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Issues and Positions El Segundo Corporate Campus Superior Court
Orders Kilroy Realty To Pay Court Costs And Denies Its Attempt To Change
Court's Final Judgment On The El Segundo Corporate Campus Los Angeles, CA (August
23, 2002)---Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Yaffe has rendered
his final judgment, completely rejecting the legal challenges brought
by Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE:KRC) against the El Segundo Corporate
Campus, a 46-acre project in El Segundo, CA, located just south of Los
Angeles International Airport (LAX). The rendering of the final judgment
officially ends Kilroy's latest attempt to stop competition in a City
where it is the largest office landlord. In rendering his final
judgment, Judge Yaffe also rejected an attempt by Kilroy to propose an
alternative judgment in its court challenge and he ordered Kilroy to pay
the court costs incurred by Corporate Campus developer Thomas Properties
Group, the City of El Segundo as well as the site's owner, Federal Express
Corporation (NYSE:FDX). "This is strike
three for Kilroy," said Thomas Ricci, Senior Vice President of Thomas
Properties Group, adding, "Kilroy lost the referendum campaign they
funded on June 18th. They lost again in Court on July 26th and now they've
lost in their effort to change the Judge's final ruling. The Corporate
Campus has won in the court of public opinion and the court of law."
"It's my view
that Kilroy's attorney suggested changes to the final judgment in the
hopes of improving their position for an appeal," said Dale Goldsmith,
of Greenberg, Glusker, who represented Thomas Properties Group and the
City of El Segundo in the Kilroy action. "Correctly, Judge Yaffe
rejected their attempts to alter his findings." On June 18, 2002,
El Segundo voters rejected by a margin of 2 to 1 a Kilroy backed referendum
designed to overturn the El Segundo City Council's unanimous January 2002
approval of the project. Kilroy, a publicly traded company, spent over
$580,000 of shareholder money or $480 per vote to lose the six-month referendum
campaign. With the final judgment now officially entered by the Court, the statutory appeal period begins. Superior Court Judge Rules Against Kilroy Realty Corporation Decision Comes on Heals Of Kilroy Funded Referendum Loss - 7/26/02 Los Angeles, CA (July 26, 2002) ---In a decision made today, Superior Court Judge David Yaffe ruled against Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC) in its lawsuit challenging the approval of the 46-acre El Segundo Corporate Campus. The ruling is yet another defeat for Kilroy's anti-competitive efforts designed to control the office real estate market in the City of El Segundo, CA, located just south of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Kilroy Realty is the largest office landlord in El Segundo. On June 18, 2002, El Segundo voters rejected by a margin of 2 to 1 a Kilroy backed referendum designed to overturn the El Segundo City Council's unanimous January 2002 approval of the project. "Kilroy couldn't stop competition in the court of public opinion and now they've lost in a court of law," said David A. Herbst, spokesperson for Thomas Properties Group, developer of the El Segundo Corporate Campus. "We look forward to bringing the benefits of the Corporate Campus to El Segundo and providing a new, Class-A option for office tenants in this important real estate market." Thomas Properties Group fully anticipates Kilroy to file an appeal on today's decision. "The people of El Segundo have spoken. The Courts have spoken. Kilroy needs to listen," said Herbst, adding, "Kilroy has spent well over half a million dollars of shareholder's money to try and control El Segundo from the ballot box to the courtroom. It's time that they saved their company's money and move on." Dale Goldsmith of Greenberg, Glusker represented Thomas Properties Group and the City of El Segundo in the Kilroy action. About the Corporate Campus The El Segundo Corporate Campus will transform the former Rockwell site on the east side of Sepulveda Boulevard, which has remained dormant for ten years, to a lushly landscaped corporate campus environment. The Campus will include much-needed athletic fields, provide a site for a fire station and a new day care facility as well as generate millions of dollars per year in new tax revenues as a home for businesses in the City. The Campus will pay millions of dollars for traffic improvements and will benefit from direct access to the 105 Freeway, the Green Line and other forms of public transit. The Corporate Campus revitalizes land that had previously been planned to support LAX expansion and uses it to benefit El Segundo. For more information, visit www.elsegundocorporatecampus.com. ### The El Segundo Corporate Campus has received 67% of the 3,350 votes cast on both Measures J & L on June 18, 2002 - 7/19/02. Summary: The Chamber endorsed the Thomas Properties Group LLC proposed development of the El Segundo Corporate Campus at their Board meeting on October 16, 2001. Click on www.elsegundocorporatecampus.com for up to date news about the project. Via Fax (310) 615-0529 Re: Proposed El Segundo
Corporate Campus Development Agreement No. 01-1 and Related Matters Mayor and Council
Members: I am writing to urge
you to approve the matters before you tonight relative to the proposed
El Segundo Corporate Campus. As a businessperson with substantial investments
in El Segundo, I am very encouraged by the display of confidence in the
future of our community that this proposal represents. Our General Plan is
intended to bring guidance and foresight to the land use decisions of
the city. It has been crafted over many years with input from all sectors
of our community. The proposed El Segundo Corporate Campus has been thoughtfully
and conscientiously designed to meet the requirements and aspirations
of this General Plan. The environmental review has been thorough and the
project’s impacts have been well documented and analyzed by the Planning
Commission. I urge you to respect their judgment and concur with their
approval of this project. Please seize this
opportunity to realize an outstanding project for our city. Such an opportunity,
particularly in these uncertain times, may not present itself again. PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Publication (October 23, 2001
- El Segundo, California) The El Segundo Chamber of Commerce has announced
its support for a 46-acre, $500 million project proposed by Thomas Properties
in El Segundo's Mixed Use North zone. The mixed use project, at the site
of the former Rockwell plant, is bounded by Atwood Street on the north,
Douglas Street on the east, Mariposa Avenue on the south and Nash Street
on the west. The proposal calls
for a mix of office, R & D, retail, restaurant and light industrial
uses totaling 2,350,000 net square feet. At full build-out, estimated
for 2009, the project’s floor area ratio (F.A.R.), the ratio of building
area to site area, will be approximately 1.15. The city’s zoning
permits an F.A.R. of 1.30. In addition, the city is currently in negotiation
with the developer to acquire five acres of the campus for a public park
and recreation fields. Also included in the project is a one-acre site
to be donated by the developer for a new fire station to improve the city’s
public safety infrastructure. The property has lain
fallow since Rockwell closed its plant in the early ‘90s eliminating
about 5,000 local jobs in the process. A series of projects have been
proposed for the property in recent years including a Federal Express
distribution center, a proposal which was ultimately withdrawn by FedEx
after resistance from a neighboring property owner and resident’s
association. A proposed movie studio and media center complex also failed
to come to fruition. Thomas Properties
Group (TPG), a highly respected, Los Angeles-based developer of high-end
office projects nationally, contracted for the purchase of the property
from FedEx in March 2001. TPG has been working closely with the city to
fashion a project that meets not only the requirements of the zoning laws
but also the aspirations of city officials. A public hearing on the project’s
environmental impact report is on the city’s planning commission
agenda for October 25th. The city’s fiscal
impact report estimates that the project will generate more than $21 million
net benefits to the city over the next ten years and about $1.7 million
net per year thereafter, plus create approximately 7,700 permanent new
jobs. "The Chamber
is enthusiastic about the prospect of seeing this property redeveloped",
said Chamber President Liz West. "Thomas Properties Group has a reputation
for outstanding projects that attract prestigious companies. This project
is destined to bring more high-paying jobs to our city and add to the
roster of top echelon companies that make El Segundo home." Total employment levels
in the city are still substantially below what they were before the recession
of the early ‘90s and this project will help to restore the jobs
lost when Rockwell left. As a substantial revenue generator, it will also
help the city pay for the high level of public services El Segundo enjoys. "The timing of
this proposal is important", Ms. West continued. "Expeditious
approval of the project will let people see that El Segundo, like the
rest of America, is open for business and looking towards a bright future."
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