Soundstages Planned in Culver City
Hoping to profit from the burgeoning market for soundstages, Los Angeles and Swiss developers proposed a $150 million movie studio and hotel/entertainment facility in Culver City.
The New Studio, as it is called, would target independent film makers who are having a hard time booking soundstage space. It would be built on a 12.3-acre site at Slauson Avenue near the end of the Marina (90) Freeway and include 12 sound stages, production offices and craft shops, a 400-room hotel, a restaurant and a movie theater.
The proposal was presented last week to the residents and City Council of Culver City by Lux-Core LLC, which is jointly owned by Roto Architects Inc. of Los Angeles and the Swiss developer Kistler A.G.
Jury Penalizes 20th Century
A jury on July 14 ordered 20th Century Insurance to pay a Tarzana couple $6.75 million in punitive damages over its refusal to pay for damage to their home from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
The Los Angeles Superior Court jury found the company guilty of bad faith and fraud and also ordered it to pay $306,000 to James and Lorraine Meyer as well as $174,000 in attorney fees.
The Woodland Hills-based insurance company issued a statement saying it was disappointed in the verdict. Company officials refused to comment on the possibility of an appeal.
The Meyers discovered their quake damage more than a year after the quake. When they filed a claim for damages, however, 20th Century rejected it on grounds that it was filed after a one-year time limit. The Meyers, however, presented evidence that they had contacted 20th Century two months after the quake. They were told that their damages were below the deductible, the Meyers said, but that they could file a claim later if more damages were discovered.
Litton Merger Talk Boosts Stock
Litton Industries stock rose following an article in the July 21 edition of Business Week which speculated on a merger between the Woodland Hills-based aerospace contractor and the Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics.
The article, which hit the streets July 10, cited an unnamed analyst who said both companies need to join together “if they are to survive in the consolidating aerospace and defense industry.”
The merger talk came a week after the announcement of the $11.6 billion proposal by Bethesda, Md.-based-Lockheed Martin Corp. to purchase Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp.
Litton officials refused comment. On July 11, the day after the report came out, Litton saw its shares reach a high of $54 and close at about $52.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock was trading in the $53 range mid last week.
Time Warner’s TV Empire Grows
Time Warner Inc. gained ground in its push to form the nation’s fifth most profitable television network with last week’s announcement by Sinclair Broadcast Group that it will switch the affiliation for five key UPN stations to The WB for $86 million in compensation over 10 years.
The five stations in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, San Antonio and Oklahoma City reach only a fraction of American households. However, analysts saw the move as a gain for The WB in its efforts to increase advertising revenue and draw other stations away from UPN.
The two networks, both formed in 1995, will now have about the same distribution.
The announcement was not good news for Viacom Inc., which owns UPN. Already hurting from poor performance of its Blockbuster video chain, the company saw its Class A stock fall $1.19 to close at $28.75 following the July 14 announcement. At the same time, Time Warner shares fell 88 cents to close at $45.38 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Home Prices Go Up
The median sale price for Southern California homes climbed 4.3 percent in June to $171,000 from the same month last year, according to the real estate research firm Acxiom/Dataquick Information Services Inc.
This represented the largest monthly increase in almost six years.
Los Angeles County, the largest market in the region, saw a rise of 4.2 percent to $173,000. Ventura County had the biggest gain of 6.1 percent to $210,000, while Orange County had the smallest gain of 2 percent to $201,000.
The region including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego counties saw its overall number of home sales rise by 9 percent rise to 21,798, the largest monthly count since August of 1990.
Wells Earnings Below Par
Wells Fargo & Co. reported net income for the second quarter ended June 30 of $228 million ($2.49 a share), compared with the first quarter’s $363 million ($3.09 a share). In a statement, Wells Fargo Chairman Paul Hazen attributed the 37 percent drop to a variety of problems associated with the acquisition of First Interstate Bank, including declining customer ranks.
The San Francisco-based bank admitted that it incorrectly deposited money into wrong accounts and hasn’t been able to sort out who got what money. Customers complaining about missing deposits were reimbursed and the bank wrote off the losses.
Wells’ core deposits in the second quarter were at $73.5 billion compared to $83.3 billion during the same period last year. Deposits fell $2.6 billion from the first quarter.
By Wade Daniels
