State Deal to Buy Malibu Canyon Land Falls Apart

A long-anticipated land deal that would have placed a key section of Malibu Canyon under the state parks system has collapsed, leading to fear that the owner of the property may sell the parcel to a private developer.

The Adamson Cos., the firm that controls the real estate holdings of the pioneer family that once owned most of Malibu, recently rejected a $5.17-million offer made by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to buy 575 acres on the west side of Malibu Canyon Road above Pepperdine University. The land was to be added to Malibu Creek State Park.

Joseph Edmiston, executive director of the conservancy, a state agency formed to create public mountain parks in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, said he was stunned when the organization’s certified check was returned by Adamson officials a few weeks ago.

“We were really quite taken aback,” he said. “We thought it was just a matter of getting the money since we had the property acquisition agreement signed by them in November.”

Considered Critical

Edmiston said the parcel is considered critical to the state parks system since it connects several other pieces of undeveloped land being pursued by conservation agencies for park land. The parcel is high above the center of Malibu’s downtown area and is visible for miles along the coast.

“If this piece were part of a jigsaw puzzle of a clown’s face, the smile would be missing,” Edmiston said. “The land is above the main connection point into the Santa Monica Mountains. It would mean a major loss for us and a significant loss for Malibu.”

Edmiston said he feared that the property would be lost to a private developer if a deal can’t be worked out with the company.

Ron Rodgers, an attorney with a law firm recently hired by the Adamsons, said company officials wanted to review all of the firm’s real estate holdings and “decided that it would be prudent not to consummate the sale at this point.”

He stressed that the company wasn’t killing the deal permanently. “It’s not final by any stretch,” he said. “We’re still talking. But I don’t think anything is going to happen too fast. This is not a final decision.”

Sources close to the family said the deal was a victim of infighting among family members who have been struggling over control of the company since the family patriarch, Merritt Huntley Adamson Jr., died in 1986.

“All the stuff that’s going on (with the family) right now doesn’t have a lot to do with the land acquisition,” said a source close to the negotiations.

‘No Internal Dispute’

However, an attorney for the company said that there was absolutely “no internal dispute” over the land parcel.

Adamson was a grandson of Frederick H. Rindge, who purchased the Rancho Malibu Topanga Sequit in 1891 and expanded the former land grant into a 17,000-acre ranch. The property stretched west of Santa Monica and Topanga, along 25 miles of coastline. The rancho reached as far as three miles into the Santa Monica Mountains.

At the time of his death, Adamson was the managing general partner of the Adamson Cos. and Adohr Milk Farms Inc. Adamson’s grandfather helped found Union Oil Co., Pacific Mutual Insurance and the Southern California Edison Co.

The Adamsons have sold several thousand acres to the state and federal governments for open parkland over the years and donated the core of the Pepperdine University campus.

However, Rodgers said the company historically, “has just given and given super valuable land away and never gotten anything back in return,” indicating that the firm may be considering developing the land. “It’s one of the last big parcels that the company owns,” he said.

But he denied that the firm was shopping the land around, trying to get a higher price from private developers.

Although the property acquisition agreement between the Adamson Cos. and the state expired Dec. 31, Edmiston said he was assured by Adamson officials that they were willing to wait for state funds to become available to consummate the deal.

“If this isn’t worked out it would be a significant blow,” Edmiston said. “We’re in a situation like the Road Runner cartoons where all of a sudden the coyote runs off a cliff and there’s a moment of hesitation before he falls. Well, we’ve run off the cliff, and we’re wondering when we’re going to fall.”