Forum/teitelman/dt1st/mark2nd

There were some huge deals done in Los Angeles in 1998, capped by the $18 billion purchase of SunAmerica Inc. by American International Group. But even if they weren’t involved in transactions quite that big, most business people in L.A. did at least some dealmaking last year. So the Business Journal asks:

What was your biggest deal of the year?

Kelli Sager [pic]

Partner

Davis Wright Tremaine

Well, I guess the biggest thing for me this year was arguing before the California Supreme Court. It was my first argument in front of the state Supreme Court and was a case involving important First Amendment issues that we knew would get a lot of attention.

Austin Anderson[pic]

President

Economics Research Associates

We’re a consulting company so we get involved in some big projects, but the biggest project for us may not be the biggest project for the client. I guess the biggest deal I have been working on is for a proposed casino in Vegas, which could cost over a billion dollars. But the most interesting thing I have been involved in is trying to figure out what to do with Adak island off Alaska, an old air base that was of great value during World War II and the Cold War, which is now going to be taken back by the Aleuts. It happens to be a very small island, but for us that was a bigger project than the billion-dollar casino.

Jerry Porter

Cresa Partners/Metrospace

Our biggest deal was representing E! Entertainment Television in the relocation of their corporate headquarters and production facilities. It was an exciting opportunity to work with an expanding entertainment client on a complicated and sophisticated requirement.

Anton N. Natsis (pic)

Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory

My deal of the year was a very complex transaction where I represented LA Cellular. They leased a 250,000-square-foot build-to-suit headquarters facility in the city of Cerritos from an entity controlled by Commonwealth Partners. Commonwealth Partners simultaneously made a long-term ground lease with the city of Cerritos and entered into a complex development agreement relating to the same piece of property. The transaction took about 12 months. That was my big deal of the year, and it was certainly the most complex. It involved six different parties, five sets of lawyers, probably at least 40 separate documents and required a very lengthy escrow agreement just to accomplish the closing of the transaction.

Adrienne Medawar

President

Town Hall Los Angeles

Town Hall Los Angeles was privileged to host the secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, on April 21. He articulated so well one of the greatest challenges facing all leaders of organizations and businesses today: leading as efficiently as possible while keeping the human equation in perspective.

Matthew Herrill

Project Manger

PacTen Partners

I am a project manager at the firm, so I don’t really make the deals, I’m really just a construction guy. The biggest deal that I have been involved with is Valencia Point, which is a 700,000-square-foot office project. We broke ground this November.