Arden Realty to Go Private
Arden Realty Inc. will close this week on a buyout that will return the locally based real estate investment trust to private ownership, reported GlobeSt.com. Based on prices in other private buyouts of REITs, the Arden sale could top $3.5 billion, with the buyer taking on debt that would push the transaction past $5 billion. Arden declined to comment on reports that Morgan Stanley and GE Capital will acquire the REIT in a deal that is due to close Wednesday. But if Arden sells as expected, it could easily trade at a premium of 12 percent to 15 percent above its stock price.
Ouster of L.A. Official Slammed
Union leaders Wednesday criticized L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for seeking the removal of the head of the city’s Animal Services Department, saying the mayor is capitulating to radical activists who have threatened city employees. One day after city employees told Copley News Service that Villaraigosa had sought the resignation of General Manager Guerdon Stuckey, Service Employees International Union Local 347 General Manager Julie Butcher said such a move sent the wrong message about employee safety. Extremists who oppose the city’s animal euthanization policies harassed animal shelter employees, including one incident in which smoke grenades were set off in the lobby of Stuckey’s apartment building. Stuckey has not yet agreed to resign.
Planning Commissioner to Replace Masry
Thomas P. Glancy, chairman of the Thousand Oaks city Planning Commission, has been appointed to fill the City Council seat of former Councilman Edward Masry, who died Dec. 5, just days after he resigned because of ill health. Forty-three people applied for the seat, including seven current or former planning commissioners, a former mayor and a former Ventura County supervisor. The City Council reviewed the applications and selected Glancy. Mayor Claudia Bill-de la Pena, who called for an election rather than appointment of a replacement for Masry, opposed the appointment of Glancy, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. Glancy is scheduled to be sworn at a City Council reorganization meeting today.
City to Merge its Security Forces
After two years of review, the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to create a new Office of Public Safety to coordinate all city security forces under one agency. The nearly 400 officers will be managed by the Department of General Services and will provide security at all city buildings as well as libraries, parks, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo and the Convention Center, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. The decision will become final after the council’s expected approval of two ordinances Friday, and their signing by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Officials said they hope to have the new unit operating by Jan. 8. The consolidation is designed to coordinate city response to potential emergencies.
Paramount Chief Said to Be Wooing Top TV Producer
Paramount Pictures Corp. Chairman Brad Grey is aggressively pursuing the hottest young producer in television. Grey, whose company this week reached an agreement to buy DreamWorks SKG, has simultaneously been wooing J.J. Abrams, the Los Angeles Times reported. Abrams, 39, is the co-creator of two of the most high-profile shows on TV: “Lost” and “Alias,” both of which air on ABC. For the last several months, he has been working for Paramount, where he is now editing the studio’s $175-million “Mission Impossible: 3.” Grey is tempting Abrams with a deal to make movies, TV shows and possibly even video games, and take part in Internet ventures for Paramount.
Red-Light Cameras to Be Installed at 12 Orange Line Crossings
A day after the seventh Orange Line crash in seven weeks, transportation officials vowed Wednesday to install red-light cameras at 12 of the busway’s 36 crossings over the next six months. But the list of selected crossings in the San Fernando Valley did not include Kester Avenue in Van Nuys, where two of the seven crashes , including the most recent one , occurred, the Los Angeles Times reported. At a city transportation committee meeting Wednesday, Los Angeles Police Department officials said detectives had looked into six crashes and found motorists at fault in each of them. In each case, they said, the motorist either ran a red light or turned illegally when the light was red.
