Cypress : Realty Firm Sues City Over Cypress Downs
Hollywood Park Realty Enterprises Inc. has filed a lawsuit against the city seeking to recover $125 million it claims it lost when voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to develop one of the largest remaining open spaces in northwestern Orange County.
“We’re seeking (to recover) the cost of holding the property, which we’ve had to hold since 1984, plus the interest we’ve had to pay . . . and lost opportunity when we couldn’t consummate the (sale) transaction,” said Robert Forgnone, the attorney representing Hollywood Park.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. April 21, 1989 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Friday April 21, 1989 Orange County Edition Metro Part 2 Page 2 Column 5 Metro Desk 1 inches; 22 words Type of Material: Correction
In an article Thursday about a lawsuit over a development project filed against Cypress, Mayor Gene Leyton of Brea was misidentified as the mayor of Cypress.
He said that in May, 1988, Hollywood, an Inglewood firm, had agreed to sell its entire 300-acre parcel, including the 140-acre race track, to SDC Redevelopment Co. of Newport Beach for $100 million, contingent upon voter approval of rezoning.
The Cypress Downs project would have transformed a former public golf course surrounding the Los Alamitos Race Course into a business park, including an office complex, hotel, retail and commercial shops and 31 acres for churches and schools. Of those proposals only the churches and schools could have been built under current zoning.
Cypress Mayor Gene Leyton said he could not comment on the suit as he has not seen it yet.
The suit was filed Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles.
