Median Home Price Soars
The Southern California housing market had a record-breaking June when the median price of a resale home climbed to $204,000 in the six-county region.
It was the highest median price for an existing home since May 1991, when the price was $196,000.
Figures released by Acxiom/DataQuick, which monitors real estate transactions, indicate the surge was led by Los Angeles County, where the median price for an existing single-family home climbed 5.1 percent to $205,000. More than a third of the real estate transactions in Southern California took place in L.A. County.
In addition to the record median price, the sheer volume of Southern California homes sold in June exceeded the number in any other month during the decade. A total of 29,305 homes were sold in the six-county region.
Kemp Leaving Community Bank
C. Robert Kemp, head of the beleaguered Los Angeles Community Development Bank, has resigned his position because of health reasons.
The bank’s board named Linda Griego, a former L.A. deputy mayor, to temporarily take the helm of the $430 million loan fund.
The bank was formed to create jobs by providing financing to inner-city entrepreneurs who had been rejected by conventional lenders. But it has fallen short of that goal and its loan portfolio is in bad shape. One-third of its major borrowers have gone out of business or fallen behind in their loan payments.
Griego was chosen to replace Kemp because of her experience in leading the former Rebuild L.A. organization, another post-riot effort.
District Launches Belmont Probe
The Los Angeles Board of Education unanimously voted to form a commission to examine whether construction of the downtown Belmont Learning Complex should be suspended.
The board, which now includes several newly elected, reform-minded members, also voted to scale back work on the $200 million project until the commission makes its recommendations in October.
Meanwhile, members of the board and district staff were directed not to comment on the project.
As planned, Belmont is the most expensive high school project in history. But a study of the site found methane and other oil byproducts that will require costly mitigation before the school can open.
Officials estimate that $125 million already has been spent on construction of Belmont.
Guess Settles Workers’ Claims
Guess Inc. agreed to pay up to $1 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that thousands of Los Angeles garment workers were underpaid by the company’s contractors.
Guess admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Advocates for the garment workers said the move sets no legal precedent but does give credibility to the argument that manufacturers should be responsible for the employment practices of their contractors.
As many as 3,000 workers could share in the settlement, with each award dependent on the specific location and length of time the worker was employed.
Attorneys must now track down the workers who at any time during the past seven years had sewn clothing for the nine contractors named in the suit. Only four of those contractors are still in business.
Qwest Wins U.S. West
A month-long takeover battle ended when Qwest Communications International Inc. won its bid to acquire U.S. West Inc. for $35 billion.
Denver-based Qwest beat out Global Crossing Ltd., an undersea cable operator with executive offices in Beverly Hills, for the smallest of the Bell operating companies.
As part of an effort to build itself into a telecommunications giant, Global Crossing originally struck agreements to acquire both U.S. West and Frontier Corp.
But a complex compromise to essentially split the prize was brokered after Global Crossing told U.S. West it wouldn’t increase its $30 billion offer.
The agreement gives Global Crossing the inside track to proceed with plans to acquire Frontier for $11.1 billion. Frontier is a local and long-distance provider based in New York.
Total Renal Care Officers Resign
The chief executive and chief financial officer of Total Renal Care Holdings Inc. both resigned last week, as the Torrance-based company announced second-quarter results that fell far short of expectations.
Chairman and CEO Victor M.G. Chaltiel cited personal and family matters as his reason for leaving the once-high-flying operator of kidney dialysis clinics. He had been at the helm of the firm for five years.
John King resigned as chief financial officer without any public explanation.
The departures come amid financial turmoil. Last week, the company said it plans to take charges totaling at least $33 million on a pretax basis. News of those charges, along with the two resignations, sent company’s stock plummeting $4.25 a share (33 percent), to close at $8.63 on July 19.
Mattel Buys Bandai Stake
Mattel Inc., the world’s biggest toy company, agreed to pay $30 million for a 5 percent stake in Japanese toy maker Bandai Co., manufacturer of the popular Power Rangers action figures.
As part of the deal, El Segundo-based Mattel, best known for its Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels miniature cars, gets the right to sell Bandai toys in Latin America while Bandai gets to market Mattel products in Japan.
“Our product lines are very compatible,” said Mattel President Ned Mansour. “Historically, Bandai’s strength has rested in the boys’ category, while Mattel’s strength has been in the girls’ and infant/preschoolers’ category.”
(Bloomberg News)
South Central Gets Retail Center
A group of investors unveiled plans to build a $53 million shopping center in South Central Los Angeles that would be one of the largest retail developments built in the area in more than a decade.
Chesterfield Square is planned for a 23-acre site at Western Avenue and Slauson Boulevard. It would be a significant project for an area where construction has been virtually nonexistent due to the 1992 riots, a wave of retail mergers and a regional recession in the 1990s.
The investment group includes professional football player Keyshawn Johnson, a native of L.A. who attended USC.
Compiled by Danny Pollock
