Pension Reform Bill Passes the House

Legislation protecting the pension plans of millions of skilled workers passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 15. A similar bill was passed in the Senate in mid-November.

Multi-employer pension plans and single-employer pension plans have recently faced economic problems that have left them in a vulnerable state, especially with legions of baby-boomers set to begin retiring in 2006.

The new legislation would protect businesses from having to pay unrealistic excise taxes that could force them into bankruptcy and would protect worker pensions over the course of their retirement.

"Current law calls for fines and penalties to be exacted on plan assets and on employers that actually can cause plans to fail," said Bob White, executive director for government affairs at the Washington, D.C.-based National Electrical Contractors Asociation.

"Employers going bankrupt or leaving the collective bargaining unit because the required payments are economically untenable can create a burden on the remaining employers that is simply overwhelming," White added. "For every employer that goes out of business or leaves the plan, the remaining employers have to pick up the slack, until fewer and fewer have to pay more and more, and the plan spirals down into termination."

TBI Development Buys Buildings in Campbell

San Jose-based Toeniskoetter & Breeding Inc. Development

has acquired three adjacent office buildings between Winchester Boulevard and Camden Avenue in Campbell.

The three one-story buildings total 61,056 sq. ft. and were acquired from a partnership owned by the family of the late Howard J. White III, vice president of TBI Development.

The transaction was TBI Development's first under a new equity partnership with Minneapolis-based Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, widely considered the world's largest fraternal benefits society and a Fortune 500 financial services corporation with more than $65 billion in assets under management.

The three Campbell buildings are 92% leased and negotiations are under way for leasing the vacant space. The three largest tenants are Automation Controls Group Inc., Cryotech/VBS International Inc and the American Cancer Society.

The buildings were constructed in 1991. TBI intends to make improvements.

Americana at Brand Construction Gets Green Light

Los Angeles-based Caruso Affiliated is preparing for the demolition of the last remaining structures on the site of its Americana at Brand mixed-use development in Glendale now that rival General Growth Properties conceded and dropped its suit against the project.

The Americana at Brand is a $264.2-million mixed-use project set on 15.5 acres that includes a two-acre park surrounded by a pedestrian promenade, fountains and outdoor seating and gathering places. It will combine 475,000 sq. ft. of retail, dining and entertainment uses with 338 residential units.

In November, the California Court of Appeals ruled against General Growth Properties in its latest attempt to halt real estate owner and developer Rick Caruso's Americana at Brand mixed-use project in Glendale. (General Growth is the owner of the nearby Glendale Galleria, one of the largest malls in Southern California.)

After defeat in Los Angeles Superior Court, General Growth appealed the decision and challenged the project's financial agreements. The court of appeals affirmed the trial court's decision in all respects and awarded costs to the city of Glendale, Glendale Redevelopment Agency and Caruso Affiliated.

Earlier this year the same court reinstated Caruso's $40-million antitrust and anti-competitive lawsuit against General Growth Properties.