EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
There was little movement in the 10 most valuable properties in Los Angeles County, with the J. Paul Getty Center once again claiming the top spot. Although a few properties traded spaces, the top 10 on the list remains dominated by South Bay oil refineries.
Total assessed value of the top 25 properties grew by 5.6 percent, to $16.2 billion, compared with $15.3 billion in 2001. The top 10 appreciated by 4.3 percent, despite five of the 10 properties depreciating in value. The positive gains can be attributed to the ExxonMobile Refinery, which showed a growth in value of 27.5 percent, and the ConocoPhillips Wilmington Plant, with a 14.5 percent growth.
Overall, movie studios registered the highest appreciation over 2001 with Paramount Pictures Studios, Universal Studios Hollywood/City Walk and Walt Disney Studios showing gains of 57 percent, 14.6 percent and 34.8 percent, respectively.
Assessed values are based on land value, building or land improvements, fixtures and equipment and natural resources on the property.
Nicole Taylor
THE PACESETTER
J. Paul Getty Center
Valued at $2.2 billion, the J. Paul Getty Center is the most valuable property in Los Angeles County for the fifth year in a row. In spite of only a one percent appreciation for the year, the Getty Center is still over $700 million more valuable then the second-place property, the ExxonMobile Refinery.
Sitting atop a hill in the Santa Monica Mountains, the 110-acre campus houses the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute and Grant Program, the Getty Trust administrative offices, two restaurants and the Harold M. Williams Auditorium.
The original Getty Museum was a small ranch house in Malibu, founded in 1953 by oil tycoon J. Paul Getty and later built into a Roman-style villa. In 1982 Getty’s personal estate established the J. Paul Getty Trust and plans for expansion began. The Trust purchased the Brentwood hilltop site in 1983 and hired Richard Meier & Partners the following year to design the Center. The Getty Villa in Malibu was closed in 1997 when the Getty Center was opened.
Headed by David Gardner and Barry Munitz, the J. Paul Getty Trust reported market-value assets of $8.8 billion in 2001, a 17 percent decline from the year previous.
Nicole Taylor
