Dreams Spur Quixotic Equestrian Center Chief

In the words of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, J. Albert Garcia last month faced a “tough crowd, tough crowd.”

Garcia, president of the financially embattled Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Griffith Park, smiled weakly as he spoke March 25 to a crowd of horse boarders and riders, explaining how his plans to convert rental stalls to horse “condominiums” and to build a medieval restaurant with jousting matches were critical to the survival of the center.

“I’m telling you the truth, that if these plans are not approved, there will be a foreclosure of the center,” said Garcia, his soft voice quavering.

Garcia then listened with a pained expression for more than an hour as members of the audience attacked his proposal, accusing him of mismanagement and trying to turn the center into an “equine Disneyland.”

Being on the receiving end of criticism is not an uncommon position for the 60-year-old Garcia. In the eight years that his company, Equestrian Centers of America, has leased the center from the City of Los Angeles, his approach to turning the debt-ridden center into a profitable venture has been controversial.

But even Garcia seemed surprised by the vehement public challenge to what he called his last-ditch effort to save the equestrian center from bankruptcy and foreclosure.

Boarders are fearful that they will be forced out of the center or that their horses will be confined to less desirable stalls if they refuse to buy condos for $30,000. They also oppose the restaurant, saying it would cause congestion and rob horses of riding space.

City officials said the plans may compromise the integrity of what should be a public recreation facility accessible to all.

Los Angeles officials and riders have praised Garcia for turning the equestrian center into one of the finest of its kind in the country. But his more creative and unusual efforts to bring the center publicity and revenue have raised doubts about his business judgment and management skills.

Those strategies have been called bold and unorthodox and have included rock concerts during polo matches, a proposal for a 300-room hotel and plans for a health club with a jogging track and eight tennis courts, as well as a failed association with Patrick Terrail, founder of the trendy Ma Maison restaurant in West Los Angeles who briefly ran the upscale Riding and Polo Club restaurant at the center.

Throughout the criticism, Garcia has remained optimistic and committed to bringing the center out of debt. The center, on the border of Glendale, Los Angeles and Burbank, sought protection from creditors in 1984 under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and Garcia owes the city more than $600,000 in back rental. The center has lost up to $20 million in the last six years, Garcia said.

“I’ve made up my mind because what we’ve done is so worthwhile,” the embattled executive said in a recent interview. “This place has cost me so much in my family and personal life. I’m a stubborn fighter. I’m not going to let anyone push me around or put me down.”

Garcia has accused James E. Hadaway, general manager of the city Recreation and Parks Department, of trying to sabotage the condo plan and the restaurant proposal, part of the reorganization plan he has proposed to the city.

“Hadaway has a total commitment to see this place buried,” said Garcia, talking so rapidly that he was sometimes difficult to understand. “Hadaway has had a total adversarial attitude against me and this place from day one. I’m taking the gloves off.”

Despite Garcia’s efforts, a Los Angeles City Council committee has rejected the condominium proposal, saying it wants instead to meet with operators of the center, its creditors and city officials to consider alternatives to solving the debt woes.

Meeting on Alternatives

Officials of the Greater Los Angeles Press Club, which has sold its landmark home on Vermont Avenue, said this week they are considering relocating to the equestrian center. That and other options are to be discussed Wedneday before the Los Angeles Board of Referred Powers.

Under the reorganization plan proposed by Garcia, a Los Angeles-based financing firm, Trafalgar Holdings Ltd., would loan the center $12.3 million. About $9 million of that would pay off an existing debt to Gibraltar Savings of Beverly Hills.

Trafalgar Holdings Ltd. is headed by Charles W. Knapp, a flamboyant and controversial businessman who formerly headed Financial Corp. of America, once regarded as one of the most respected institutions in the savings and loan industry. Knapp, in 1984, was forced to resign from that firm by industry regulators because of what they said were reckless lending practices.

Doubts about the reorganization plan have included questions into Garcia’s motives and character. Boarders and nearby residents said he tried to conceal the plan for the condos and restaurant and gain city approval without telling them. One boarder said Garcia snapped at her when she asked about rumors that the rental stalls were to be converted. He told her there were no such plans, the boarder said.

Despite several pitches and pleas by Garcia--whom a former business associate described as so charming that “he could sell ice to the Eskimos in the dead of winter”--many boarders seemed to remain unconvinced. Garcia, however, said he has received calls from more than 150 people who want to buy stalls.

Garcia’s charm and his determination to turn the center around have helped persuade Los Angeles city officials to have patience with him. Some, however, question his ideas and his management style.

“Al Garcia has put up an incredibly beautiful facility, and that’s why the mayor and other officials have put up with all the problems out there this long,” said Richard J. Riordan, president of the city Recreation and Parks Commission.

“We would like to help him save the center, but that doesn’t mean we can agree with everything he suggests, especially when it’s not in the best interests of the city.”

Asked about the skepticism of officials and riders, Garcia spoke softly but firmly.

“My primary duty is to the creditors and the shareholders,” he said. . . . The boarders and others come second. These people want to be consulted on everything.”

Garcia, who filed personal bankruptcy in 1984, said he has devoted his whole life to the center--”seven-day weeks, 16-to-18-hour days. I’ve always said this place needs a magician, not a manager.”

He tried to fend off questions about past business ventures, pulling out a short biography done last year by Town and Country magazine. Garcia said he got his business training at Columbia University and Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. He said he founded the shrimping industry in Latin America, as well as the first marble and rock salt industries in the Dominican Republic.

Before taking control of the equestrian center, Garcia headed Diversified Earth Sciences, where he managed 21 merger-and-acquisition deals in two years, he said.

“If I wasn’t doing what I do now, I would be engaged in some kind of merger and acquisition business,” he said.”

“My biggest regret is that I had not met the present general manager, Mr. Hadaway, when I took over the center,” Garcia said. “If I had, I would not have gone ahead in any way.”

Garcia blames Hadaway for blocking the reorganization plan.

“He’s meeting with my creditors and my investors behind my back,” Garcia said. “He’s impugning my character. He’s chilling my deals. He’s interfering with my business opportunities.”

When told of Garcia’s charges, Hadaway denied that he is after Garcia. He said he had not made a decision on the plan and had several meetings with Garcia’s associates to gather information for his report.

Garcia has said that if Hadaway and the city do not approve the reorganization plan by April 18, Gibraltar will foreclose. In that case, Hadaway said, it may already be too late.

“Mr. Garcia does not understand the workings of the City of Los Angeles,” Hadaway said. He added that even if he approved the plan, it would take six to eight months to complete an environmental impact report on the medieval restaurant and another six months to a year for the city to negotiate a contract with restaurant officials.

Garcia said an environmental impact report should not be necessary because one was done for a larger health club proposal. Garcia withdrew plans for the club and replaced them with the medieval restaurant.

Parks and Recreation commissioners, who have ruled on most of Garcia’s proposals, said Garcia’s fears about Hadaway are unfounded.

“His method is to strike back and make nasty comments when he thinks you’re against him,” Commissioner Mary D. Nichols said.

So far, city officials said, they are not ready to give up on Garcia and his dream.

“Al Garcia has done the city a great service by building this first-rate center at considerable personal sacrifice,” said Parks Commissioner J. Stanley Sanders. “I want to do everything personally to give him every benefit of the doubt.”

Sanders said that if the city decides the center cannot function under Garcia, then it would be put in other hands. “But we are not at that point,” he said. “There are some problems, but he should be given opportunity to work things out.”