Speakers

Bruce Ackerman
President and CEO
Economic Alliance of the
San Fernando Valley

Commissioner
CRA-LA

Brad Cox
Principal
Trammell Crow Company

Clifford P. Goldstein
Senior Partner
J.H. Snyder Co.

Larry Green
Senior Vice President of Development
Westfield Corp., Inc

Councilwoman Wendy Greuel
City of Los Angeles

Brendan Huffman
President
Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA)

Steve MacDonald
President
FilmLA Inc

Roger S. Moliere
Chief, Real Property Management and Development
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (METRO)

Thomas S. Ricci
Executive Vice President
Thomas Properties Group, Inc.

Tom Smith
Senior Vice President
NBC Universal

Thomas W. Wulf
Senior Vice President
Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky
County of Los Angeles

Patron,
Sponsors and Supporters

Patron

Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava MacCuish LLP

Sponsors

• Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP
• Business Life Magazine
• California Real Estate Journal
• Deloitte & Touche USA LLP
• Gensler
• Loeb & Loeb LLP
• NBC Universal
• PCR Services Corporation
• Psomas
• Real Estate Southern California
• TEG-LVI Environmental Services, Inc.
• RTKL Associates Inc.
• Thomas Properties Group, Inc.
• Trammell Crow

Supporters

• Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles - East San Fernando Valley Region
• Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles - West San Fernando Valley Region
• Mayor’s Business Team - City of Los Angeles
• Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA)
• Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley

Red Line Development: NBC Universal Reports on the New NBC Headquarters at Universal City in the San Fernando Valley

Transit Oriented Development - Dream or Nightmare?

Transportation is a major issue in every part of Southern California and nowhere does it affect the future of the real estate industry and economic development more than in the San Fernando Valley Region (“SFV”). With some 2000 units on-line in the North Hollywood area and Warner Center as the terminus of the Orange Line, it is clear that transit-oriented development (“TOD”) is the vehicle which brings with it to the SFV all of the major issues developers, builders, financiers, local governments, and the community must face. These issues include such challenges as:

In this panel, respected experts with significant on-the-ground experience discuss and debate what you need to know for success in the SFV, what strategies work and don’t work, and how the private and public sectors can and must each contribute to healthy and vital economic growth.

Why Come, Why Stay, Why Go: Challenges of and Opportunities for Economic Development in the San Fernando Valley Region

All over the country, an uncertain economy makes it more difficult than ever for businesses to decide where to locate and what factors are most important in making that decision. In this panel, developers and government officials examine what makes businesses choose to locate in the San Fernando Valley (SFV), what makes businesses settled in the SFV decide to stay, and what makes businesses settled in the SFV decide to leave. Panelists consider what key factors are affecting those decisions now, how that will change in the next five years, and what can be done to promote new and successful development consistent with the needs of a changing population and a threatened environment.

Specific issues to be addressed in the context of the SFV include:

• Lack of room for manufacturing sector expansion
• Competition from localities near (Los Angeles, Palmdale, Santa Clarita Valley) and far (Texas, Arizona) claiming to offer lower costs, better infrastructure, and better services
• Opportunities for affordable housing close to available jobs
• Government support of development
• Availability of government financing of $500,000 to $5,000,000 for projects
• Requirements for obtaining government funding that include prevailing wage construction, delivery of $11/hour jobs, and local hiring of employees
• Significant and continuing changes in population demographics

Retail Expansion: Westfield Corp. Reports on New Development in the San Fernando Valley

Fresh from a $350 million makeover and extensive expansion of Westfield Topanga with 1.6 million square feet of retail space, Westfield has set its sights on expanding and remodeling its Fashion Square property in Sherman Oaks. In an effort to change the Valley’s retail landscape, Westfield invested over $330 million to redevelop the Topanga shopping mall, adding more than 140 stores. Among the additional shops and boutiques added to the mall directory are 66 retailers making their debut in the Valley. The renovation provided over 1,500 construction jobs and over 3,000 retail jobs in the completed center and is projected to bring in over $605 million in annual sales. For Sherman Oaks, Westfield has filed a proposal to add 280,000 square feet of retail space including new shops, restaurants and other amenities, a renovation that will increase the mall’s size by more than 32 percent and cost about $200 million. Australian-based Westfield Group, whose U.S. operations are based in Los Angeles, owns four of the top six retail centers in the greater San Fernando Valley, accounting for nearly 4 million square feet of Valley retail space. Westfield Valley centers include Westfield Topanga in Canoga Park, Westfield Valencia Town Center in Valencia, Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, and Westfield Promenade in Woodland Hills.