$145-per-Lot Average Rent Instead of $600 per Month : Fee Goes Up, but Leaseholders Are Content

Living a block from the beach got a bit more expensive Monday for about 200 residents of Newport Beach.

Monthly rent jumped from about $25 to an average of $145 per lot, guaranteed through 1999.

Residents were pleased with their victory Monday after a long court battle with La Jolla-based Signal Landmark Inc., owner of the 31-acre Newport Shores area in west Newport Beach.

“I’m really excited,” said Ninfa Jarvis O’Brien, one of the homeowners. “We’ve been battling them for one year and nine months. At first they tried to get $600 a month out of us.”

On Monday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Judith M. Ryan confirmed the $145-per-month average rent, set by an arbitration panel, and rejected claims by Signal’s attorneys that the decision should be set aside.

About 470 homes are in the neighborhood, first developed in 1959 with lots leased for 60 years, with periodic rent adjustments included in the agreement.

Signal Landmark contended that the fair market value, the basis for lease payments, was about $25 per square foot, or a total of $31 million. Ron Beck, lawyer for about 200 leaseholders, urged arbitrators to set the value of $6.8 million, or $5 per square foot.

The arbitrators unanimously set the price at $11.25 per square foot or $14 million overall. Each side picked one member of the panel, and both agreed on the third, former Superior Court Judge Bruce Sumner.

“My own personal opinion is that the rent is still too high,” said O’Brien, a realtor. “But I’m not complaining,” she added quickly.

A representative of Signal Landmark could not be reached for comment.

“If you walked up to the average man on the street and said, ‘How would you like to live in Newport Beach for this?’ He’d be very happy,” Beck said.

“It’s terrific,” Beck said. “Signal got just what it deserved.”