Also in the third quarter, long-running saga of the Playa Vista project continued to unfold as lenders, investors and developer Robert Maguire circled each other, each in search of the best deal.

Playa Vista is the $8 billion, 1,087-acre mixed-use project slated for the old Howard Hughes property near Playa del Rey. It is much noted as the proposed future home for DreamWorks SKG.

New York investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman, Sachs & Co., through real estate arms, have purchased the debt on the property, along with downtown-based investment fund Oak Tree Capital Management, led by Howard Marks.

Beverly Hills financier Gary Winnick and Union Labor Life Insurance Co., a pension fund investment arm, will stay in as equity partners, but in the third quarter it appeared they would be taking a 33 percent stake, instead of a majority share.

Due to the long Los Angeles property slump (now ending), Maguire hasn’t been able to honor the $150 million in debt on the site, and has threatened to file bankruptcy, but is expected to work out a deal with the new creditors to remain a development partner.

In the third quarter, it was also revealed that the heirs of Howard Hughes would need to sign off on the development proposal, possibly further complicating matters.