In c7106, "Court confirms judgment entitling Zephyr Equities to percentage of gross proceeds from Brookfield Residential Properties project", issued today at 09:37e by Zephyr Equities, we are advised by the company that the first paragraph, second sentence, should read "The judgment also awards Zephyr over $519,000 in damages and interest..." rather than "$519,000,000" as originally issued. Corrected copy follows:
Court confirms judgment entitling Zephyr Equities to percentage of gross proceeds from Brookfield Residential Properties project
SANTA ANA, May 7, 2014 /CNW/ - SANTA ANA, Calif., May 7, 2014 /CNW/ - Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Bauer denied a Brookfield subsidiary's bid for a new trial after Zephyr Equities & Development LLC obtained a judgment awarding Zephyr the right to receive 3.1% of the gross proceeds of sales from Brookfield's Natomas development. The judgment also awards Zephyr over $519,000 in damages and interest in Orange County Superior Court Case No. Case No. 30-2013-00648089-CU-JR-CJC.
Brookfield promptly filed an appeal from this ruling, however this will be Brookfield's third attempt to overturn the original binding arbitration award enforcing Zephyr's contract granting it an interest in the proceeds of the Natomas development project. Brookfield's planned Natomas project encompasses over 2,000 acres in Sacramento County, California.
According to Court documents, Zephyr alleged that Brookfield refused to honor its contract for entitlement and development services. Retired Judge Ann Kough, who heard the binding arbitration initiated by Zephyr against Brookfield in April 2013, agreed. Judge Bauer signed a judgment against Brookfield on February 14, 2014 which prompted this latest legal maneuver by Brookfield's counsel, Corbett Steelman & Specter.
Zephyr Equities LLC, a company that provides a variety of pre-development services including due diligence, project management, entitlement processing and government relations management, was retained by Brookfield in 1998 to manage a number of projects in the greater Sacramento Area. When Brookfield refused to honor its contract with Zephyr for work performed on the Natomas Project, Zephyr initiated a binding arbitration proceeding to recover the amounts promised to it under the contract.
Adina T. Stern, one of Zephyr's attorneys is pleased with the result. "Brookfield has fought this bitterly but fortunately justice has prevailed," remarked Stern. Zephyr's principal Steve Rosenblatt was also happy with the ruling. "When you are just a small company going up against a publicly traded monolith like Brookfield, it can be quite stressful. They have fought this every step of the way. Fortunately they have lost each battle thus far," said Rosenblatt.
Brookfield Natomas is a subsidiary of Brookfield Residential Properties. (BRP:NY)
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SOURCE: Zephyr Equities
Adina T. Stern, [email protected], (949) 459-2111, Peter D. Collisson, pete@pdclaw, (949) 250-7474
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