Jury Orders Burbank Airport to Pay $86 Million for Property

Clearing another hurdle for a new Burbank Airport terminal, a jury on Tuesday ordered the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to pay Lockheed Martin $86 million for its 130-acre Plant B-6 site.

The six-man, six-woman Burbank Superior Court jury split the difference between the $128 million sought by Lockheed Martin and the $38 million offered by the Airport Authority.

“We argued they [the airport] low-balled it,” said juror Irene Noonan. “We thought it should be something in between.”

During the trial, some government officials speculated that a ruling in Lockheed Martin’s favor would force the Airport Authority to downsize its terminal design plans, or even abandon the project.

But airport officials said $86 million is within the airport’s budget, and would not impede the project.

“Now we can look forward to some expedited process with Burbank,” Dios Marrero, acting airport executive director, said in a statement.

The proposed replacement terminal has been the center of a legal and political battle between the Airport Authority and the city of Burbank since 1995. Burbank has sought to limit the size of the terminal to prevent a massive increase in the number of flights.

A series of developments, most notably concessions by Burbank Airport and the city of Glendale, as well as the resignation of the airport’s executive director, have raised hopes that a compromise on a smaller terminal could soon be reached.

Airport lawyer Robert Crockett said the jury verdict was close to the $85 million the airport offered last April to settle the case.

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The team of Lockheed Martin lawyers led by Robert E. Willett said the site’s proximity to the runways, along with increasing land values and its potential for commercial development, put its value at more than three times the price set by the Airport Authority.

“We are somewhat disappointed in the number, which was somewhat lower than it should have been,” Willett said. “We’re glad the jury agreed with us that the property was not contaminated.”

The Airport Authority, which seized the land in 1997 using eminent domain, maintained the Plant B-6 site was worth far less because of years of defense manufacturing that contaminated soil on the property and reduced the land value. Willett argued that the land had been cleaned up and the contamination issue was a red herring.

Both sides are scheduled to appear before Superior Court Judge Carl J. West on June 24 to determine Lockheed’s legal fees and a timetable for paying the full price on the Plant B-6 site.

Airport officials paid $37 million for the site when they seized it in 1997. They estimate they will owe $64 million to cover the additional land value established by the jury, interest costs and attorney fees.

Crockett, however, said the Airport Authority could ask West to vacate the ruling if it appears Burbank would not approve construction of the terminal.

“If the city of Burbank is not going to approve the airport’s plan,” Crockett said, “the airport is not going to put that money at risk by paying it.”

But Willett said that scenario appears unlikely.

“They can always abandon their lawsuit,” he said. “But then they will owe Lockheed tens of millions of dollars and they have to give the property back. So you tell me what they will do.”

Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom said airport officials would have to wait three to four months for the city to evaluate the terminal relocation project and hold public hearings on the issue.