Parks Officials Back Firm’s Plan to Take Over Equestrian Center

Los Angeles recreation and parks officials have recommended that a Burbank-based development company be allowed to take over the Los Angeles Equestrian Center from its current, financially beleaguered operator.

The developer, Del Rey Properties, agreed to pay $500,000 of the more than $800,000 in back rent owed by Gibraltar Savings to the city of Los Angeles, which owns the 70-acre center.

Gibraltar executives have blamed the center’s previous operator for the debt to the city.

They told the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission last month that attempts by the city to collect the money could ruin negotiations with Del Rey Properties to acquire the center.

Under the recommended arrangement, Del Rey Properties would pay $3.6 million for the right to operate the center.

The firm would pay $3.1 million to Gibraltar to assume the lease and $500,000 to the city, according to city documents.

Gibraltar would then pay the city $336,000, which would make up the remainder of the back rent that is owed.

The commission will vote on the agreement Monday.

Shirley Andrews, a city administrator who oversees the center, said Del Rey Properties is a reputable firm.

“We checked out this group thoroughly,” Andrews said. “Their integrity is highly respected in Burbank. We haven’t found any reasons not to recommend them.”

Del Rey Properties, a general partnership between Gregory Daggett and Timothy Behunin, grosses more than $8 million annually, according to city documents.

The firm manages and leases a mini-equestrian center close to the 70-acre Griffith Park facility.

Daggett and Behunin have lived in Burbank most of their lives and were students together at Burroughs High

School in Burbank.

They formed Behunin Construction in 1974, and Del Rey Properties in 1978.

Officials of Del Rey Properties have declined to comment until after the Monday meeting.

Gibraltar Savings, the center’s largest creditor, foreclosed on the center’s previous operator, J. Albert Garcia, in April, 1988.

Gibraltar, in turn, was placed in receivership by the federal government in March, 1989.

In December, Gibraltar laid off 40 employees and reduced services at the center while it looked for a buyer.