Victor Coleman (HPP)
Its hard to escape the debate surrounding controversial Measure S. It even snuck its way in the fourth quarter earnings call of Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. on Thursday.
Victor Coleman, CEO of the West L.A. real estate investment trust, emphasized his opposition to the measure in response to an analyst question. If passed, the measure would not halt his L.A. developments, which are already entitled, he said, stressing that it would actually raise the value of his existing properties.
“The value of real estate that we and everyone has is going to be a lot more,” Coleman said. “I own land that is entitled. There is no limit as to what that’s worth [if] you have a moratorium.”
Despite the fact that it could value his properties sky high, he said he is against the measure, which he believes wouldn’t bode well for the city.
“I think it will be a win-win for land value and entitled land but a bad precedent for Los Angeles,” he said during the call.
The company hit analyst expectations for its fourth-quarter earnings in the three month period ended December 31.
Funds from operations, which takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization, was $68 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with $64.8 million, or 44 cents per share, for the same period last year.
It reported a net income of $22.3 million, or 18 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $6.5 million, or 7 cents per share last year.
Hudson Pacific ended the year on a high note with new and renewed leases totaling 560,112 square feet.
Some notable deals included NFL Enterprises’ two-year extension through June 2012 of its 167,606-square-foot lease in Culver City, Netflix’s lease to occupy all 91,953 square feet at Hudson’s Cue development in Hollywood through December 2026 as well the streaming service’s lease at Sunset Bronson totaling 99,250 square feet.
Hudson sold the Landing in Playa Vista for $80 million last May. The company was rumored to be in advanced talks to purchase Hollywood Center Studios for an estimated $200 million.