10 years in the Valley 1996-2006: a look back

San Fernando Valley Business Journal, June 19, 2006

The Business Journal began publishing in July 1996.

July

INCREASES: The great downsizing era in Los Angeles may be coming to a close. After years of reducing payrolls, Southland companies from law firms to manufacturers, appear to be hiring.

PACE: Home sales continued to increase in the county and the state, according to the California Association of Realtors, but the growth rate in L.A. County slowed dramatically.

RULING: The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that the federal government breached a contract with Glendale Federal Bank could mean a multibillion-dollar windfall for Home Savings of America, California Federal Bank and Coast Federal Bank.

RETAIL: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to open a store in the former Broadway space at the Panorama Mall.

August

QUIT: Xylan Corp. Chief Financial Officer C. Stephen Cordial resigns from the Calabasas-based firm after only 10 months on the job. He will continue as a consultant.

DEFENSE: The U.S. Army awarded Litton Industries Inc.'s applied technology division in Woodland Hills a contract with potential value of $97 million to produce aircraft warning systems.

September

FINANCIAL.: Glendale Federal Bank is among the bidders for 210 empty bank branches across the state as the result of the merger between Wells Fargo & Co. and First Interstate Bank.

PLANES: California Attorney General Dan Lungren joins Burbank in the city's ongoing fight against expansion of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport.

HEALTH: Lancaster-based Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center, one of only two hospitals in the high-desert region of Los Angeles County, takes steps toward an ambitious expansion that includes a skilled nursing facility and expanded emergency room.

October

CINEMA: Basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson announces plans to take his successful movie chain to minority neighborhoods in 14 cities nationwide, including multi-screen projects in Van Nuys.

ANIMATE: North Hollywood-based Film Roman Inc., producer of "The Simpsons" and other animated films and television series, issues stock and begins trading on Nasdaq.

COMEBACK: Woodland Hills-based insurer 20th Century Industries, hit hard by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, returning to solid footing.

November

TROUBLES: Ten months of poor sales, fierce competition and a shortage of new products plunge consumer electronics retailers into a slump and leave two chains, LA. Tronics and Adray's, bankrupt.

PURCHASE: Glendale Federal Bank announces that it plans to acquire TransWorld Bank, the second-largest commercial bank in the San Fernando Valley.

December

MONEY: Higher costs of doing business, combined with a hot stock market that's driving up the values of money management firms, has led many local managers to consider consolidation.

AEROSPACE: Reverberations from the consolidation of the aerospace/defense industry, capped by Boeing's plan to buy McDonnell Douglas Corp, are shaking up the area's sprawling community of subcontractors.

1997

January

LINE: After years of delays, the planned east-west subway line linking Warner Center and North Hollywood faces elimination as transit officials confront lowered expectations.

February

CIVIC: Sides debate a Van Nuys Civic Center makeover plan that would consolidate various city, county, state and federal agencies. The site opened in 2003 as the Marvin Braude San Fernando Valley Constituent Service Center.

MALL: Walt Disney Co. opens its first Club Disney minitheme park in Thousand Oaks.

March

AEROSPACE: Lockheed Martin Corp. contends that it is not liable for toxic contamination claims at its defunct Burbank manufacturing site because the bulk of the work force there was for the Pentagon under its tight supervision.

April

TROUBLE: A report trumpets the fact that homeowners and small business owners in the Valley are slipping into bankruptcy and foreclosure. The report also claims that the Valley's larger business and commercial landlords are faring better than those in other parts of Los Angeles.

THE PLANT: Six anchor tenants including an Office Max and a Home Depot enter final negotiations to lease space in the $100 million retail/industrial project proposed for the former site of the General Motors assembly plant in Van Nuys.

May

PROJECTS: Los Angeles' economic rebound sparks a flurry of retail development in the Northern San Fernando Valley, the first such activity in almost a decade. No fewer than five centers are planned or under construction including, the University MarketCenter, a 20-acre shopping center in Northridge, the Granada Hills Town Center, the L' Plaza de Northridge, 356,000 square feet of new retail space at the former GM plant in Van Nuys and a 666.000 square foot retail development in Porter Ranch.

June

WORKERS: Talks start between the City of Los Angeles and Marvin Engineering Co., Inc. to bring in nearly 800 high-pay aerospace workers to the former GM plant site.

CITY WALK: Seeking to draw more local customers, Universal Studios Inc. undertakes a tune-up of its City Walk attraction to put a greater emphasis on nightlife and entertainment, opening a cigar/club/sports bar and a super-hero themed restaurant.