admitting their mistakes and voluntarily reassessing damage, many tried to sweep the problem under the rug. As homeowners began finding additional, sometimes severe, damage to their homes, they approached their insurance carriers with amended claims, only to be told that they had no right to additional money because the statute of limitations for filing claims had expired. Hundreds of lawsuits were filed by angry policyholders who felt their insurance companies were cheating them. The outcry caught the attention of legislators in Sacramento where new laws and regulations protecting consumers against unscrupulous insurance carriers were enacted. An investigation also found that California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quakenbush cut deals with insurance carriers that enabled them to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for mishandling earthquake claims. The investigation resulted in the ouster of Quakenbush and the enacting of a new law that gave Northridge victims a last chance to present their claims even though the statute of limitations had expired. ‘Bill of rights’ Laws enacted since the earthquake require insurance companies to tell policyholders how long they have to file lawsuits when unhappy with the way a loss was handled. A post-quake California Supreme Court decision holds insurance companies liable if they make misrepresentations in the adjustment of claims. The Northridge earthquake also prompted the passage of the “policyholders’ bill of rights,” which requires insurance companies to provide customers with all laws and regulations describing how claims are adjusted, and upon request, to provide policyholders with copies of claim files. While much of the insurance reforms benefited policyholders, insurance companies also made “reforms” of their own that put California policyholders in a precarious position. The earthquake made insurance companies painfully aware that they were exposed to too much risk. The earthquake was the world’s third most costly disaster in terms of insurance losses behind only 9/11 in 2001 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Companies paid out nearly $17 billion in insurance quake claims. To reduce this type of exposure, they have cut coverage. In fact, whenever insurance companies suffer a catastrophic loss, whether it is an earthquake or a rash of similar claims (i.e., mold claims), their response is to pull back coverage. Not surprisingly, insurance companies have taken away many of the benefits policyholders enjoyed prior to the earthquake. Most policies in 1994 included guaranteed replacement cost clauses that are rarely included in today’s policies. Earthquake insurance is hard to find or comes with huge deductibles. Claim limits have been reduced. Not enough The effect of these types of changes is being felt today. Many victims of the recent fires are already finding that the amount and type of coverage they carried on their homes will not enable them to rebuild as they thought. A 2,000 square foot house of moderate construction, for example, could cost between $150 and $200 a square foot to rebuild. That means homeowners may need as much as $400,000 in insurance for the house alone. The cost of personal belongings clothes, furniture, appliances, computer equipment, and jewelry could surpass $100,000. Renting a home for a year while the damaged property is being repaired could easily cost $25,000 or more. Yet if most homeowners review their policies, coverage would likely be much less than these figures and their insurance agent is not telling them otherwise. Most of us still put our faith and confidence in our insurance agent to sell us the proper amount of insurance. Although insurance carriers are in a superior position of knowing how much insurance a homeowner needs, they continue to write inadequate property insurance to protect themselves from another Northridge earthquake-like claims payout. Insurance companies should be honest with their customers and be responsible for setting the proper value of the insured’s property and providing adequate coverage. Consumers will then have a choice accept the coverage recommendations by the insurer, pay the necessary premiums and expect to be fully compensated when a claim if filed, or don’t accept the recommendations and understand that if disaster strikes they may not be fully covered. This way, when the next disaster hits, all parties will understand their rights and obligations and hopefully avoid the barrage of lawsuits and scramble for government fixes that took place after the Northridge earthquake. Brian S. Kabateck is a partner with the Los Angeles law firm of Kabateck & Garris LLP. He represented hundreds of homeowners in claims against insurance companies after the Northridge earthquake and helped enact earthquake-related laws. He can be reached at 213-217-5000, [email protected].

In Their Own Words: Traveling Tough Road to Recovery By SLAV KANDYBA Staff Reporter Many small businesses in the Valley were hit hard by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Most experienced many of the same problems, including damages to property and loss of clientele. Some were back to normal in about six months’ time, while others took years to get back on track. The Business Journal asked four owners to describe their journey on the path to recovery. Ramin Saberzadeh Exotic Image, Northridge “I opened the business in 1993, so it was a fairly new business at the time of the earthquake. Basically I didn’t have much business. Slowly it picked up, after about five or six months. The majority of my customers are health-conscious individuals between 35 and 55 years of age. I had two or three tanning beds on which acrylic shields broke. The beds were worth about $5,000 to $7,000 each. I could’ve fixed them, but I never wanted that part of the business, so I expanded it into a gym. After the earthquake, it was like ‘why have a tanning bed?’ I didn’t want to deal with them. “On a regular basis, I get anywhere from 55 to 100 people here per day. The outlook is I’m trying to expand it further. I want to make an impact and emphasize people should get healthier before going for fat loss. I think the recovery is complete. Not everyone was that fortunate.” Roya Saberzadeh Rochie’s Greek Row, Northridge “It hasn’t been a full recovery, and it will be full when I pay the debt. We got two SBA loans. We definitely changed our format of doing business. Now we see the signs of business coming back fully. We were dependent on the university there is a direct correlation with the growing enrollment. All the people left immediately after the earthquake, including fraternities and sororities. For the people that were left, the economy didn’t permit to belong to different organizations. “We certainly had a lot of damage, and lost our entire store. We were kind of like a gift store, and we had lots of things inside, a lot of glass and wood. For three weeks we were collecting broken glass and debris so we could start walking. “There was nothing really standing. This building is very old and we didn’t have any coverage. We’re right across the building that was totally demolished. It took a few years for regular life to resume. Now, almost 10 years later, people just have a distant memory.” Howard Meister Wine & Liquor Depot, Van Nuys “A quarter of a million dollars went down in a few seconds. Much of the stuff was piled up high in boxes. We moved into this store four days before the earthquake and weren’t opened yet, as we brought over all our products. We had to let all the employees go. My son and I did everything little by little as we came back. When you don’t have employees, you scrub the floors yourself. Now there are six people. “We started advertising and people started telling others that we are the best discount store in the Valley. We went from a full-service store on Ventura in Encino to a lesser rent area where we are a discount store. Our advertising and Web site help. “We now wire the bottles in, so if another earthquake comes, we won’t lose as much. We don’t carry a lot of those extremely expensive things. Business has been going up since Sept. 11.” Alan Beutler Old Friends Antiquities, Canoga Park “My building was extensively damaged and it was red-tagged. I thought it was the end of my economic future, and I have been here for 25 years. For some reason, the day after the earthquake I got a bug to do something, so I put what was left in the storage, and started cleaning up. Low and behold, we got the red tag removed and up and running four to five months later. Business was never better, since the earthquake. I went from a dark cloud to a cornucopia of sorts. I have primarily antique furniture and we were able to repair some of it. “Doing restoration for people in the area who had stuff damaged opened a whole new business for me. The earthquake benefited me big time. The revenues increased rather dramatically, although I had a lot of money going out. “It took me several years to recover, and it has been OK ever since. Business has generally been good for me. It’s been a full recovery. I went from this terrible disaster to a great business.”

Developer’s Gamble With Quake Properties Pays Off By SHELLY GARCIA Senior Reporter If not for the Northridge Earthquake, PCS Development would still likely be a small, telecommunications company only a fraction of its current size. It was the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding available in the aftermath of the earthquake, along with depressed real estate prices, that gave the company its jump start to becoming a pioneer in the development of luxury multifamily housing in the San Fernando Valley, a beginning that has since evolved into a portfolio of apartment buildings stretching from Northridge to Sherman Oaks and West Hills and Thousand Oaks. More recently, PCS has begun to offset its portfolio of luxury residences with a move into the senior living market. The company is currently developing a condominium complex for seniors in Sherman Oaks and in Calabasas. All told, PCS has built about 2,000 residential units since its entry into the market in 1995, and the privately held firm has grown to about 200 employees from a 25-worker telecom company. Paul Jennings, PCS’s CEO, who founded the company in the late 1980s, had been providing telephone equipment like pay phones to government agencies and other corporate institutions when a friend approached him for help navigating the mountain of paperwork needed to secure the FEMA funding available after the quake for his real estate project. As a government contractor, Jennings knew the ins and outs of government red tape. He also quickly saw the wisdom in his friend’s strategy, and it wasn’t long before Jennings decided to try his own hand at real estate. “The city identified twelve neighborhoods they called ghost town projects,” Jennings recalled. “They made designated zones and one of those ghost towns was Sherman Oaks, particularly the area around Willis and Natick avenues. PCS acquired seven of the buildings in that sector at about 30 cents on the dollar, and with grants provided by FEMA and administered through the Los Angeles Housing Department, redeveloped the properties. Faith in the market A native of New Jersey, Jennings had moved to L.A. about 15 years before and was living in Calabasas when the earthquake struck, but the temblor did little to shake his faith in the area’s real estate market. “My belief was just based on believing in California, and thinking California was a wonderful place,” Jennings said. Those smaller projects went virtually unnoticed, but they pumped enough profits back into the company so that PCS began to redevelop multifamily apartments buildings in earnest, even when FEMA funding was no longer available. The next project would put PCS on the development map. In 1996, the company acquired a former Oakwood Apartments development that had been all but leveled in the quake and, realizing that the demographics of Sherman Oaks were changing, set out to redevelop the property for the young urban professionals Jennings believed would be seeking luxury rentals in the area. The 372-unit Premiere at Sherman Oaks, with a common area screening room, conference rooms and banquet halls, broadband Internet access in the units, pools and volleyball courts was among the first super-luxury complexes of its size to be built in the Valley, traditionally known as an address for single family homes. “I thought Sherman Oaks was a fabulous area,” he said. “Other people were rebuilding (projects) as they had been, and I said, why? Let’s rebuild them as something better.” Additional costs At a cost of about $9 million, the property did not come cheaply, nor did the cost of retrofitting, which required among other things that PCS pump truckloads of concrete into the ground to stabilize it. “It was the largest, most damaged of the earthquake buildings,” Jennings said. “It was next to the wash so it had particularly severe damage. And it was an expensive building for us to buy. By then, values had gone up quite a bit.” The gambit paid off, and since then, a number of other players have entered the luxury apartment market, developing similar properties throughout the Valley. PCS has just completed a residential project in Long Beach, and the company is expected to soon begin a mixed-use development of apartments and retail space on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Sales have begun on another project, a condominium for active seniors in Valley Village. Real estate currently accounts for about 75 percent of the company’s business, with the remaining 25 percent still devoted to telecommunications. And while none of the company’s current projects involved earthquake damaged properties, Jennings doesn’t shy away from the fact that the Northridge Earthquake was singularly responsible for the company’s transition, although he does concede that the shift wasn’t without its risks. “I jump out of airplanes and I bungee jump for fun,” he said. “I wouldn’t be a risk taker buying earthquake damaged buildings if I didn’t have that other side. This was not for the faint of heart.”

Economic Alliance Was Born From Ruins of Earthquake By JACQUELINE FOX Staff Reporter Prior to the quake of ’92 there was already a move afoot to establish an economic development organization for the San Fernando Valley, primarily to address the decline of the local aerospace industry. But resources were scarce, as was interest. Then the 6.7 tremor hit, snuffing out not just buildings and lives, but significantly setting the Valley’s already fragile economy about many giant steps backward. That’s when local attorney Robert Scott and a handful of other Valley business leaders rolled up their sleeves and essentially made a commitment to conduct a “hell or high water” campaign to get the local economy back on its feet. Scott, now director of the CivicCenter Group, was serving as president of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley. He said it all began with a few phone calls. “I still remember being bunkered down in my house and Bonny Herman (president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association) being bunkered down in hers,” said Scott. “We had hour-long conversations about what we were going to do. We began by co-facilitating FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) workshops and reaching out to businesses in an effort to help them get funding for recovery efforts.” Scott and others also met with then U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, who is said to have landed in the Valley by helicopter atop the roof of Sherman Oaks Hospital on a mission to assess the quake damage and help cobble together a federal recovery aid package. Creating an organization According to Scott, Brown wanted assurances that federal assistance would go to the Valley and he wanted to nail down one local group to manage the funds. “Ron Brown said ‘Look, we want to bring some resources in here. Is there an organization that we can channel this through or do we need to create one?’ I said ‘I think we need to create one,”‘ said Scott. That was the birth of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, which has since become one of the region’s most vital economic and philanthropic organizations, with nine full time employees and an operating budget of just over $1 million. In the end, the Valley received only roughly $350,000 in planning grants from the Feds’ $1.8 million grant made to the city proper, according to Scott. But that money was funneled through the Valley Economic Development Center, not the Alliance, and, for some time, feathers were ruffled and egos clashed. Meanwhile, funds needed to move the Alliance forward were also very tight and, over the course of the next 18 months, the group’s progress came in fits and starts. Then in 1996 the Alliance elected David Fleming as its chairman, whose position as a high-powered attorney helped kick-start a campaign to boost the fledgling group’s image. “He makes things happen,” said Scott. “We wanted to hire an East Coast fundraising firm but they wanted $50,000 just to get started. David essentially underwrote that so they could start raising funds.” Gaining clout The Alliance’s clout and visibility has mushroomed significantly since its early days. In 1999 the organization established a joint partnership with The James Irvine Foundation, which has since funded the creation of several of the Alliance’s numerous publications and programs, including its ambitious master plan for long-term economic development known as “Vision 20/20.” There isn’t an issue on the table for the Valley’s business community that the Alliance doesn’t have some form of involvement in, including transit, education, tourism, quality of life and urban revitalization. “If you look back, the Alliance really had three primary functions when it began,” said Bruce Ackerman, the group’s president and CEO since 2000. “Those were earthquake recovery funding, retention of jobs and boosting the Valley’s image. With all we had going on at the time the quake hit the riots of 1992, floods, a terrible real estate recession the San Fernando Valley was not exactly the coolest place to be.” According to Ackerman, the Alliance has put roughly $7 million of the funds it has raised since its launch right back into the local economy. Business development and marketing the Valley as a destination continue to hold top priority for the Alliance, which, in the last few years has taken over management of the San Fernando Valley Conference & Visitors Bureau and the Valley International Trade Association. The Alliance’s “Valley of the Stars” image campaign, designed to boost tourism and interest in the region, has successfully linked the five cities of Burbank, Glendale, Los Angeles, San Fernando and Calabasas, creating community ties between them and giving the Valley a long-needed sense of “place.” “By taking over those two associations and through Valley of the Stars, we’ve expanded our ability to become a complete marketing agency for the Valley,” said Ackerman. “So what began 10 years ago as a reaction to a crisis has turned into one of the most dynamic organizations working for the Valley’s business community and its residents.”

2,500 Apartment Units Get Underway in Warner Center By SHELLY GARCIA Senior Reporter Over the past 25 years, Warner Center has become a prime business address. Now the area is about to become a tony residential neighborhood for renters. Two new luxury apartment projects about to get underway would add 1,300 rental units to Warner Center. Along with three other projects in various stages of development, the neighborhood is expected to add more than 2,500 new apartment units, all at the top end of the rental range, in coming years. In all the cases the new apartment construction will replace commercial buildings, many of which date back more than 25 years to a time when it was still a risky proposition for a business to locate so far to the western end of the San Fernando Valley. “The Warner Center Specific Plan was deliberately designed to encourage residential use in the area, and that’s what’s happening now,” said Brad Rosenheim, principal at Rosenheim & Associates, a lobbying and land use consultant in Warner Center. “The idea was to create more of a jobs, housing balance.” Pacific Properties LLC, a privately held company based in Las Vegas, is beginning the permitting process for its first Los Angeles-area project, a 522-unit apartment complex on a 10.7-acre parcel where eight low-rise industrial buildings now stand between Variel Street and DeSoto Avenue. The company has already met with residents and with the Woodland Hills/Warner Center Neighborhood Council and hopes to break ground by the end of next year. Weintraub Investments, which acquired a property that now houses Panavision’s headquarters at 6219 DeSoto Ave., is also planning to construct a housing complex that would include more than 850 units plus a residence for active seniors, according to documents filed with the Los Angeles Planning Department. The timing on that project is less clear. Weintraub officials declined to be interviewed for this story, but Panavision, which has occupied the site since 1996, has about seven years remaining on its lease, and it’s not known whether the developer will move to expedite Panavision’s departure. Panavision, which has been entangled in financial woes for several years, declined to comment on its plans, but some believe that the company may well welcome the opportunity to break its lease for a smaller facility elsewhere. The newcomers will join two other developers that have begun to build multifamily projects in the area. Archstone Communities, a unit of Archstone-Smith, is planning to construct a 522-unit residential complex at the site of the former Ray-Art Studios in Canoga Park. Second development Morgan Group, which is completing a 130-unit apartment complex at 6150 Canoga Avenue where an office building once stood, is also moving forward with a second development of 563 units at 6200 and 6250 Canoga Ave, The Plaza at Warner Center. That project will also be constructed on the 11-acre site of what is currently an office building. Morgan, which has just finished its traffic study, anticipates breaking ground in late summer of next year, said Derek Empey, vice president of development for the company. What has made residential developers stand up and take notice of Warner Center after all these years? “The biggest attraction is that there are 45,000 jobs and 8 million to 9 million square feet of office space,” said Randall Reel, senior vice president for Pacific Properties. “There’s a severe imbalance of jobs to homes, and it’s such a nice area.” All told, Warner Center has more than 16 million square feet of commercial space, and Reel said that since 1997, the area has added a mere 775 units of apartments. Using the generally accepted formula for housing development one-and one half jobs to one home Reel said the area can support over 8,000 additional living units. “The specific plan in and of itself calls for 3,000 additional units of housing, of which all these new projects will not fill, so we’re not really even touching on what the specific plan mentions.” At the same time, land costs have increased substantially since Warner Center first was developed, and many of the older commercial buildings now standing are significantly underutilized based on the updated land values. The moves come after years of focus almost exclusively on office development in the Warner Center area. Although city officials early on foresaw the creation of a self-contained community offering housing and jobs in close proximity, developers have only recently begun to exploit the potential for residential use. Housing shortage Through the 1980s and 1990s the seemingly bottomless demand for commercial space took first priority on developers’ agendas. But in recent years the demand for office space has virtually disappeared, and a severe housing shortage has ensued. That, along with currently low interest rates, has helped encourage developers to come to Warner Center, where there is still land available for building. “The confluence of several factors, low interest rates, increased demand for housing and the increased profile of Warner Center as a residential address, are all contributing to the shift in direction,” said Rosenheim. The projects are all planned as high-end apartments. The Pacific Properties complex, which has not yet been named, will have 12 separate clusters of apartments situated around their own courtyard areas with fountains, seating and other landscaping. Although the project is still in very early phases of design, Reel said he expects the units to have high ceilings, granite kitchen counters and detailed molding, and the complex will include swimming pools, a gym and a community room. “We’re also building a much lower density than is allowed for,” said Reel. “We could easily build over 600 units but we’d rather make the project more palatable from a marketing standpoint.” Although the company is not required to gather community input, because the current zoning allows for the project as envisioned, Reel said Pacific Properties is hoping to work with the Neighborhood Council and other community groups to gather feedback and garner support for the complex. Rentals for all of the projects, at least as now planned, will fall in the $2 per square foot range, which roughly translates to $1,500 to $3000 for a one-bedroom to two-bedroom unit.

BANKRUPTCIES Musac International, Inc (importer mfg. rep.) 24307 Magic Mountain Parkway #72, Valencia 91355 Chapter: 7 Assets: $1,565 Debts: $366,308 Doc #SV03-19744-KL File-Date: 12/03/03 Attorney: No outside representation. Sushi Factory Seafood Buffet Restaurant, Inc. (restaurant) 9301 Tampa Ave., Suite 129, Northridge 91324 Chapter: 11 Assets: $1,500,000 Debts: $1,337,000 Doc #SV03-19760-GM File-Date: 12/03/03 Attorney: Dennis McGoldrick 310-328-1001 Shoe Clinique Inc. DBA: Shoe Wiz & Shoe Stop (shoe repair) 6101 Atoll Ave. Van Nuys 91401 Chapter: 7 Assets: $11,000 Debts: $384,553 Doc #SV03-19793-KL File-Date: 12/05/03 Attorney: Jeffrey Wishman 213-629-8801 The Adoption Circle, Inc. (adoption facilitation) 17540 San Fernando Mission Blvd., Granada Hills 91344 Chapter: 7 Assets: $170 Debts: $81,388 Doc #SV03-19854-GM File-Date: 12/08/03 Attorney: William Brownstein 310-458-0048