Condos for Horses Plan Trotted Out

Imagine this: Your horse wouldn’t have to be a lowly renter any longer. It could have its own condo.

Under a proposal made by the management of the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Griffith Park, people who board horses there could buy the stalls their horses live in--for $30,000 and a $205 monthly maintenance fee. If they paid cash, the price would be discounted to $24,000.

The idea of selling “horse condos” to riders who want to board their animals there is the latest attempt to increase revenues and pay off debts at the 70-acre facility, which has incurred losses of up to $20 million during its seven years of operation.

But the proposal has proven controversial among boarders, some of whom Thursday called the plan “outrageous,” “ridiculous” and “crazy.”

Besides the condo plan, the center also wants to establish a medieval-theme restaurant that would feature jousting matches to entertain diners.

A public meeting on both proposals will be held at 4 p.m. today at the Griffith Park Ranger Station, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive.

The center is on property owned by the city of Los Angeles, and is leased to Burbank-based Equestrian Centers of America. Although it is perhaps best known for the number of celebrities, such as actors Alex Cord, Pamela Sue Martin and William Devane, who ride there, the center--with 1,100 stalls and corrals--is the largest boarding stable and show facility in the city.

The proposals, particularly the sale of 300 of the stalls, are critical to the debt-ridden center’s survival, Equestrian Center President J. Albert Garcia said. The facility has been under a cloud of debt since seeking protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in 1984.

Waiting List

Despite current monthly rental fees of $320 for a 12-by-12-foot indoor stall--and a waiting list of three to four months to get in--the center has not only consistently lost money since it opened in 1981, but according to Shirley Darwick, an administrator with the city Department of Parks and Recreation, also owes the city about $600,000 in back rental fees.

Under a reorganization plan for the Equestrian Center, however, a Los-Angeles based financing firm, Trafalgar Capital Corp. and Trafalgar Holdings Ltd., would loan $12.3 million, $9 million of which would pay off an existing debt to Gibraltar Savings of Beverly Hills.

“Our total financial commitment, which has been the basis for our plan of reorganization, is based on the ability to recover a substantial part of our new loan from the sale of the horse stall condominiums over the next three years,” Garcia said.

“Without the approval of the horse stall condominiums, the plan of reorganization will not be able to be refinanced.”

While some horse boarders criticized the proposed jousting operation as something that would further reduce the riding area in an already crowded facility, others were particularly opposed to the horse condo idea.

“I can’t afford it,” said Margaret Stout of Beverly Hills, who keeps a thoroughbred at the center. There is a limit to what she is able to spend on “a sport and hobby,” she said.

“It’s a poor investment to spend $30,000 for a 12-by-12 box,” said Sally Mason, a Tujunga resident whose daughter, Heather, boards a 10-year-old horse there. “And that’s land you wouldn’t own.”

“I think it’s a bad idea,” said another rider, one of several who asked that their name not be used. “Your average horse owner can’t afford to buy it, and it makes the Equestrian Center an elitist organization. That’s not supposed to be its purpose. It’s a public area.”

Garcia, however, maintained that he has received 152 calls from people interested in purchasing the stalls. Alexander Haagen III, a Los Angeles-based real estate developer who owns three horse facilities, including one next to the Griffith Park center, said:

‘Good Investment’

“I think it’s a good idea. We are a free enterprise society. There are enough who can afford it, and I believe it would be a good investment. As time goes on, the costs of stabling can only go up, with the cost of labor, feed and land. It’s like if you bought a home 10 years ago, your payments would seem awfully cheaper than if you bought today.”

City officials expressed mixed feelings about the center’s proposal. Councilman John Ferraro, whose district includes the center, said he would like to help the management out of its financial difficulties, “if it’s at all possible to help. But I don’t know if we can legally sell condominiums on public property. I’d have to find out from the city attorney.”

“I don’t know the impact of selling those stalls,” said Robert I. Rush, general manager of the city Department of Animal Regulation, “but it would remove them for your average working person.”

Available stabling alternatives are shrinking in the city, he noted, due to “the cost of land, zoning requirements and environmental concerns.” Last year, his department issued 34 commercial stabling permits, down from 75 in 1975.

The parks department has taken no position on the proposals, Darwick said. Today’s public hearing is intended to help prepare a department report to the Board of Referred Powers, which will consider the matter next week.