Category: new hotel-conference center

Dig a Deeper Hole?

The plaintiffs in the case against the UCLA Grand Hotel have filed an amended brief.  You can read it at the link below.  There are actually two cases, one involving environmental and other matters and another regarding the tax issue.  The environmental case will be heard in September.  And there is legal skirmishing around the tax case.



The tax issue is basically that if the hotel is a commercial operation, it has to pay taxes just as would any other hotel.  There is also an issue of whether the Regents can run a commercial enterprise and, if that's what they are doing, whether tax-exempt bonds (which are part of the "business plan") can be used.  Note that the donation covers only about a third of the cost of the hotel so the business plan has to produce a lot of money.  Taxes and non-exempt bonds would raise the costs.  Delays would raise costs.  The environmental lawsuit claims that the required environmental review was not properly done, that there were irregularities regarding the administrative and regental process, and that there were improper conditions imposed by the donors, among other allegations.

Right now, of course, the university is busy digging a deeper hole on the site of the Grand Hotel, as the photos show.  It is confident that creating facts on the ground is the best way to proceed. It is sure it will prevail in the lawsuits.  But let's suppose that there is, say, a 10% chance the university is wrong.  Does it make sense to just bull along?  The university bulled along on the Japanese Garden affair instead of trying to work with the plaintiffs in that case, and now litigation has put that matter on hold.  The university didn't promptly apologize to Judge Cunningham who was stopped in Westwood by campus police and now has a $10 million complaint on its hands.  So maybe bulling along is not such a good strategy. This blog has pointed out in each instance that there are advantages in talking, negotiating, compromising, all to no avail.  So it is probably pointless to suggest talking-negotiating-compromising in the case of the Grand Hotel. But we do suggest it. Why chance digging a deeper legal hole?


Actually, battleships can turn around but it depends on the captain giving the order

We’ve all heard the expression about how hard it is to turn a battleship around.  Giant ships moving forward have momentum to keep going in a straight line.  But they can be turned around.

Yesterday we posted about the Judge Cunningham case.  It is symptomatic of a larger problem in Murphy Hall.  What should have occurred in that case is a prompt apology by the chancellor and appropriate internal action.  If you were reading this blog at the time of the event, you would have found that suggestion.  Instead, what occurred was defensive legalism which is still going on.  So now we have a claim against the university for $10 million.  The episode is also marked by a complete sense of divorce from all the supposed concern about “campus climate.” 

An extra $10 million could have nicely resolved the UCLA Japanese Garden affair – see our posts on that matter – still in litigation, by the way, because the ship just sailed on in that case, too.

And let’s not get started on the colossal hotel project underway in the center of campus that could have been scaled back to something appropriate and better suited to the wishes of the donor and the needs of the campus.  But instead we have more litigation there.  Another battleship.

In each case, the battleship could have been turned before damage was done.  But there was no order from the top to do so.   Where is the captain?

==
UPDATE: The Daily Bruin now carries the Cunningham story in which the university responds with vague statements about being “distressed” that the judge feels bad but continues its legalistic approach – with no sign of intervention by the captain.
http://dailybruin.com/2014/02/03/judge-files-10m-claim-against-ucpd/

“We are distressed when anyone feels disrespected by our officers or anyone who represents UCLA,” university officials said in a statement Monday. “As in this case, feedback to UCLA Police provides them the opportunity to review their actions, tailor future trainings and improve performance to reflect the department’s commitment to excellence.”

$10 million in “feedback”?

‘Tis a Pit

As can be seen above, in the “cloud” on Google Earth the old parking structure #6 and the bus turnaround still are smack dab in the center of the UCLA campus.  But in fact the great pit for the Grand Hotel is underway, as seen in the recent photos below:

Unfortunately, if we want to be “on the level” about the great pit, it is difficult to see due to the wall around it.  Apparently, someone has decided that its vast size is something of a secret.  But there is a little hole in the wall to peep through:

Of course, you do have to be careful in digging great pits.  You never know what a big enough hole might lead to:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHtZ6Ixeqvs?feature=player_detailpage]

Grand Hole

Visited the Grand Hotel site after an intersession hiatus.  So far, the Grand Hotel seems to be mainly a Grand Hole where some remnants of parking structure #6 remain.  It is a big Hole, however, and you could pour a lot of money into it.  Not to worry, though.  Even though the Grand Hotel will cost over three times the donation that is paying for it, the business plan, we are assured by the powers-that-be, will eventually make us – well – wHole.

Location, Location, Location

We earlier blogged about the content of the UCLA Anderson Forecast that took place last week.  But we also like to remind readers from time to time of the location.  Sometimes the Forecast is in Ackerman.  Sometimes it is in Korn Hall at Anderson.  This time, it was at Covell.  Note that these are all venues that can accommodate large conferences and can do so without the creation of the UCLA Grand Hotel.  You can even have food service at any one of them, as the picture at the top shows.  If, when the Grand Hotel becomes available, the Forecast were to take place there, there would simply be a diversion of revenue from the alternative locations to the Grand Hotel.

Just a little thought-you-ought-to-know note.

Lessons from Berkeley’s White Elephant Stadium for UCLA, the Regents, and UC?

People keep noticing Berkeley’s White Elephant money-draining stadium – one of the grand capital projects that the Regents routinely approve based on pretty slides and business plans offered by the campuses.  Peter Schrag in the San Francisco Chronicle today ties the low graduation rates of Berkeley athletes with the stadium:

…Fueling the… issue is the chronic matter of cost – what the university kicks in to the sports program – and what someone called “its gold plated” spending. Brian Barsky, a Berkeley computer science professor and vocal critic of the athletics program, says between 2003 and 2011, athletics “drained campus coffers of more than $88 million that could have been used instead to support the university’s core mission.” Cummins and Hextrum talk about “accumulating deficits over nearly 20 years totaling some $170 million at a time when the campus faced substantial staff layoffs and furloughs.” [Sandy Barbour, Berkeley’s director of athletics,] claims those numbers are flat wrong. With the exception of one year, she said, there have been no deficits. But there’s no question that its football and basketball coaches, like other big time coaches, earn 10 times as much as the average full professor, or that Barbour gets paid more than the chancellor, or that the sports program isn’t self-supporting. More important still is the huge debt UC Berkeley faces for the cost of the recent rebuilding of Memorial Stadium and the construction of the adjacent “Student-Athlete High Performance Center” – all together totaling more than $450 million, some of it to be paid by 100-year “century” bonds. All told, including interest, those facilities will eventually cost $1.25 billion. Paying it off depends on football. And given the dismal records of the past two seasons and the disappointing sales of expensive long-term rights to seats in the stadium – originally priced at $225,000 apiece – that were supposed to help retire the bonds, a strategy since supplemented by a “more diversified approach,” that’s hardly a sure thing. What is a sure thing is that Berkeley has mortgaged itself in perpetuity to the success of its football team.

Full column at www.sacbee.com/2013/12/01/5953595/peter-schrag-has-uc-berkeley-mortgaged.html

There are lessons to be learned here by UCLA [the Grand Hotel], the Regents, and all the campuses.  But will there be lessons taken?  So far, however, there is little sign of such learning.  If Gov. Brown is as concerned as he says he is about dealing with UC budget affairs, he might consider attending meetings of the Regents’ Committee on Grounds and Buildings and maybe putting some state auditors to work on analyzing what has been approved over the past few years.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/01/5953595/peter-schrag-has-uc-berkeley-mortgaged.html#mi_rss=Opinion#storylink=cpy

Eviction

There have been worse landlord-tenant disputes

From the Daily Bruin:

A former UCLA employee reached an undisclosed settlement agreement with the UCLA Foundation Monday morning, the culmination of an eviction lawsuit brought forward by the university. In late October, the UCLA Foundation served Roselle Kipp with a lawsuit asking the court to evict Kipp from the boarding house that the UCLA Foundation owned, said Magda Madrigal, Kipp’s attorney. The UCLA Foundation assumed control over the property after the owner, Jorge Estrada, died in December of last year and bequeathed it to the foundation in a trust deed, Madrigal said.Estrada operated the property as a boarding house enabling tenants – namely UCLA students and employees – to stay there in exchange for performing chores and paying a subsidized rent fee…

Full story at http://dailybruin.com/2013/11/26/ucla-foundation-reaches-settlement-with-former-employee/ 

No room for her at the UCLA Grand Hotel?

Broken Links to UCLA Grand Hotel project

It has been brought to the attention of yours truly that some of the links and embedding to earlier blog posts about the UCLA Grand Hotel (and other topics) no longer operate.  Facebook has been used for such broken links, particularly as we go back in time, and Facebook seems to be not-so-good at maintaining embedding on blog posts.  Rather than go back and try to repair each broken link, we provide a listing below of all Facebook links that relate to the Grand Hotel project.  [In the future, as time permits, we may do the same for other topics.]  Note that some of the broken links are simply music that accompanied a blog post of that date on the hotel.  Nonetheless, below are all hotel-related Facebook links I could find to date.  They don’t disappear even if the links to the blog are broken.  The listing is in reverse chronological order of Facebook postings.

UCLA Hotel-Conference Center Groundbreaking 9-10-2013 [posted Sept. 11, 2013]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151934916831522&l=2374221136962797309

Video clip on scheduled Sept. 10 groundbreaking for UCLA Grand Hotel [posted Aug. 14, 2013 – music related to blog]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151874671671522&l=8527090903912782882

Why Rush the UCLA Grand Hotel? [posted July 26, 2013 – music related to blog]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151833931201522&l=414081409713632425

Regents Building & Grounds Committee Approval of UCLA Hotel Proposal 9-11-12 – Part 2 [posted Sept. 11, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151234104676522&l=4454238166400722117

Regents Building & Grounds Committee Approval of UCLA Hotel Proposal 9-11-12 – Part 1 [posted Sept. 11, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151234084146522&l=8985273820031540467

Regents on UCLA Hotel: Part 1 – Lawyer statement [posted July 18, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151120489086522&l=7975963167603842094

Regents on UCLA Hotel: Part 2 [posted July 18, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151120479961522&l=5354456585279327490

Regents on UCLA Hotel: Part 3 [posted July 18, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151120469561522&l=5689962321603778182Regents on UCLA Hotel: Part 4 [posted July 18, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151120457086522&l=943740499235199060

Regents on UCLA Hotel: Part 5 [posted July 18, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151120449321522&l=6084014943947463888Regents on UCLA Hotel: Part 6 [posted July 18, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151120443016522&l=5896104740648474890

Regents on UCLA Hotel: Part 7 [posted July 18, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151120437481522&l=1402403819857665315

University of California President Mark Yudof on capital projects during a period of UC budget crisis. He says that if donors absolutely insist on a particular building, UC will go along. But that is not what happened on the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center. Audio excerpt for UCLA Faculty Association blogsite: 7-16-2012. Interview dated 7/13/2012 on KNBC-TV, Conan Nolan interviewer. [posted July 16, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151114744756522&l=6208244037156614590

Presentation of May 2, 2012 to UCLA Emeriti Board on proposed UCLA hotel/conference center: Part 3 (end) — at UCLA

[posted May 2, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150876150571522&l=5962521177299063210

Presentation of May 2, 2012 to UCLA Emeriti Board on proposed UCLA hotel/conference center: Part 2 — at UCLA.
[posted May 2, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150875668116522&l=4035754916323045655

Presentation of May 2, 2012 to UCLA Emeriti Board on proposed UCLA hotel/conference center: Part 1 — at UCLA
[posted May 2, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150875523741522&l=7687669506506310484

UC Regents Committee on Building and Grounds on UCLA Hotel/Conference Center Project: Part 5 [posted April 10, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150806014366522&l=2223767044872007885

UC Regents Committee on Building and Grounds on UCLA Hotel/Conference Center Project: Part 4 [posted April 10, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150805997536522&l=4233067798468680401

UC Regents Committee on Building and Grounds on UCLA Hotel/Conference Center Project: Part 3 [posted April 10, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150805975601522&l=4955275971600221930

UC Regents Committee on Building and Grounds on UCLA Hotel/Conference Center Project: Part 2 [posted April 10, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150805917366522&l=8282673758787356791

UC Regents Committee on Building and Grounds on UCLA Hotel/Conference Center Project: Part 1 [posted April 10, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150805902516522&l=236752817885683369

Testimony on Proposed UCLA Hotel/Conference Center During Public Comment Period at UC Regents Meeting of March 28, 2012. [posted April 10, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150805874096522&l=130834643568763222

The UCLA Faculty Association submitted a request to the university for the business plan for the proposed hotel/conference center. So far, nothing has been revealed. This might help set the mood. [posted Dec. 16, 2011 – music related to blog]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150538892821522&l=2872120724613062457

Scoping hearing on proposed UCLA hotel/conference center, Nov. 14, 2011, Part 3 of 3 [posted Nov. 14, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150468907131522&l=4326349743891754311

Scoping hearing on proposed UCLA hotel/conference center, Nov. 14, 2011, Part 2 of 3 [posted Nov. 14, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150468903431522&l=8876928442930641376

Scoping hearing on proposed UCLA hotel/conference center, Nov. 14, 2011, Part 1 of 3 [posted Nov. 14, 2012]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150468898416522&l=7242133516696801154

UCLA’s construction empire’s plan to build a Grand Hotel/Conference Center and demolish the Faculty Center inspires this modest musical contribution. [posted Sept. 21, 2011 – music related to blog]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150390794701522&l=5962273749601013847

A polling agency, ostensibly on behalf of UCLA, has been polling residents near campus about their attitude toward the controversial university proposal to demolish the Faculty Center and replace it with a large hotel/conference center. This is a recording made by a resident of the poll with permission of the pollster. Final questions of a personal nature have been omitted at the request of the person called. None of the omitted questions dealt with the hotel/conference center.
[posted July 18, 2011]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150324731831522&l=7624382189941277342

Forum on Faculty Center replacement by hotel/conference center 4-6-11 Part 6 of 6 [posted April 7, 2011]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150217892451522&l=4057545145937947175

Forum on Faculty Center replacement by hotel/conference center 4-6-11 Part 5 of 6 [posted April 7, 2011]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150217886596522&l=4804853688483329125

Forum on Faculty Center replacement by hotel/conference center 4-6-11 Part 4 of 6 [posted April 7, 2011]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150217879191522&l=6001535003385119300

Forum on Faculty Center replacement by hotel/conference center 4-6-11 Part 3 of 6 [posted April 7, 2011]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150217873951522&l=8373806850060509514

Forum on Faculty Center replacement by hotel/conference center 4-6-11 Part 2 of 6 [posted April 7, 2011]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150217867776522&l=6431795129207803232

Forum on Faculty Center replacement by hotel/conference center 4-6-11 Part 1 of 6 [posted April 7, 2011]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150217862031522&l=8186444691034416355

Short excerpt related to Faculty Center. LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the Luskin gift to UCLA, ceremony of 3-18-11. Note that he itemizes the gift as going to the School of Public Affairs and the Faculty Center, not the hotel/conference center project that has caused much controversy. [posted April 6, 2011]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150217291151522&l=5376879969622957988

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the Luskin gift to UCLA, ceremony of 3-18-11. Note that he itemizes the gift as going to the School of Public Affairs and the Faculty Center, not the hotel/conference center project that has caused much controversy. [posted April 6, 2011]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150217286346522&l=5273310220893848946

Plan for Faculty Club 10-20-10 Part 4 (download date 11-29-10) [posted Dec. 19, 2010]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150111996151522&l=6983797056903406994

Plan for Faculty Club 10-20-10 Part 3 (download date 11-29-10) [posted Dec. 19, 2010]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150111991071522&l=1387240232864713370

Plan for Faculty Club 10-20-10 Part 2 (download date 11-29-10) [posted Dec. 19, 2010]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150111986991522&l=5232100941425668135

Plan for Faculty Club 10-20-10 Part 1 (download date 11-29-10) [posted Dec. 19, 2010]
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150111981596522&l=8218331861986929082