Los Angeles Business Journal back issues from January 1994:
Downtown L.A. redevelopment cap hits hurdle. (Los Angeles, California)
Jan 10, 1994; ... Former Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi is suing the city, seeking to void a hastily approved intergovernmental agreement to raise by several billion dollars the limit on tax money that can be collected for redevelopment purposes in the downtown Central Business District. ...
Hooray for Hollywood! It's expected to create 8,000 jobs. (Hollywood, California)
Jan 10, 1994; ... Entertainment employment may top aerospace's in '95At least 8,000 new jobs are forecast to be created in the entertainment industry this year, pushing the local industry to 100,500 jobs, according to California Employment Development Department estimates. Based on current trends, ...
USC moving along the highway - with purchasing service. (Information Sciences Institute at USC Software Systems Inc.)
Jan 10, 1994; ... The Information Sciences Institute at USC is testing computer software that could become an integral part of the so-called information superhighway.The software is already being used by some businesses as part of the testing program to establish a nationwide system for corporate ...
Dome - shape of things to come? (space frame in Fallbrook Square Mall food court, Los Angeles, California)
Jan 10, 1994; ... Chatsworth design firm shifts from a mall's food court to biosphere projectWhile Arizona's "Biosphere II" environmental experiment made national headlines again this fall when its eight inhabitants emerged from the massive domed habitat after their two-year stint, few Angelenos ...
Agencies' disunity reportedly hampers tourism promotion. (tourism bureaus; Los Angeles County, California)
Jan 10, 1994; ... Los Angeles County's $8.25 billion tourism industry is fragmented and unorganized and the result is the area has failed to promote itself as a tourism destination, according to local industry representatives.They say the local industry lacks leadership at a time when the county ...
First Charter Bank raises $6 million with offering: capital injection raises enough capital to satisfy regulators.
Jan 10, 1994; ... First Charter Bank will receive about a $6 million capital injection this week which will enable the Beverly Hills-based bank to meet the terms of its order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Peter Bustetter, the bank's chief executive officer, told the Business Journal last ...
California Federal shareholders meet to discuss $615 million bid. (California Federal Bank F.S.B.)
Jan 10, 1994; ... Ten shareholders who own more than 50 percent of the stock of California Federal Bank were scheduled to meet last week with representatives of Golden West Financial Corp. to discuss an offer by the Oakland-based thrift company to buy L.A.-based CalFed for $615 million.The meeting ...
First Interstate takes novel road to lending for affordable homes. (First Interstate Bank of California)
Jan 10, 1994; ... In a first-of-its-kind program, First Interstate Bank of California has hired a nationally recognized architect to oversee a design-build contest to create an aesthetically pleasing, $10 million to $14 million low-income housing development in South Central Los Angeles.First ...
Carson gives its OK to county's largest outlet mall: groundbreaking for L.A. MetroMall is set for this spring. (Carson City Council; Los Angeles County, California)
Jan 10, 1994; ... The Carson City Council last month approved construction of a 1.2-million-square-foot factory outlet mall, which will be the second and largest such mall in L.A. County.The 742,000-square-foot Citadel Outlet Collection in the City of Commerce, which debuted in November 1990, was ...
Entrepreneur Ziman buys more office properties: he snares buildings in Woodland Hills, Beverly Hills. (real estate entrepreneur Dick Ziman)
Jan 10, 1994; ... Beverly Hills-based real estate entrepreneur Dick Ziman has continued his "down-market" office property acquisitions with simultaneous Dec. 28 purchases of projects in Woodland Hills and Beverly Hills.Using mortgage financing totaling nearly $40 million from Stamford, Conn.-based ...
Exhibitors have high hopes for new convention center: Auto Show introduces consumers to expanded facility. (Greater Los Angeles Auto Show; Los Angeles Convention Center; California)
Jan 10, 1994; ... The annual Greater Los Angeles Auto Show has opened at the Los Angeles Convention Center with organizers and exhibitors hoping for bigger crowds because of an improving economy and a larger facility.Buoyed by last week's figures showing an increase in auto sales in the U.S., major ...
Tune-out of anti-social rap may hit chord on radio stations' bottom line.
Jan 10, 1994; ... Radio stations that take a stand against anti-social rap lyrics are scoring plenty of P.R. points, but thus far their stance hasn't helped their business.Over the last four months, major radio stations such as KPWR-FM (105.9), KACE-FM (103.9), and KJLH-FM (102.3) have all announced ...
Dividing the territory: real estate brokers Michael Zugsmith and David Thind focus on two turfs. (Zugsmith/Thind Real Estate Services Inc.)
Jan 10, 1994; ... Zugsmith-Thind Inc. always places last on alphabetical listings of L.A. County commercial real estate brokerages. But after just completing the most successful year since Chairman Michael Zugsmith founded his brokerage in 1979, he and his partner of the past three years are looking forward ...
Competition increases among property managers: Cushman & Wakefield of California takes top spot. (real estate managers)
Jan 10, 1994; ... L.A. County's biggest property management firms have seen plenty of profit-threatening changes in their industry's environment over the last few years. And the substantial changes in their rankings on this week's List illustrate burgeoning competitive pressures from growing "institutional" ...
Vons readies new Compton store while closing others: supermarket looks for profit where competition is lacking. (Vons Companies Inc.; Los Angeles County, California)
Jan 10, 1994; ... On Jan. 12 a brand-new Vons store is expected to open in Compton, the first of a dozen new supermarkets Vons Companies Inc. plans to open in L.A. County's blighted areas.The opening follows an announcement in November that the company planned to cut costs by laying off 250 workers ...
Business Week slams Angeles Corp. REIT but ... some investors may have profited despite stock's drop. (Angeles Participating Mortgage Trust; real estate investment trust)
Jan 10, 1994; ... Business Week has named Los Angeles-based Angeles Participating Mortgage Trust, a mortgage real estate investment trust, the worst performing stock on the American Stock Exchange in 1993.At year-end, the stock closed at $1 a share after trading between 62.5 cents and $17.75 per ...
Electric utilities urge new approach to setting rates: they want more flexibility geared to market conditions.
Jan 10, 1994; ... Southern California's electric power companies will be stepping up their campaign to revamp the state's rate setting and review system, according to industry observers. The utilities hope to replace the current system with a more flexible framework more attuned to market conditions. ...
CD-ROM video games technology gives Activision a new lease on life. (Activision Inc.)
Jan 17, 1994; ... Shareholders of Activision Inc. stock are hoping "MechWarrior" can be every bit as heroic and commercial as the characters in "Return to Zork."The Zork series of interactive video games has been around since 1979 but Activision has infused it with a dose of Hollywood panache and ...
MWD's new fees would hurt L.A., task force says. (Metropolitan Water District; Blue Ribbon Task Force)
Jan 17, 1994; ... Metropolitan Water District plans for new fees to be assessed on future customers "could severely harm future development and economic vitality" in Southern California, according to a Blue Ribbon Task Force that spent the past six months studying MWD finances and operations.In its ...
Drag racing tracks aren't just spinning their wheels.
Jan 17, 1994; ... A 1970 red Chevrolet El Camino and a 1969 white Chevy Nova pull up to the starting line at the Brotherhood Raceway Park on Terminal Island in San Pedro. From a booth above the track, volunteer official Curtis Tigges pushes a button and the light at the starting line turns green. Off go the ...
How about 2 smaller hotels next to Convention Center? CRA mulls alternative to constructing one big hotel. (Los Angeles Convention Center; Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency)
Jan 17, 1994; ... The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency has expanded its push to get a hotel built near the newly expanded Los Angeles Convention Center.According to staff members and commissioners on the CRA board, the agency is approaching several potential developers about the project, ...
What piece of the city action do black firms get? Draft of study claims they get more than their share.
Jan 17, 1994; ... African-American firms have received more than their share of City of L.A. contracts and thus may not be considered in the future for programs aimed at remedying discrimination in the city's contracting process, according to an analysis of a preliminary draft of a study commissioned by the ...
On-ramp to information superhighway proves bumpy: technology summit spurs more questions than answers. (Superhighway Summit)
Jan 17, 1994; ... Jockeying for position on the nation's still unpaved electronic superhighway, the leaders of the communications industry are split over how the new information age will unfold.Most who attended the "Superhighway Summit" last week (Jan. 11) at UCLA agreed that consumers will have ...
Sale of all American Capital assets won't cover debts, receiver reports. (American Capital Investments Inc.)
Jan 17, 1994; ... If the assets of American Capital Investments Inc. -- placed in receivership last fall after fraud charges were filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission -- were sold en masse, the proceeds would not cover its properties' debt and there would be no equity left to pay the company's ...
Citadel mulls two sell-off plans for its thrift unit: it may sell it outright or siphon off problem assets first. (Citadel Holding Corp.)
Jan 17, 1994; ... Citadel Holding Corp. announced last week it is pursuing a plan to again try to sell its Fidelity Federal Bank unit outright or sell controlling interest in the thrift after separating the bulk of its bad loans and foreclosed real estate into a separate company.Glendale-based ...
CEO, top CalFed execs reportedly given hefty block of stock options. (California Federal Bank CEO Edward Harshfield)
Jan 17, 1994; ... In the last month, California Federal Bank Chief Executive Officer Edward Harshfield and members of the thrift's senior management have been awarded options to buy more than 1 million shares of stock in company, informed sources told the Business Journal.The options were granted ...
State eyes problems, opportunities in base closures: hungry developers salivate over conversion prospects.
Jan 17, 1994; ... A statewide panel appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson is expected to deliver a report by the end of January that will, among other things, outline both the opportunities and the obstacles that will face the real estate development community when the state's military bases are closed by the federal ...
Regulators eye coming flood of new workers comp provider applications. (workers' compensation health care providers)
Jan 17, 1994; ... Most of California's largest health maintenance organizations are expected to file applications in the next few months to become workers' compensation health care providers under recently issued regulations implementing the state's workers' comp reform law.The state Department of ...
Arco fumes over rival's deviation from state regulation: Tosco Refining raises Arco's ire by hiking production. (Atlantic Richfield Co.; Tosco Refining Co.)
Jan 17, 1994; ... Atlantic Richfield Co. is up in arms over a rival's expanded diesel oil production activity in light of state-imposed caps that have been in place on producers since last October.At a California Air Resources Board production variance hearing last week (Jan. 11) in Sacramento, ...
Anger spurs her career: assemblywoman Diane Martinez often makes key decisions based on ire or on the spur of the moment. (Journal Profile)
Jan 17, 1994; ... When Diane Martinez was a child, watching her father, U.S. Congressman Marty Martinez, get elected to increasingly more important posts, she says she definitely did not want to grow up to follow in his political footsteps."I didn't like what I saw. People look straight at you and ...
New shop touts no-frills approach, study finds few entry-level P.R. jobs. (Public Relations firm Ground Zero) (Marketing)
Jan 17, 1994; ... After several advertising agencies closed in 1993, it would seem almost suicidal to see a high-profile start-up now. But Venice-based Ground Zero has some of the hottest creative talents in town and has a better-than-even chance of surviving. Prospective clients can expect ideas but ...
Meeting facilities prove to be profit centers for hotels: meetings help pick up slack when room occupancy lags. (The List)
Jan 17, 1994; ... Meeting facilities have become more important to the success of hotels as management has sought new sources of income. With room occupancy still well below the accepted break-even point for most properties, hotels throughout Los Angeles County have been aggressively promoting their ...
Retail sales dive after improving at start of 1993. (Los Angeles County)
Jan 17, 1994; ... After showing signs of improvement for much of early 1993, L.A. County retail sales tumbled again, first in August, then in September, and even more precipitously during October, according to statistics published by the U.S. Department of Commerce.Overall retail sales in the county ...
Douglas Aircraft execs expect even fewer plane deliveries than last year. (Douglas Aircraft Co.)
Jan 17, 1994; ... Douglas Aircraft Co. expects to deliver fewer commercial aircraft in 1994 than it did in 1993, which was one of the worst years ever for the company in terms of completing airplanes.But the company predicts that 1994 will be the turnaround point for the depressed aircraft ...
Judge rules Long Beach can buy land to expand port: environment impact assessment can await start of work. (Robert O'Brien; Port of Long Beach) (Trade)
Jan 17, 1994; ... A Los Angeles Superior Court judge decided in December that the City of Long Beach does not need to file an environmental impact report before buying 725 acres of land on which to expand the port.The Port of Long Beach agreed to buy the land in June 1993 from Union Pacific Railroad ...
UTC Financial acquires insurer TRW Title Inc. (UTC Financial Corp.)
Jan 17, 1994 ... "We have been a regional company from the beginning and suddenly we're a national corporation," mused Henri Van Hirtum, president of Los Angeles-based UTC Financial Corp.UTC, a real estate services firm, last week (Jan. 10) acquired the country's eighth largest title insurance ...
Restructuring plan to create slimmer MagneTek: it may sell off six operations, reduce size by one-third. (MagneTek Inc.)
Jan 17, 1994; ... MagneTek Inc., a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of electrical equipment, has announced a restructuring that could reduce the size of the company by almost one-third.The company, which in its last fiscal year had net sales of $1.5 billion, said as many as six business groups could ...
The new tax law: how it affects individual taxpayers. (1993 Revenue Reconciliation Act)
Jan 17, 1994; ... The 1993 Revenue Reconciliation Act was signed into law by President Clinton on Aug. 10. This article highlights some of the provisions of the new Act that affect you as an individual taxpayer.Rate changesThe Act has added a new 36% tax bracket to the existing 1993 tax ...
How will the new ERISA rules affect your business: a clarification of section 404(c). (Employee Retirement Income Security Act)
Jan 17, 1994; ... Many businesses enjoy the benefits of establishing a qualified retirement program for their employees. With most programs, there are substantial business and personal tax advantages for you and your employees. A retirement program also can be an important tool for recruiting, retaining and ...
Task force seeks assistance to rebuild South Bay's job market. (South Bay Jobs Task Force)
Jan 17, 1994; ... A volunteer task force of South Bay business executives, professionals and technologists approached officials of Rosemead-based SCEcorp last week to seek seed money for a local job creation project.The area involved, as outlined by the South Bay Jobs Task Force, includes Torrance, ...
Businesses find the answer at the Central Library's Business Economics Department.
Jan 17, 1994; ... One man wanted a list of Iranian vegetable oil merchants who traded during the 1960s. Another person asked where she could buy a used cargo ship.For Dan Strehl, Senior Librarian of the Business * Economics Department at the Central Library in Downtown Los Angeles, these were only ...
L.A. takes another lickin', keeps on tickin': massive Southland economy withstands another shock.
Jan 24, 1994; ... While the Northridge earthquake dealt a blow to the Southland, the temblor also accentuated the enormous scope of metropolitan Los Angeles and the resiliency of the area. And everywhere, with structures to gas lines to phone service, intelligent engineering and doughty repair crews ...
Tourism industry does not expect quake to have long-term impact. (Industry Overview)
Jan 24, 1994; ... Last week's earthquake sent Los Angeles County's $8.2 billion tourism industry reeling once again, just as it was showing signs of life after three years of recession, riots and general uncertainty.But the good news was that most industry representatives expected the downturn to ...
Construction, environmental, waste firms' stocks up.
Jan 24, 1994; ... Stock prices of Southland engineering, construction, environmental and waste companies bumped up last week on investors' expectations there will be a windfall of work from the Northridge earthquake."All of the engineering and consulting companies stock prices are up, especially ...
And now rebuilding of the infrastructure begins in Southland. (Southern California)
Jan 24, 1994; ... While Southern California residents and businesses dealt with death, destruction, injuries and inconvenience last week, government agencies dealt with what Gov. Pete Wilson's office estimated was $500-million damage to the public roads and facilities that make up the area's infrastructure. ...
Insurers figure little of $30 billion possible damages may be covered.
Jan 24, 1994; ... Insurance companies received more than 30,000 claims last week, as insurance and disaster experts estimated only 10 percent to 15 percent of the estimated $15 billion to $30 billion in damage caused by the Northridge earthquake may be insured.By the middle of last week, the three ...
Already jolted real estate market takes another hit: most dramatic impact is expected to be only temporary.
Jan 24, 1994; ... New home sales in the part of town where homes are being built -- the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys -- are expected to come to a temporary standstill in the wake of the Northridge earthquake, since those communities have been almost entirely cut off from the city of Los Angeles. ...
Newspapers keep the presses rolling - somehow: TV stations' continuous coverage trims bottom lines.
Jan 24, 1994; ... The Northridge earthquake was an opportunity for television stations and newspapers to serve their communities, but it also jolted their bottom lines. Damage to facilities and equipment, coupled with lost advertising revenue, will run into many millions of dollars, media executives estimate ....
Local utilities bounce back to restore service quickly: power, water, gas reactivated for most sites rapidly.
Jan 24, 1994; ... For the most part, local utilities pulled off an impressive comeback.Immediately following Monday's 6.6 temblor, an estimated 1.1 million of Southern California Edison Co.'s 4.1 million customers and all of the 1.3 million customers serviced by the Los Angeles City Department of ...
Ratings firms review Southland bonds, avoid post-quake reaction.
Jan 24, 1994; ... The nation's top credit rating agencies quickly set up task forces to evaluate L.A.'s earthquake fallout to bondholders despite assurances from state Treasurer Kathleen Brown that California bonds are "no more at risk today than they were before the devastation."Most assessors ...
Valley aerospace facilities take a big hit in quake: many operations are forced to shut down for a time. (San Fernando Valley, California)
Jan 24, 1994; ... Major aerospace and defense facilities in the San Fernando Valley took a significant hit in last week's earthquake, forcing many operations to shut down and giving about 8,000 workers "vacations" that could last a couple of weeks.No major projects or information were lost and ...
Retailers see a glimmer of hope as they assess losses: despite retailer setbacks, many see a jump in business.
Jan 24, 1994; ... As soon as Southlanders gather together their lives and reassemble their homes and their nerves, they will probably be out shopping to replace what was broken in last week's temblor, retail experts say."Certain aspects of the retailing community are going to be impacted positively ...
Shocks run gamut from retailing giants to the mom-and-pop shops.
Jan 24, 1994; ... Last week's temblor pounded San Fernando Valley and Westside shopping malls and mom-and-pop shops, causing walls to cave in, shattering storefronts and sending delicate merchandise crashing to the floor. Yet many retailers in the quake's path escaped relatively unscathed.Some of ...
Banking on this lawyer: Cynthia McClain-Hill shifts from the law to investment banking at CS First Boston. (CS First Boston Inc.)
Jan 24, 1994; ... Cynthia McClain-Hill, an investment banker at the downtown L.A. office of CS First Boston, breezes into her office after a flight from San Francisco, nattily dressed in a herringbone jacket, black vest and pants and black patent leather, wing-tip loafers."I'm sorry I'm late," she ...
Entertainment industry gets buffeted by temblor: minor damage is reported and some work is disrupted.
Jan 24, 1994; ... Last week's earthquake disrupted the entertainment industry, with several major television production sets closed for the week. Damage to the major Hollywood studios was relatively light, although no firm damage estimates were available at press time.Several studios including ...
Largest security guard companies hold their own: Wells Fargo Guard becomes No. 1 through acquisition. (Baker Industries Inc. Wells Fargo Guard and Investigative Agency)
Jan 24, 1994; ... Pinkerton Security, for years the dominant purveyor of security guard services in Los Angeles County, has had its title wrested away by Wells Fargo Guard Services, according to this week's List.Wells Fargo, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Borg-Warner Security Corp. and not affiliated ...
Hughes Aircraft expects its satellites to soar in 1994. (Hughes Aircraft Co.)
Jan 24, 1994; ... El Segundo-based division expects its best year everHughes Aircraft Co. expects 1994 to be its best year ever for launching communications satellites.Officials at the space and communications division of the Los Angeles-based aerospace and defense company said as many as ...
Lawmakers eye reviving earthquake insurance fund.
Jan 24, 1994; ... Rising home damage spurs rethinking of repealed planIn the wake of the Northridge earthquake, state Assemblyman Rusty Areias, D-Los Banos, said last week he was "strongly considering" introducing legislation to resurrect the state's earthquake insurance fund.Legislation ...
Voit, partners split, divvy up properties in Warner Center. (Voit Cos.; Copley Real Estate Advisors Inc.; Warner Center Properties Inc.)
Jan 31, 1994; ... After two decades as joint partners in Warner Center Properties Inc., Woodland Hills-based The Voit Cos. and Boston-based Copley Real Estate Advisors earlier this month quietly split up the 3 million square feet of commercial properties they had jointly developed and owned in the west San ...
Customers hop to play brewmeister: Southland company caters to suds-slurpers who just want to brew-it-themselves. (Hamilton Gregg Brewworks)
Jan 31, 1994; ... According to the great Teutonic brewmeisters of yore, there are three methods to get a good quality, tall, ice-cold stein of beer: Buy it, steal it, or make it yourself.Patrons of the Hamilton Gregg Brewworks in Hermosa Beach have chosen the latter alternative in the search for ...
Government agencies rev up efforts for quake rebound: tallies rise for damage to structures and economy.
Jan 31, 1994; ... The damage toll from the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake continued to rise last week, as building inspectors decided thousands more structures were at least partially uninhabitable.And more evidence made its way into the news that the quake would mean additional damage to Southern ...
Red Line work put on hold for study of toxic gas on route. (Red Line subway in Los Angeles, California)
Jan 31, 1994; ... The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board agreed last week to delay construction of the Red Line subway in mid-city Los Angeles to allow staff to study problems with concentrations of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas along the route.The MTA staff had requested ...
Tourism expected to bounce back by June from quake's aftermath. (Los Angeles County, California; January 17, 1994 earthquake)
Jan 31, 1994; ... At the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, one group that had booked 40 rooms for six nights and another that had set aside 50 rooms for 12 nights both canceled their plans because of fears of another earthquake.One of the groups moved its business to Washington, D.C., where ...
Katz mulls state measure to combat price-gouging: Waste Management episode cited as one spur to action. (Assemblyman Richard Katz; Waste Management Inc.)
Jan 31, 1994; ... In the first few days after the Northridge earthquake, as home and business owners struggled to clean up the tons of debris left by the earthquake, waste hauler Waste Management Inc. increased its price to supply large trash containers and dump the waste by almost 50 percent.The ...
Movie-going rises despite closure of earthquake-damaged theaters.
Jan 31, 1994; ... With the earthquake damaging cinemas in the San Fernando Valley and in Santa Monica, movie-going patterns may shift at least in the short term, theater executives say. Since Westwood Village sustained minimal damage, it may pick up some of the business it has lost over the last five years. ...