Say this about Frederick Smith, the radioactive land owner in the more or less family plot, the industry-heavy Hayden Tract:
His strident opponents are more interesting than those of other big-time players in Culver City.
The cymbals clang and the drums go bang when Donald D. Barr, a severely irked property owner in the Hayden Tract, serves up his sweeping opinions about Mr. Smith and about the ongoing saga of Mr. Smith’s controversial, supposedly sub-market acquisition, from City Hall, of the flat-faced Warner Parking Lot and his subsequent stewardship.
On Monday night, Mr. Barr, a lawyer/developer, joined a full-throated chorus of protesting businessmen in Council Chambers who were unable to dissuade the City Council from further sweetening an arrangement that they already thought was a prime candidate for diabetes.
No Comparison
Time to get acquainted with the extremely accomplished Mr. Barr, himself a multi-tasker who got in on the ground floor of the precedent-setting skyscrapers in innovative Century City in the late 1950s and early ‘60s.
Curmudgeonly Times
This is no suspenders-poppin’, vaguely educated onion farmer from Iowa, although Mr. Barr and the bucolic burgher may have several traits in common.
When a journalist introduced himself to Mr. Barr this week as the editor of an online newspaper, a rumbling grumble was the only sound emitted.
“I don’t have a computer, and I don’t want one,” he said in what sounded like a dis-invitation.
He is not entirely out of touch with the outer world, though. His two children are computer owners, if not outright mavens.
“We could speak by telephone,” the journalist suggested, without realizing how close he had come to the edge.
“I didn’t have a telephone until 3 years ago,” Mr. Barr said. “But I do have a fax machine.”
Obviously, there was no need to curtsy, step back gingerly and ease, warily, into a volatile situation.
Question: Is most of the opposition to Mr. Smith’s deal because of the nature of the man more than the nature of the transaction?
“No. The deal is a stupid arrangement on the part of the city to accept what is not a standard method for extending a loan.
“The least the borrower could do is make monthly payments of interest, which would be standard procedure, in this case 8 percent. This way the city would get a payment every month instead of at the end of the year.
“Second, if the city went into foreclosure on the Parking Lot now, without giving the extension, they could be collecting the rents. The rents to be collected are $92 or $95 per space, times 242 spaces. This far exceeds the interest that is accruing.
“Here is a hint of what is going on.
“It is obvious the developer is much better off to get this extension because he keeps collecting rents, and he owes the city less than the rents. He has no incentive to ever close this deal as long as he keeps getting extensions.
“The way the Council talked (Monday night), who knows when or if the number of extensions ever will end?”
Question: Was City Hall seduced by Mr. Smith?
“That probably is the bottom line when he talked about all the wonderful things he was going to do for all of the people in the Hayden Tract. He put down a lot of opposition. But I haven’t seen any of it come true yet.”
Question: Returning to the same question, do you believe Mr. Smith’s charm has beguiled the City Council?
“It would not be fair of me to comment. I never have liked him or his charm.”
Question: You knew Mr. Smith’s father, Ben Smith? How did that come about?
“Ben Smith started in the very late 1940s or early ‘50s. He had several companies. He owned the whole street. At one time, he owned the corporation that occupied most of those buildings.
“The father was an industrialist. He was wonderful, a charitable man. He donated parks to the city of Los Angeles. In fact, I frequently pass one on Franklin, on the way to the Hollywood Bowl, the Benjamin and Dorothy Smith Park.”
Question: From a characteriological standpoint, what is the difference between father and son?
“ One is a real character, and the father was a fine character.
“I don’t know anything the son has done. I imagine he has done some things I am unaware of.”
Question: How do you think this so-far two-year transaction will turn out?
“I am sure Fred will prevail. I don’t really have a viewpoint except I hate to see the city and the people get taken advantage of. My interest is rather indirect. I have a piece of property that the Community Development Dept. is scrambling to convert to parking in some fashion, along with the rest of the former railroad strip, which is owned by various people.
“But it never will make a decent parking lot. I don’t think anything ever will come of it. It just shows you, the Council realizes they made a horrible mistake.
“And then they put up the Redevelopment Agency to try and cover their backside and acquire all of this right-of-way, hopefully to make some parking spaces to substitute in.
“Nobody has any faith that Fred’s lot is going to be available. After 10 years, he takes it all away. Other than nothing, what do those people have?
“Their property values will plummet because they have no parking, except street, and the city ultimately will lose revenue.
“Instead of being a win-win for everybody, it’s going to be a loser for the city, and a loser for the periphery property owners.”
Question: Do you have an opinion about the lawsuit that was filed in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the deal from going through?
“I have not seen any of the legal papers. I don’t know what happened except the final judgment. But I think the city did make a mistake. The city was in such a hurry to get this escrow opened and closed in favor of Fred that they didn’t adequately advertise it to let other people make bids and proposals.
“Several of the property owners would have gotten together and made joint proposals. They would develop a parking structure that would take care of all the parking needs for that area and perhaps the surrounding area. They would finance it with public bonds, if necessary. That would have been the solution for everybody, including Fred.
“Now if he was hellbent on (originally, but no longer) building an opera house, that would not have been a good solution for him.
“But of course, Fred was thinking of Fred, not what the area needs.”
Question: Was there any justification for the city not to put this land out to bid?
“The only justification I can see is they wanted him to have it.”
Question: What is your view of Mr. Smith’s other request on the Council agenda, a similar extension of time for re-payment of a fee on a property at 3535 Hayden Ave.?
“This is a hoax of sorts. The city has allowed him to add several of his other parcels to the one in question. By adding all the other parcels, the city will get the revenue eventually. This way, they can let him off the hook, and he’ll never repay anything.
“I guess that is just city business as usual.”
Question: Is that ethical?
“You will have to ask them. I am no expert on that subject. I have been around too long.”
