CHRONO/14inches/1stjc/mark2nd
Hed: Playa Vista Chronology
Precede: Here is a chronology of events for the $8 billion Playa Vista project.
February 1989: Partnership headed by Maguire Thomas Partners secures $150 million in loans from a Chase Manhattan Bank-led lender group to finance acquisition of a controlling stake in the Playa Vista property below the Westchester bluffs. Longtime landowner Howard Hughes Corp., now owned by The Rouse Co., remains as a partner in the massive development.
September 1993: Playa Vista’s phase-one development plan is approved by Los Angeles City Council. The first phase includes 1.25 million square feet of offices, 3,246 residential units and 35,000 square feet of retail space. Plans for the entire Playa Vista community call for 5 million square feet of office space, 595,000 square feet of retail, 1,050 hotel rooms and housing for 29,000 residents. Future phases remain subject to additional environmental review.
December 1995: The City Council approves in principle a revised plan created with a DreamWorks SKG-anchored entertainment-technology campus in mind for Playa Vista’s first phase. The new plan calls for a 3.2 million-square-foot studio campus and includes the 3,246 residential units previously approved.
The council also approves in principle an economic incentive package, valued at $70 million or more, aimed at kick-starting the DreamWorks project. Construction is expected to get under way the following summer.
July 1996: A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge rejects an environmental coalition’s challenge to the revised plan, ruling that no new environmental review is required to alter the development approved for the first phase.
October 1996: Maguire Thomas concedes that it doesn’t have the necessary financing to get the DreamWorks campus under way. The company also blames delays on the pending appeal of the Superior Court ruling.
November 1996: DreamWorks principal Jeffrey Katzenberg publicly criticizes Maguire Thomas managing partner Rob Maguire for refusing to cede the control and equity deemed necessary in order to secure financial commitments from prospective investors. Meanwhile, Beverly Hills financier Gary Winnick works with DreamWorks in assembling a Playa Vista finance/development team including Winnick’s Pacific Capital Group, real estate investment company J.E. Robert Co. and Union Labor Life Insurance Co.
February 1997: Maguire Thomas and the Winnick-led group announce an agreement in principle under which they expect to finalize terms of a new development team leaving the Pacific Capital/J.E. Robert/ULLICO group with majority control of Playa Vista while paying off the mortgage holders.
March 1997: After Maguire refuses to continue negotiating final terms of the agreement in principal, the Chase-led banking group files notices of default initiating foreclosure on the Playa Vista property.
