A deal between prominent developer Rick Caruso and the landlord group Pacific Palisades Properties for the largest holding of commercial land in the Palisades is still in the works, sources revealed Monday. Caruso, who is often touted as being a possible Los Angeles mayoral candidate, is best known for his 12 developments throughout southern California, which include The Grove, The Americana at Brand, The Commons at Calabasas; Burton Place and Waterside at Marina Del Ray among others. Muted by a legal confidentiality agreement, representatives of Caruso Affiliated declined to comment on the purchase of the 2.77 acres of property on Swarthmore Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, which was placed on the market in early October via the CBRE Group. In spite of this, a reliable source close to the transaction, said, ‘the sale is proceeding and they are working toward closing the deal.’ An examination of titles through public documents revealed that in late December the entities/co-owners, who make up the landlord group Pacific Palisades Properties, were adding their names to each of the parcels in the Village portfolio via non-arm’s length, quit claim deed, and intra-family transfers. These types of exchanges usually occur when there is a transfer of ownership interests between parties and are common in partition by sale transactions, which could be ordered by a judge. In June 2011, a lawsuit filed on behalf of Palisades resident and co-owner John Wilson, who is a trustee for his family interests (13 percent), asked the courts to force the sale of the properties and for an independent property manager to be appointed in the interim. Conversely, a cross-complaint, filed in September 2011 on behalf of the MacDonald and Joslyn family interests (51.9 percent) requested a partition of the properties, with each owner to receive a portion of the physical property. Subsequently, the partners began meeting with a mediator, retired judge Patricia Collins, in January and she ultimately ordered the partners to sell the property (partition by sale). The remaining stakeholders in the portfolio include the Carey family and other aligned interests (24 percent) and the children and grandchildren of Wilson’s deceased brother (10.7 percent). The portfolio includes the entire east side of 1000 Swarthmore Avenue (from Bentons to City National Bank), all of the west side from Monument Street to Intima Lingerie, the open-air parking lot along Monument and three vacant properties on nearby Sunset Boulevard, including the former U.S. Bank and the former Office Supplier. The purchase price for the portfolio has yet to be revealed. Yet, in CBRE’s confidential marketing report property projections of $631,714 for 2013 indicate that the estimated brokered price was more than $50 million. Post sources said that Caruso paid below this estimated projection and that some higher bids from oversees developers from China were rejected by the partners Dan Riley, senior vice president of CBRE, told the Post previously that the owners wanted to make sure that whoever bought the property had ‘respect for the community and what it stands for.’ ‘This has been a big piece of discussion from the very beginning,’ Riley said.
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