Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES-Juergen Bartels, CEO of the London-based Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts, told a small crowd gathered in the Garden Room of his Le Meridien at Beverly Hills that the independent luxury hotel group has its sights set on becoming the number-one brand in the international hotel trade by 2004.

LONG BEACH, CA-American Residential Investment Trust has entered into an arbitration agreement with Long Beach Mortgage Company (LBMC). On Jan. 4, 2001, the company had filed a lawsuit, seeking to recover damages arising from its purchase of a pool of residential mortgages from Lehman Capital, a Division of Lehman Brothers Holdings.

LOS ANGELES-National commercial real estate services firm Studley has completed an office relocation deal for Salomon Smith Barney and represented Charter Communications in a build-to-suit purchase of an office center.

ENCINO, CA-A private partnership acquires 32,000-sf office building at 16000 Ventura Blvd. Brokerage firm NAI Capital Commercial will move into the complex next year.

SAN FERNANDO, CA-Acey Decy, which services the entertainment industry, buys a 58,000-sf industrial building here and will move its 40 workers from North Hollywood next month. The deal reflects a growing appetite for space-users in the area to own rather than rent.

LOS ANGELES-Jeffrey Tamkin, president of Los Angeles-based Tamkin Development, tells GlobeSt.com that most colleges now see student housing more as a marketing tool for attracting new students to their campuses than as a sheer revenue generator.

LOS ANGELES-The district's bid for the hotel, valued at more than $76.5 million, had been thrown into limbo by a higher offer from privately held Casden Properties. But bankruptcy judge now says the deal can move forward, after Casden can't hammer out other terms with the seller.

BURBANK, CA-Investment banker L.J. Melody arranges package from Principal Capital for Menlo's Burbank Empire Center office complex. The development will open next spring.