Louis Lesser
Encyclopedia
Louis Lesser is an American business magnate
. He received frequent press coverage in the 1950s and 1960s for his ability to earn money and for his various business operations. He sold the Taj Mahal to New York real estate developer Donald Trump
. Trump called Lesser "The Legend" as the historic biggest developer in the history of the western US, developing over 60,000 properties in the Western United States. He was a mentor to the legendary investor Warren Buffett
and Tracinda Corporation CEO Kirk Kerkorian
. He remains the biggest real estate developer in the U.S. West Coast in American history.
Many of Lesser's development projects were large in scale or of historic significance, such as Barrington Plaza
, the largest urban renewal
project in the western United States under President John F. Kennedy
. Barrington Plaza also served as a nuclear fallout shelter at the peak of the Cold War nuclear threat, with Lesser appointed to the Los Angeles County Civil Defense and Disaster Commission
during the Kennedy Administration.
Lesser's business operations were noted around the world for their diversity and quantity, with 250 companies and 150 partners by 1960. Some of Lesser's partners and associates were well known public figures—for example, Lesser was the landlord and developer for many of Howard Hughes
' properties. Lesser developed, owned, and leased many properties for the military industrial complex during the cold war
, and developed, owned, and operated numerous large hotels, commercial and industrial properties, apartment complexes, and housing tracts, developing over 60,000 homes in his career.
Lesser was named the Los Angeles City of Hope "Man of the Year" and received a commendation from the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors for business achievement and philanthropy
in 1961.
Lesser is a "real estate developer
", not a "builder
". Quoting Lesser in 1963, the New York Times wrote, "‘Developing’ is the key word. ‘We don’t build ourselves’, Mr. Lesser stresses. ‘We buy the land, finance the deal, and then we have the best builders build under bond at a fixed cost.’"
Magazine and Liberty Magazine for Crowell Publishing
. Lesser made a deal with the chief of the Fox Studios police force in Los Angeles to gain entrance to sell magazines to actors and film industry workers. Lesser sold almost 100 times the volume of other sales boys, and just after he left high school Crowell offered him a job as superintendent of the area distribution. Lesser turned down the Crowell job offer to work for his father's small women's coats and suits manufacturing business in the Los Angeles area.
Lesser took over planning and merchandising at his father's business in 1932. Lesser changed the focus of the business to specialize in oversized women's coats. Aged 16, Lesser made $ in his first year, despite 1932 being in the depth of the Great Depression
(calculated in current dollars, $30,000 in 1932 dollars). Then Lesser enlarged the business to mass sales to volume dealers. Lesser gained exclusive sales deals with Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Wards. By the time Lesser entered the Army, he had grown his father's small business into five coat factories.
In 1947, Lesser bought four ranches and two packing houses in the Coachella Valley with a down payment $ (figures in current dollars adjusted for inflation, $189,000 in 1947 dollars). Lesser grew grapefruits and dates, anticipating the lifting of World War II price ceilings. Five days after the purchase, the ceilings were lifted, and Lesser made back his down payment in about a month. Lesser sold the ranching and farming business in about 1949.
In about 1950, Lesser went into the gasoline distribution business and acquired a group of super stations, a tire recapping factory, and an oil packing plant. Lesser's "self service gas station" concept proved a success for gas stations, and Lesser combined with Eagle Oil Co., becoming the company's largest stock holder. Lesser then merged with Sunset Oil Co. and became its vice president. Lesser was elected vice president of Sunset Oil Co. on April 5, 1960, with J.D. Sterling elected president, and Harvey Nerson secretary-treasurer.
In 1961, Lesser purchased a 50% interest in Southwest Savings and Loan Association of Phoenix, and a large interest in the Bank of Phoenix.
audited Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. in 1963 and the SEC approved listing on the American Stock Exchange for sale of 500,000 shares in 1963. In a nine year time frame, Louis Lesser Enterprises had gone from (adjusted for inflation) a $ company to a $ company in 1963. At the time of the public offering, one of Louis Lesser's companies, Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc., had developed $ (adjusted for inflation) worth of real estate in California, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Hawaii, which does not include his international development, nor development by his other companies and partnerships. In 2009, Lesser and Eric Diesel merged assets to form Lesser Diesel Enterprises, Inc.
Lesser created Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. in early 1952. Lesser brought his brother Alvin, and three brothers-in-law in to help run his firm, Bill Malat, Louis Rudman, and Louis Lomas, who became controller. By 1954, Louis Lesser Enterprises was engaged in a developing projects in three states totaling $ in today's dollars ($70 million in 1954). Lesser's colleague, William Malat, husband of Lesser's sister Ethel Malet, said Lesser was involved in a $40 million ($ in today's dollars) project to build an "entire city" for the San Manuel Copper Mine
of the San Manuel Copper Corporation
in Pinal County, Arizona
(now BHP
, the world's largest copper mine), Benjamin Harrison Village
near Ft. Benjamin Harrison
at Indianapolis
, Centerline Gardens, Inc. near the Detroit Tank Arsenal, a program near the Los Angeles International Airport
, projects in the San Fernando Valley
and in San Diego. Within eight years, the company had built thousands of homes, over 2000000 square feet (185,806.1 m²) of office space, seven bowling alleys, numerous apartment buildings, and five shopping centers, and became involved in hundreds of developments across the United States. Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc., grew from a net worth of $ in 1953 ($200K in 1953 dollars) to $ by 1963 ($60 million in 1963 dollars).
For historic comparison with executive salaries today, and comparative efficiencies, in 1963, Lesser drew a salary from Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. of $ (adjusted for inflation, $57,500 in 1963) on a $ (adjusted for inflation) company, Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. had developed $ by then (adjusted for inflation) worth of real estate in the United states, with his brother-in-law William Malat, executive vice president, getting $ (adjusted for inflation, $47,500 in 1963), with a staff of 40.
Lesser resigned as chairman of Louis Lesser Enterprises in 1967, after a purchase of 6% of the company stock by industrialist Henry Salvatori
from the Lesser family, and was replaced by Salvatori's associate Paul Allison Cassell, and the company changed its name to Western Orbis Co.. After Lesser's departure from the company, it began to lose money.
' landlord in many Hughes Aircraft
buildings, and sold many other buildings to Hughes in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1957, Hughes was leasing six major Hughes Aircraft buildings, for a total of 265000 square feet (24,619.3 m²), from Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. By 1964 Hughes was leasing 14 buildings totaling 1200000 square feet (111,483.6 m²), and purchased other buildings Lesser developed and owned for Hughes Aircraft, then began to buy out Lesser's interests in Louis Lesser Enterprises stock in Las Vegas hotels and casinos.
, and his administration's suspected layers of corruption.
In 1960, Lesser worked on an early environmental reclamation project with Irwin Kahn, San Diego's biggest developer. They developed the Shelter Island Inn on a reclaimed World War II dumping ground, Shelter Island
in San Diego Bay, an early example of an environmental reclamation project.
Lesser promoted high-rise construction in Los Angeles, and was opposed to those favoring urban sprawl as a part of the character of Los Angleles. Lesser developed the 27 story 712 unit Barrington Plaza, which was the tallest high-rise apartment complex in the western United States as of 1963. Lesser owned a 50% interest in the Braemar Lesser Towers, a 192 apartment high-rise on Sunset Strip. Lesser Towers, developed next to the Ambassador Hotel, featured 236 apartments overlooking downtown. Lesser's California State University, Los Angeles
, high-rise construction was considered an innovative approach to university development in increasingly shrinking horizontal area in Los Angeles, in 1964. Lesser was involved in litigation to build high-rises, in opposition to those favoring urban sprawl, who argued that the high-rises would block their views of the local mountains.
Lesser developed six 10-story high-rise residential halls to house 3,600 students at California State University, Los Angeles
, which lacked space for horizontal expansion after implementation of a California State University expansion plan in 1959. This doubled the university's housing capacity, making it the largest in the California State University
system, only five years after its creation in 1959. The University housing plan was designed by Maxwell Starkman & Associates, AIA, Beverly Hills. Unlike other components of the Cal State University system developed in the 1960s, the residence halls were privately financed by Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. Lesser's developed "underground parking" in his Cal State LA development, which at the time (1964) was considered unusual enough to merit a newspaper section header, "Parking Underground", which described a "two level" underground parking lot as an innovative "concept" of "subterranean spaces".
The Lesser Building was built in what was at the time considered a futuristic
style. The offices of Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. were moved to the 45000 square feet (4,180.6 m²) Lesser Building upon its completion in 1963, located at 8730 Wilshire Blvd., at the corner of Arnaz Ave., in Beverly Hills, California.
upon completion of construction in 1963.
walls with an interlocked floor, in "modern California mode" using facades of California rock and flagstone covering the precast concrete walls. Examples are the buildings Lesser developed and leased to Howard Hughes in Lesser's Airport Industrial Center and elsewhere, in 1955 the Panorama Industrial Center, developed with Alfred Lushing of Midland Properties for $ (adjusted for inflation) on a 25 acres (101,171.5 m²) plot of the original ranch now known as Panorama City, the X-Ray Products Co. facility at Lesser's Slauson Industrial Center, for a total cost of over $ (adjusted for inflation). X-Ray Products Co. specialized in x-ray
inspection of industrial parts, and in Lesser's "Airport Industrial Center" at Freeman and Imperial Highway
, three Pioneer Aluminum, Inc. buildings, totaling 90000 square feet (8,361.3 m²), for long term lease to the distributor of extruded aluminum shapes to the then growing aircraft industry
, for $ (adjusted for inflation)($1.5 million 1956).
In 1959, Lesser developed a structure intended, in part, to store missile parts at the height of the cold war in San Diego, the Convair Astronautics Division for General Dynamics
. The structure was at the time a historic tilt up construction, due to the project size at the time. The "enormity" of the project required special water lines to be brought in. It was developed on 28 acres (113,312.1 m²), with a 336000 square feet (31,215.4 m²) building footprint, 150,000 cubic yards of soil excavated for the project, leveling an entire valley, with 14 acres (56,656 m²) of developed paved parking, 36000 square feet (3,344.5 m²) of office space, 20 feet (6.1 m) walls to the bottom of the truss, and a roof made entirely of metal, pioneering large scale buildings of this type regularly made later in the 1960s.
, used the term "boom" to refer to the phenomenon of increased births in post war America, "Take the 3,548,000 babies born in 1950. Bundle them into a batch, bounce them all over the bountiful land that is America. What do you get? Boom. The biggest, boomiest boom ever known in history." 1959 was the busiest real estate year in southern California history to date, and the expressions "babies" and "boom" were used together in an LA Times story about Lesser titled "War Babies to Bring Big Boom". Writer Al Johns commented "I’m always amazed at this man, Louis Lesser. Seems there's a letter in the mail every few days telling of another of his projects", describing Lesser's "huge building programs" for the post World War II population expansion and population movement to the western United States, to "keep pace with the anticipated expansion of the national economy". In 1959, Lesser announced a $ (adjusted for inflation, $120 million in 1959) program, taking in 32 cities in 14 states and "the Territory of Hawaii
" (Hawaii was not yet a state), 11 industrial centers with 2000000 square feet (185,806.1 m²) of industrial buildings, 3,431 apartment units, ranging from 4 unit buildings to 23 story steel reinforced concrete stcuctures, 4,500 single family homes, six shopping centers, two office buildings, two bowling alleys, together with development of 3700 acres (15 km²) of residential land, acquired an additional $ (adjusted for inflation, $20 million 1959) worth of industrial, residential, and commercial land, and engaged large staffs of architects, engineers, and construction expediters.
, Lili St. Cyr
, Johnny Ray
, Frankie Laine
, and Roberta Linn appeared at Parkway, developed with Irvin Kahn and George Hirsch. Legion Lanes was developed by Lesser and Ted Bentley into a 44-lane bowling alley from the Hollywood American Legion Stadium boxing arena, at El Centro and Hollywood Blvd., at a $ (adjusted for inflation, $2 million in 1962), with architectural firm of William L. Rudolph & Associates, and the Pozzo Construction Company. The facility included a playroom for children, cocktail bar, billiard room, and snack bar. NBC
provided its lot for temporary parking during construction, and Milt Enright became manager of the facility. By 1962, Lesser also had planned development of bowling alleys in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, as bowling competed with cricket
, soccer, and rugby
as national pastimes in these countries. In 1960, Lesser developed a bowling alley in Indio, California
, at a cost of $ (adjusted for inflation, $750,000 in 1962) with developers Mike Hirsch and Sam Miller
. In 1959, Lesser, with John Howard
, Jack Helms
, Ralph Hirsch, and Edward Tauder developed the (1959 $2million) Santa Monica Civic Lanes in Santa Monica, California
, described at the time as the "Beach City" by the Los Angeles Times, also to house the Santa Monica Civic Club, and Samoa Lanes at 5th and Broadway in Santa Monica, both with 24 lanes, "equipped with automated pinsetters, a billiard room, children's playroom, coffee shop
, and cocktail lounge".
, of which Lesser's Casa Conejo project was the largest, The Los Angeles Times reported in 1960 on "ranch style
homes" in the Los Angeles area tract housing construction in the early 1960s, with Lesser's Casa Conejo Estates as being "available to veterans and non-veterans" and "located on large lots with ample room [1/3 acres] for pool or tennis court, the new homes have three bedrooms, family room, and two baths. Features include forced air heating (thermostatically controlled), built in gas ranges and ovens, garbage disposals, natural ash kitchen cabinets, aluminum sliding glass doors, acoustic ceilings, louvered bar-type swinging doors to kitchens, Pullmans (small, long, and narrow in architectural design, based on Pullman sleeping car
design) with mosaic tile tops in both baths, and composite shingle roofs with heavy shake trim. The homes are near the new Conejo Village Shopping Center, which includes a supermarket, drugstore, bank, restaurant, Conejo Village bowling alley, and a professional building" of 14000 square feet (1,300.6 m²).
, and made $ (calculated in current dollars) in sales by 1950. Sales were made to veterans on the "no down payment" terms, prior to government housing credit restrictions being imposed. The development was considered of historic significance for leading the construction of automated "homes of the future
" movement, using General Electric
's automatic dishwashers and automated garbage disposal
s, and thermostatic heat controls
in every home, in addition to tiled stall showers
, upholstered breakfast nooks
, and barbecue pits
in the backyards. Some of the innovations are now standard in all developments, such as thermostatic climate control, and some are relics of the times, such as upholstered breakfast nooks and backyard barbecues, which are now a subject of environmental concern.
, containing Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park
, and Agoura at the time, had a population of 2,000. By January 1, 1960, the population had grown to over 10,000, with Lesser developing 900 homes in the west Conejo Valley, adjacent to the Newbury Park industrial park, in early 1960. Highway 101 running north of the Santa Monica Mountains
became the Ventura Freeway
in summer of 1960. In 1960, Packard-Bell Electronics and Technology Instrument Corp. moved to Conejo Valley's newly developed industrial parks. California Lutheran College
was started, and announcement was made for the planned move of Northrop Institute of Technology, an aeronautical and electrical engineering school with 2,200 students, from its location at the time at Los Angeles International Airport. In 1961, Westland Plastics and Photo Analysis, Inc. moved to the valley, and the radioplane division of Northrop Corp.
began construction of a 350000 square feet (32,516.1 m²) facility, to move from its location in Van Nuys, California. Also planning moves to the valley in 1961 were General Telephone Co. and Semtech Corp Conejo Valley had a total population of 2,000 in 1955, and just over 10,000 in 1960. To accommodate the housing demands from the new industries, tract home develepoment intensified, the largest of which was Louis Lesser's Casa Conejo, a development of 1,000 homes, across from the industrial area.
, granted to Ricardo Vejar in 1837, who in 1864 sold to Prussian cowboy immigrant Louis Phillips, who came to California in the gold rush. Lesser's brother Alvin was his director of development at the time, and construction started in 1965. After the Civil War, the Southern Trail from the eastern United States, through Yuma, to the California coast passed through the ranch, and the Philipps Ranch Rubottom Hotel became a Saturday night wild west activity center, with fourteen saloons, and three opium dens for large numbers of settlers, businessmen, and others. Churches, schools, and Pomona College ended the lawless element.
In 1963, Lesser argued, "many people, especially older people, actually like to be congested. They want to see activity. To challenge the idea of high rise is like saying all automobiles ought to have cranks." It was also thought Los Angeles residents would not rent high rise apartments, or apartments at all. But the high rise concept was successful, the apartments rented out quickly, and by 1963, within two years, area housing starts went from 80% single home dwelling, to 35%. Barrington Plaza was 27 stories, Lesser Towers, 22 stories, and Lesser developed the Braemar-Lesser Towers, a 17 story apartment on the Sunset Strip, with 192 apartments, for $ (adjusted for inflation, $4.5 million in 1963).
with Ben C. Deane, as largest urban renewal project in the history of western United States, under the Federal Housing Authority of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Barrington Plaza was the first Los Angeles urban renewal project, and "the highest (apartment) rise in the West". In 1962, the New York Times called Barrington Plaza the largest privately-financed apartment project ever built west of Chicago
. Development cost was $ (adjusted for inflation, $18 million in 1963), with the FHA insuring $ (adjusted for inflation, $16,702,500 in 1963). It consisted in a 27 story building, two 17 story buildings, 712 apartments, and Olympic size swimming pool, putting green, and amenities, marketed as an upscale apartment complex, with underground parking, in addition to serving as a nuclear fallout shelter. It occupied 5 acres (20,234.3 m²), with 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) devoted to open space. It was considered controversial and risky, since at the time as Californians were considered to "resist apartment dwelling". Lesser paid back the FHA loan, the largest of its kind in FHA history, by 1963. Lesser sold the Plaza to Barrington Enterprises in 1965, according to the national labor relations board, after which the project ran into difficulties.
changed the name to Sterling Towers, and began to run ads claiming to have developed Sterling Towers, after Los Angeles Times articles in the 1960s stated that Louis Lesser Enterprises developed them.
, with a resort-like three-level building, overlooking Newport Harbor, and with 156000 square feet (14,492.9 m²). At the same time as the Hellspot Plant lease, Hughes leased five additional buildings from Lesser, transferring part of Hughes' semi-conductor division to five Lesser buildings in Costa Mesa, for producing germanium and silicon diodes.
In 1961 Lesser purchased the historic 1919 skyscraper, the Fulton Fresno Building, originally built by Fresno vintner and winemaker Andrew Mattel. The building was acquired by Bank of America in 1932, purchased from Iris Securities in 1954, then conveyed to Triangle Development, which conveyed it to Lesser the same day. At the time of Lesser's purchase, the building housed Fresno Guarantee Savings & Loan. Lesser fully restored the building to its 1919 condition. Lesser purchased and restored historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including the Great Western Savings Building at 706 South Hill St., the Foreman Building at 707 South Hill Street, the Brockman Building
at 520 WSest Seventh St., and the McDonald Building at 708 Grand Ave. Lesser developed or restored historic downtown San Diego buildings and hotels, including the California Theater Building at 1122 Fourth Avenue, the First and "C" Building on the northwest corner of First Ave. and C Street, the Robinson Building at 520 East E Street, developed the 355000 square feet (32,980.6 m²) Electronics Capital Building, as well as numerous large San Diego apartments and properties.
, and was developed with Paul Snyder The project was developed prior to requirements for extensive environmental impact studies.
in December 1961, an appointment of significance both for being at the peak of the Cold War nuclear scare, and for the potential of a conflict of interest, due to massive government funding for development of nuclear fallout shelters, and Lesser being a developer bidding on the projects proposed. Lesser served on commission with Los Angeles County Sheriff Peter J. Pitchess
, Los Angeles Police Chief William H, Parker, and six other members. Lesser buildings were later approved to be nuclear fallout shelters, with local and federal government funding and subsidies for their development. Lesser's proposed Barrington Plaza development was approved as a nuclear fallout shelter by the Board, in addition to receiving the greatest funding support of any western United States Federal Housing Authority urban renewal
project under president John F. Kennedy.
, "at a time Kahn was in dire need of funds to meet financial commitments and recognized that the property that is Los Penasquitos was or would soon be subject to foreclosure". Morris Shenker was known in the press for his work on selling the interest in Las Vegas hotels and casinos of Lesser. Lesser claimed to have learned that the Teamsters Union fund received a 25% interest in Los Penasquitos, in return for the loans. Kahn claimed to have arranged the Teamsters loans himself. In April 1969, the federal government filed a civil suit alleging that a number of Kahn-Shenker firms had repeatedly violated federal law by failing to pay minimum wages and time and a half for overtime. Kahn and his companies settled, paying back wages and accepting a permanent injunction against further violations.
In addition to his connections to Lesser and sales of the interests in Las Vegas hotels and casinos, such as the Dunes Hotel
, Shenker was in the press for being the chief counsel for Teamster Boss James R. Hoffa ("Jimmy Hoffa"), and for being named chairman of the new St. Louis Crime Commission. Life magazine reported that St. Louis Mayor Alfonso J. Cervantes, who named Shenker to the crime commission, had business and personal ties with organized crime figures.
It was later revealed that the 25% interest Lesser claimed was owned by Shenker, who became known as "The Money Mover" following a Los Angeles Times story titled "Morris Shenker: The Money Mover". Lesser had been developing and acquiring historic downtown San Diego buildings and hotels, including the California Theater Building at 1122 Fourth Avenue, the First and "C" Building on the northwest corner of First Ave. and C Street, the Robinson Building at 520 East E Street, and developing the 355000 square feet (32,980.6 m²) Electronics Capital Building, and numerous other large San Diego apartments and properties. The Los Angeles Times reported that "two Las Vegas casino operators appear to be landlords to a group of federal agencies in a downtown San Diego skyscraper", the Charter Oil Building, and that "the title company and the building manager will not tell us who owns it." In its September 13, 1963 audit of Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. for the SEC, Arthur Andersen attributed development and ownership of the Shelter Island Inn to Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc., but on September 20, 1970, the Los Angeles Times reported that Kahn had an interest in the hotel. A May 29, 1970 Life Magazine article on Shenker described him as the "foremost lawyer for the Mob in the U.S." and a brilliant befuddler of Internal Revenue Service investigations into labyrinthine business deals. According to the Los Angleles Times, Shenker first came to national attention in the early 1950s, related to syndicated gambling, where "Shenker represented more of the big time gamblers than any other lawyer. In his complaint, Lesser said that Shenker "was and is now an agent of the (Teamster) fund".
, about five years after America being accused of involvement in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, deposing the democratically elected
government of Iran
ian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq.
Also in 1958, Lesser reportedly began the construction of a grain warehouse for use by the Mexican Government
, at the time when PRI rule was becoming increasingly authoritarian and at times oppressive.
Lesser is also believed to have begun construction of a skyscraper office building in Caracas, Venezuela, to be owned in association with Financiadora Administradora Inmobiliaria, S.A., later associated with allegations of Venezuelan government corruption involving its then president at the time, Marcos Pérez Jiménez
.
Lesser is alleged to have developed over 60,000 homes before current environmental laws were in place, including 10,0000 homes at one time in his Phillips Ranch development, on "one of the largest parcels of undeveloped land in Los Angeles County".
Lesser leveled an entire small valley to build the Convair Astronautics Division for General Dynamics
in San Diego, moving 150,000 cubic yards of soil.
In an article about a number of developers, the Los Angeles Times stated that developers, "recognizing the beauty" of the ancient "gnarled old oak trees", (California live oak, Quercus agrifolia) in the Conejo Valley, preserved them in development, "using them to compliment... development of land", but excluded Lesser from the report.
Lesser created, owned, and operated Zenith Refinery in the San Fernando Valley
in 1975, one of the first major American recycling companies, but reportedly moved Zenith to Hong Kong to avoid American air quality regulations.
Lesser's partner in Lesser Diesel Enterprises, former Stanford University
Mathematical Statistician Eric Diesel, received press coverage for development practices that were alleged to have caused environmental problems on his property on California State Highway 9, between 1.2 miles (1.9 km) and 1.46 miles (2.3 km) below California State Highway 35.
Diesel was arrested and prosecuted by the County of Santa Clara. Cal Trans alleged that grading of Diesel's driveway caused tremendous offsite damage from an enormous debris flow from the property. Diesel maintained that the material came from dumping by Caltrans. The jury acquittal was overruled by the judge. Diesel was ordered to attend restitution hearings for damage to adjacent properties, including to Caltrans. Despite the specific jury acquittal in the grading matter, the court ordered Diesel to pay substantial amounts to Caltrans and off site government agencies over a period of the eleven year-long trial and restitution hearings.
Rex Upp, the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists
president of 2003, asserted that the prosecution used junk science
in prosecuting Diesel, instead of using accepted principals in engineering geology. Upp reportedly found that the geological material Diesel was accused of generating did not exist on Diesel's property, "was geologically different and could not have come from the defendant's grading".
Upp's opinion was that, "The sandstone and shale that had blocked the highway was geologically different and could not have come from the defendant's grading." Upp also reported that the debris Caltrans accused Diesel of causing was from a different canyon, and not Diesel's, "The debris flow that blocked the highway in the El Niño storm of February 1998 was caused by a slope failure in a different watershed from the defendant's grading.". Upp's opinion was also that the allegations that any damage alleged to be caused by Diesel were impossible since "Virtually all of the sediment that eroded from the defendant's grading remained in retention basins on the defendant's property.".
In October, 2007, CBS News reported that Diesel was improperly prosecuted, and that the material Diesel was accused of dumping was dumped by Caltrans. CBS reported that Caltrans employees referred to the land as the "Pet Cemetery", with CBS referring to the site as "Caltrans’ secret pet cemetery".
In reports to CBS News, Caltrans executives and senior County officials claimed not to have known of the dumping of material. Diesel alleged the material was hauled to his property, then dumped there by Caltrans, writing "The extraordinary videotape evidence of dead animal carcasses mixed with highway clean-up debris and road cones, then dumped directly into the drinking water supply of the neighbor below HH (at PM 1.46) (as reported in the letter of Craig Britton discussed by Mr. Anderson) gives a tremendous motivation for Caltrans to shift liability to Mr. Diesel, and to destroy his credibility with a conviction followed by a large restitution judgment."
The CBS News story on the Cal Trans Pet Cemetery opened up further investigation of Caltrans dumping in other areas with the discovery of a second discovery of other such dumping by Caltrans.
The incident on Highway 9 in Saratoga was the topic of the keynote address of Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists
president Rex Upp, Ph.D., to the Association, and publications by Dr. Upp on the geological evidence.."
Diesel also received coverage for a 300 acre timber harvest damaging Rattlesnake Creek in Santa Cruz County ("Rattlesnake Gulch", per USGS Loma Prieta Quadrangle map), which also involved Diesel's partnership with Harvard–Yale
mathematician George Golitzin. The death of John Golitzin put George Golitzin in line to be Czar of Russia after his oldest brother, Oxford University theologian Father Alexander Golitzin, who currently has a claim to be Czar of Russia.
In 1963, The New York Times described Lesser in its "Personality] section, as "restless, fast-talking" and "one of the more aggressive Western developers currently riding the crest of the real estate boom", "a business executive right out of Hollywood's ‘Hometown Boy Makes Good’", also as having run through several business careers, and in 1963, as "making his bid as a ‘Big Time Real Estate Operator’… although not yet a (William) Zeckendorf
, (Del) Webb
, or (Paul) Tishman
".
Louis Lesser's parents were Russian-Polish Jews who immigrated to America sometime before 1910. His father was in the women's garment business, making lady's coats. Lesser was born in Los Angeles, California. Lesser had a younger brother, Alvin, and three sisters, Clara Lomas, Ehtyl Malat, and Shirley Rudman.
Lesser's wife was Jeanne Lesser, to whom he was married for 70 years, until her death in 2006. Lesser had a son, Craig Adolph Lesser, and three daughters, Teri (husband Jack Ford), Kathy Sanson, and Francine Keefe.
Jeanne Lesser died on November 26, 2006, at the age of 88. Lesser's daughter Francine died in a single-car auto accident, leaving two sons, Andrew and Allen, who were then raised by Lesser and his wife Jeanne.
, and for allegations of being the operational director involved in kidnapping, drugging, brainwashing, and defrauding victims of real estate and otherwise, for the Adi Da
cult in Lake County California. Craig Lesser died after his real estate was deeded to Adi Da cult members with "power of attorney" signatures, in an unwitnessed single-car auto accident on California State Highway 29, in a remote mountain area between Highway 176 and Bottle Rock Road, and his death was never investigated.
Craig Lesser was employed in factoring
(a financial transaction where the ability to collect an amount owed (accounts receivable
) is sold for less than what is owed, by a factor, since there is a cost to trying to collect on the debt). Craig Lesser was named as a defendant in the 1986 "detention
and brainwashing" litigation involving the Adi Da
cult, the complaint in that litigation stating: "Comes now Plaintiff M. MILLER who alleges as follows…When the young couple arrived at the Sanctuary on or about the evening of September 2, 1976 they were met by Craig Lesser… being advised by Lesser that MASTER DA himself used alcohol and drugs and that he required the use of drugs and alcohol by his disciples".
, modern
, tap
, ballet
, salsa
, swing
, improv
, and musical theatre
, now living in New York. Her resume includes roles on stage, film, television, and music videos. She appeared on Woody Allen
's Everyone Says I Love You
and has choreographed an Academy Awards Ceremony.
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
. He received frequent press coverage in the 1950s and 1960s for his ability to earn money and for his various business operations. He sold the Taj Mahal to New York real estate developer Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
. Trump called Lesser "The Legend" as the historic biggest developer in the history of the western US, developing over 60,000 properties in the Western United States. He was a mentor to the legendary investor Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
and Tracinda Corporation CEO Kirk Kerkorian
Kirk Kerkorian
Kerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian is an American businessman who is the president/CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian is known as one of the important figures in shaping Las Vegas and, with architect Martin Stern, Jr...
. He remains the biggest real estate developer in the U.S. West Coast in American history.
Many of Lesser's development projects were large in scale or of historic significance, such as Barrington Plaza
Barrington Plaza
Barrington Plaza is an apartment complex in Los Angeles, California developed by Louis Lesser, which opened in 1962. At the time it was built, the New York Times called it the largest privately financed apartment project ever built west of Chicago and one of the largest projects insured by the...
, the largest urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
project in the western United States under President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. Barrington Plaza also served as a nuclear fallout shelter at the peak of the Cold War nuclear threat, with Lesser appointed to the Los Angeles County Civil Defense and Disaster Commission
Los Angeles County Civil Defense and Disaster Commission
The Los Angeles County Civil Defense and Disaster Commission is a nine member panel originally set up to deal with the threat of nuclear war, in addition to perennial Los Angeles County concerns involving flooding, landslides, fires, and earthquakes.-History:...
during the Kennedy Administration.
Lesser's business operations were noted around the world for their diversity and quantity, with 250 companies and 150 partners by 1960. Some of Lesser's partners and associates were well known public figures—for example, Lesser was the landlord and developer for many of Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
' properties. Lesser developed, owned, and leased many properties for the military industrial complex during the cold war
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, and developed, owned, and operated numerous large hotels, commercial and industrial properties, apartment complexes, and housing tracts, developing over 60,000 homes in his career.
Lesser was named the Los Angeles City of Hope "Man of the Year" and received a commendation from the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors for business achievement and philanthropy
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
in 1961.
Lesser is a "real estate developer
Real estate development
Real estate development, or Property Development, is a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of improved land or parcels to others...
", not a "builder
Building
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...
". Quoting Lesser in 1963, the New York Times wrote, "‘Developing’ is the key word. ‘We don’t build ourselves’, Mr. Lesser stresses. ‘We buy the land, finance the deal, and then we have the best builders build under bond at a fixed cost.’"
Early history in business
Lesser began his business career working as a door-to-door magazine salesman at age 8, in 1924. Lesser sold Collier's WeeklyCollier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
Magazine and Liberty Magazine for Crowell Publishing
Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
Thomas Y. Crowell Co. was a publishing company founded by Thomas Y. Crowell in 1834 in the United States.-History:The company began publishing books in 1876, and in 1882 T. Irving Crowell joined his father in the business. Jeremiah Osborne Crowell became the sales manager.In 1909, after Thomas Y....
. Lesser made a deal with the chief of the Fox Studios police force in Los Angeles to gain entrance to sell magazines to actors and film industry workers. Lesser sold almost 100 times the volume of other sales boys, and just after he left high school Crowell offered him a job as superintendent of the area distribution. Lesser turned down the Crowell job offer to work for his father's small women's coats and suits manufacturing business in the Los Angeles area.
Lesser took over planning and merchandising at his father's business in 1932. Lesser changed the focus of the business to specialize in oversized women's coats. Aged 16, Lesser made $ in his first year, despite 1932 being in the depth of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
(calculated in current dollars, $30,000 in 1932 dollars). Then Lesser enlarged the business to mass sales to volume dealers. Lesser gained exclusive sales deals with Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Wards. By the time Lesser entered the Army, he had grown his father's small business into five coat factories.
In 1947, Lesser bought four ranches and two packing houses in the Coachella Valley with a down payment $ (figures in current dollars adjusted for inflation, $189,000 in 1947 dollars). Lesser grew grapefruits and dates, anticipating the lifting of World War II price ceilings. Five days after the purchase, the ceilings were lifted, and Lesser made back his down payment in about a month. Lesser sold the ranching and farming business in about 1949.
In about 1950, Lesser went into the gasoline distribution business and acquired a group of super stations, a tire recapping factory, and an oil packing plant. Lesser's "self service gas station" concept proved a success for gas stations, and Lesser combined with Eagle Oil Co., becoming the company's largest stock holder. Lesser then merged with Sunset Oil Co. and became its vice president. Lesser was elected vice president of Sunset Oil Co. on April 5, 1960, with J.D. Sterling elected president, and Harvey Nerson secretary-treasurer.
In 1961, Lesser purchased a 50% interest in Southwest Savings and Loan Association of Phoenix, and a large interest in the Bank of Phoenix.
Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc.
Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. was listed on the American Stock Exchange and developed and operated over $10 billion in commercial and residential development and over $5 Billion in housing projects for the Armed Forces, also according to Lesser's sworn filing with the court for the bankruptcy of Tri National Development Corp., and according to Los Angeles real estate magnate Gerald Schneiderman of Creative Environments of Hollywood. Arthur AndersenArthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG, providing auditing, tax, and consulting services to large corporations...
audited Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. in 1963 and the SEC approved listing on the American Stock Exchange for sale of 500,000 shares in 1963. In a nine year time frame, Louis Lesser Enterprises had gone from (adjusted for inflation) a $ company to a $ company in 1963. At the time of the public offering, one of Louis Lesser's companies, Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc., had developed $ (adjusted for inflation) worth of real estate in California, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Hawaii, which does not include his international development, nor development by his other companies and partnerships. In 2009, Lesser and Eric Diesel merged assets to form Lesser Diesel Enterprises, Inc.
Lesser created Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. in early 1952. Lesser brought his brother Alvin, and three brothers-in-law in to help run his firm, Bill Malat, Louis Rudman, and Louis Lomas, who became controller. By 1954, Louis Lesser Enterprises was engaged in a developing projects in three states totaling $ in today's dollars ($70 million in 1954). Lesser's colleague, William Malat, husband of Lesser's sister Ethel Malet, said Lesser was involved in a $40 million ($ in today's dollars) project to build an "entire city" for the San Manuel Copper Mine
San Manuel Copper Mine
The San Manuel Copper Mine was a surface and underground porphyry copper mine located in San Manuel, Pinal County, Arizona. Frank Schultz was the original discoverer, in 1879, but the main body of the deposits were discovered by Henry W. Nichols in 1942. The exploration drilling went on from 1943...
of the San Manuel Copper Corporation
San Manuel, Arizona
San Manuel is a census-designated place in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. The population was 4,375 at the 2000 census.San Manuel was built in 1953 as a company town to serve the then-new San Manuel copper mine, mill and smelter complex. The mine and smelter were permanently closed in...
in Pinal County, Arizona
Pinal County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*72.4% White*4.6% Black*5.6% Native American*1.7% Asian*0.4% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.8% Two or more races*11.5% Other races*28.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
(now BHP
BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...
, the world's largest copper mine), Benjamin Harrison Village
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
near Ft. Benjamin Harrison
Fort Benjamin Harrison
Fort Benjamin Harrison was a U.S. Army post located in suburban Lawrence, Indiana, northeast of Indianapolis. It is named for the 23rd United States President, Benjamin Harrison. Land was purchased in 1903, with the post being officially named for President Harrison in honor of Indianapolis being...
at Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Centerline Gardens, Inc. near the Detroit Tank Arsenal, a program near the Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
, projects in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
and in San Diego. Within eight years, the company had built thousands of homes, over 2000000 square feet (185,806.1 m²) of office space, seven bowling alleys, numerous apartment buildings, and five shopping centers, and became involved in hundreds of developments across the United States. Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc., grew from a net worth of $ in 1953 ($200K in 1953 dollars) to $ by 1963 ($60 million in 1963 dollars).
For historic comparison with executive salaries today, and comparative efficiencies, in 1963, Lesser drew a salary from Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. of $ (adjusted for inflation, $57,500 in 1963) on a $ (adjusted for inflation) company, Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. had developed $ by then (adjusted for inflation) worth of real estate in the United states, with his brother-in-law William Malat, executive vice president, getting $ (adjusted for inflation, $47,500 in 1963), with a staff of 40.
Lesser resigned as chairman of Louis Lesser Enterprises in 1967, after a purchase of 6% of the company stock by industrialist Henry Salvatori
Henry Salvatori
Henry Salvatori was an American geophysicist, businessman, philanthropist, and political activist. Salvatori founded Western Geophysical in 1933, and after selling the company in 1960, pursued a second career as a philanthropist and conservative political activist...
from the Lesser family, and was replaced by Salvatori's associate Paul Allison Cassell, and the company changed its name to Western Orbis Co.. After Lesser's departure from the company, it began to lose money.
Howard Hughes' landlord
Louis Lesser was Howard HughesHoward Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
' landlord in many Hughes Aircraft
Hughes Aircraft
Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded in 1932 by Howard Hughes in Culver City, California as a division of Hughes Tool Company...
buildings, and sold many other buildings to Hughes in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1957, Hughes was leasing six major Hughes Aircraft buildings, for a total of 265000 square feet (24,619.3 m²), from Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. By 1964 Hughes was leasing 14 buildings totaling 1200000 square feet (111,483.6 m²), and purchased other buildings Lesser developed and owned for Hughes Aircraft, then began to buy out Lesser's interests in Louis Lesser Enterprises stock in Las Vegas hotels and casinos.
Development partnerships with international leaders
In 1958, Lesser expanded his development operations, establishing offices in Washington, D.C. and New York for Louis Lesser Enterprises International. Lesser concluded a deal with Prince Kashim Kashani of Iran in a program to develop 20,000 homes and apartments in Teheran. The same year, Lesser International began the construction of a grain warehouse for use by the Mexican Government, and began construction of a skyscraper office building in Caracas, Venezuela, to be owned in association with Financiadora Administradora Inmobiliaria, S.A.. The company was one of the largest real estate development firms in South America but very controversial due to its association with then Venezuelan president, Marcos Pérez JiménezMarcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was a soldier and Presidents of Venezuela from 1952 to 1958.-Career:Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was born in Michelena, Táchira State. His father, Juan Pérez Bustamante, was a farmer; his mother, Adela Jiménez, a schoolteacher...
, and his administration's suspected layers of corruption.
Concepts and trends
Lesser's developments, such as through Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc., used methods that are now standard practice, or characterize the lifestyle of the time.In 1960, Lesser worked on an early environmental reclamation project with Irwin Kahn, San Diego's biggest developer. They developed the Shelter Island Inn on a reclaimed World War II dumping ground, Shelter Island
Shelter Island, San Diego, California
Shelter Island is a neighborhood of Point Loma in San Diego, California. It is actually not an island but is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. It was originally a sandbank in San Diego Bay, visible only at low tide. It was built up into dry land using material dredged from the...
in San Diego Bay, an early example of an environmental reclamation project.
Lesser promoted high-rise construction in Los Angeles, and was opposed to those favoring urban sprawl as a part of the character of Los Angleles. Lesser developed the 27 story 712 unit Barrington Plaza, which was the tallest high-rise apartment complex in the western United States as of 1963. Lesser owned a 50% interest in the Braemar Lesser Towers, a 192 apartment high-rise on Sunset Strip. Lesser Towers, developed next to the Ambassador Hotel, featured 236 apartments overlooking downtown. Lesser's California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
, high-rise construction was considered an innovative approach to university development in increasingly shrinking horizontal area in Los Angeles, in 1964. Lesser was involved in litigation to build high-rises, in opposition to those favoring urban sprawl, who argued that the high-rises would block their views of the local mountains.
Lesser developed six 10-story high-rise residential halls to house 3,600 students at California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
, which lacked space for horizontal expansion after implementation of a California State University expansion plan in 1959. This doubled the university's housing capacity, making it the largest in the California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
system, only five years after its creation in 1959. The University housing plan was designed by Maxwell Starkman & Associates, AIA, Beverly Hills. Unlike other components of the Cal State University system developed in the 1960s, the residence halls were privately financed by Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. Lesser's developed "underground parking" in his Cal State LA development, which at the time (1964) was considered unusual enough to merit a newspaper section header, "Parking Underground", which described a "two level" underground parking lot as an innovative "concept" of "subterranean spaces".
The Lesser Building was built in what was at the time considered a futuristic
Futurist architecture
Futurist architecture is an early-20th century form of architecture characterized by anti-historicism and long horizontal lines suggesting speed, motion and urgency. Technology and even violence were among the themes of the Futurists. The movement was founded by the poet Filippo Tommaso...
style. The offices of Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. were moved to the 45000 square feet (4,180.6 m²) Lesser Building upon its completion in 1963, located at 8730 Wilshire Blvd., at the corner of Arnaz Ave., in Beverly Hills, California.
upon completion of construction in 1963.
Tilt up construction, The "Modern California mode" in industrial and architectural style, Nuclear missile storage
In the mid 1950s, Lesser developed, held, and leased industrial centers for lease employing what the Los Angeles Times described as "the latest innovations in industrial design", tilt up precast concretePrecast concrete
By producing precast concrete in a controlled environment , the precast concrete is afforded the opportunity to properly cure and be closely monitored by plant employees. Utilizing a Precast Concrete system offers many potential advantages over site casting of concrete...
walls with an interlocked floor, in "modern California mode" using facades of California rock and flagstone covering the precast concrete walls. Examples are the buildings Lesser developed and leased to Howard Hughes in Lesser's Airport Industrial Center and elsewhere, in 1955 the Panorama Industrial Center, developed with Alfred Lushing of Midland Properties for $ (adjusted for inflation) on a 25 acres (101,171.5 m²) plot of the original ranch now known as Panorama City, the X-Ray Products Co. facility at Lesser's Slauson Industrial Center, for a total cost of over $ (adjusted for inflation). X-Ray Products Co. specialized in x-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
inspection of industrial parts, and in Lesser's "Airport Industrial Center" at Freeman and Imperial Highway
Imperial Highway
Imperial Highway is a road in Orange and Los Angeles counties in California. It begins at the Anaheim-Orange boundary and runs through several cities until it stops at Dockweiler State Beach in Los Angeles near the Los Angeles International Airport. For much of the way, Imperial Highway is signed...
, three Pioneer Aluminum, Inc. buildings, totaling 90000 square feet (8,361.3 m²), for long term lease to the distributor of extruded aluminum shapes to the then growing aircraft industry
Aircraft industry
The aircraft industry is the industry supporting aviation by building aircraft and manufacturing aircraft parts for their maintenance. This includes aircraft and parts used for civil aviation and military aviation. Most production is done pursuant to type certificates and Defense Standards issued...
, for $ (adjusted for inflation)($1.5 million 1956).
In 1959, Lesser developed a structure intended, in part, to store missile parts at the height of the cold war in San Diego, the Convair Astronautics Division for General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
. The structure was at the time a historic tilt up construction, due to the project size at the time. The "enormity" of the project required special water lines to be brought in. It was developed on 28 acres (113,312.1 m²), with a 336000 square feet (31,215.4 m²) building footprint, 150,000 cubic yards of soil excavated for the project, leveling an entire valley, with 14 acres (56,656 m²) of developed paved parking, 36000 square feet (3,344.5 m²) of office space, 20 feet (6.1 m) walls to the bottom of the truss, and a roof made entirely of metal, pioneering large scale buildings of this type regularly made later in the 1960s.
Military Housing
Lesser had developed 3,350 rental housing units for military personnel under the Wherry Rental Housing Act, at 14 Department of Defense installations in the continental United States and Hawaii, representing construction values of $ (adjusted for inflation, $35 million 1957). In 1957, the Wherry Rental Housing Act was replaced by the Capehart Housing Act, under which Lesser developed an additional 680 military rental housing units at the Capehart Housing Project at the Bunker Hill Air Force Base at Peru, Indiana for $ (adjusted for inflation, $15 million 1957), with Heftler Construction Co, for 680 housing units for commissioned and non-commissioned personnel, with units ranging from bachelor quarters to four bedroom houses, occupying 180 acre (0.7284348 km²) on the air base, with financing assumed by the Indiana Teachers Association retirement fund, and the contract awarded under competitive bidding.Commercial "Exhibition Space" Movement
While Lesser developed, held, and leased out many properties, he also took master leases then developed and subleased large commercial spaces, such as the 52000 square feet (4,831 m²) fourth floor of the Los Angeles Furniture Mart at Broadway, Washington Blvd., and Hill St. in downtown Los Angeles, where he leased, developed, then subleased to wholesalers of housewares, art, and giftwares for display space, and where the Mart's semiannual National Market Weeks was then held. In 1957, the mart was scheduled to be the largest wholesale exhibit structure in America, with more than 850000 square feet (78,967.6 m²) of display space and 7 acres (28,328 m²) of parking, banquet rooms, a restaurant, auditorium, and banking facilities."Baby Boomers" named, and development for
In 1951, the New York PostNew York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, used the term "boom" to refer to the phenomenon of increased births in post war America, "Take the 3,548,000 babies born in 1950. Bundle them into a batch, bounce them all over the bountiful land that is America. What do you get? Boom. The biggest, boomiest boom ever known in history." 1959 was the busiest real estate year in southern California history to date, and the expressions "babies" and "boom" were used together in an LA Times story about Lesser titled "War Babies to Bring Big Boom". Writer Al Johns commented "I’m always amazed at this man, Louis Lesser. Seems there's a letter in the mail every few days telling of another of his projects", describing Lesser's "huge building programs" for the post World War II population expansion and population movement to the western United States, to "keep pace with the anticipated expansion of the national economy". In 1959, Lesser announced a $ (adjusted for inflation, $120 million in 1959) program, taking in 32 cities in 14 states and "the Territory of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
" (Hawaii was not yet a state), 11 industrial centers with 2000000 square feet (185,806.1 m²) of industrial buildings, 3,431 apartment units, ranging from 4 unit buildings to 23 story steel reinforced concrete stcuctures, 4,500 single family homes, six shopping centers, two office buildings, two bowling alleys, together with development of 3700 acres (15 km²) of residential land, acquired an additional $ (adjusted for inflation, $20 million 1959) worth of industrial, residential, and commercial land, and engaged large staffs of architects, engineers, and construction expediters.
Bowling alleys of the late 1950s and early 1960s, "small cities in themselves"
Bowling alley construction was considered "an important facet" of property development in the western United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, described by the LA Times as and "are small cities in themselves", some of which cost tens of millions of dollars (in 1960s dollars). Lesser was considered "the most active in this field", which by 1962 had developed nine bowling alleys. The biggest in size as of 1962 was Parkway Lanes in El Cajon, developed at a cost of $ (adjusted for inflation, $1 million 1962) with 60 alleys, 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) of parking. The facility had "varied entertainment rivaling the best in night clubs", according to the LA Times, with "headliners", such as Louis PrimaLouis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
, Lili St. Cyr
Lili St. Cyr
Lili St. Cyr , was a prominent American burlesque stripper.- Early years :She was born as Willis Marie Van Schaack in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1918. She had a sister, Rosemary Van Schaack Minsky...
, Johnny Ray
Johnny Ray
John Cornelius Ray is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who had a 10-year career from 1981 to 1990. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the California Angels of the American League...
, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, and Roberta Linn appeared at Parkway, developed with Irvin Kahn and George Hirsch. Legion Lanes was developed by Lesser and Ted Bentley into a 44-lane bowling alley from the Hollywood American Legion Stadium boxing arena, at El Centro and Hollywood Blvd., at a $ (adjusted for inflation, $2 million in 1962), with architectural firm of William L. Rudolph & Associates, and the Pozzo Construction Company. The facility included a playroom for children, cocktail bar, billiard room, and snack bar. NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
provided its lot for temporary parking during construction, and Milt Enright became manager of the facility. By 1962, Lesser also had planned development of bowling alleys in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, as bowling competed with cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, soccer, and rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
as national pastimes in these countries. In 1960, Lesser developed a bowling alley in Indio, California
Indio, California
Indio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, and east of Los Angeles. It is about north of Mexicali, Baja California on the U.S.-Mexican border...
, at a cost of $ (adjusted for inflation, $750,000 in 1962) with developers Mike Hirsch and Sam Miller
Sam Miller
Sam Miller is an English television director. He is best known for his work on the BBC television dramas Cardiac Arrest and This Life. -Filmography:-Actor - Filmography:...
. In 1959, Lesser, with John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, Jack Helms
Jack Helms
John Ancel "Jack" Helms was an American football player in the National Football League. He played for the Detroit Lions. He played collegiately for the Georgia Tech football team....
, Ralph Hirsch, and Edward Tauder developed the (1959 $2million) Santa Monica Civic Lanes in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, described at the time as the "Beach City" by the Los Angeles Times, also to house the Santa Monica Civic Club, and Samoa Lanes at 5th and Broadway in Santa Monica, both with 24 lanes, "equipped with automated pinsetters, a billiard room, children's playroom, coffee shop
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
, and cocktail lounge".
Los Angeles suburban sprawl, development of era-typical tract housing
Los Angeles sprawled north, east, west, and south. Lesser developed large tracts of homes in all directions. Lesser built tract housing to meet demands of industrial expansion in the Los Angeles area, and the homes were characteristic of the times. Reporting on the large expansion of suburban sprawl into the Conejo ValleyConejo Valley
The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States...
, of which Lesser's Casa Conejo project was the largest, The Los Angeles Times reported in 1960 on "ranch style
Ranch-style house
Ranch-style houses is a domestic architectural style originating in the United States. First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular amongst the booming post-war middle class of the 1940s to 1970s...
homes" in the Los Angeles area tract housing construction in the early 1960s, with Lesser's Casa Conejo Estates as being "available to veterans and non-veterans" and "located on large lots with ample room [1/3 acres] for pool or tennis court, the new homes have three bedrooms, family room, and two baths. Features include forced air heating (thermostatically controlled), built in gas ranges and ovens, garbage disposals, natural ash kitchen cabinets, aluminum sliding glass doors, acoustic ceilings, louvered bar-type swinging doors to kitchens, Pullmans (small, long, and narrow in architectural design, based on Pullman sleeping car
Sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...
design) with mosaic tile tops in both baths, and composite shingle roofs with heavy shake trim. The homes are near the new Conejo Village Shopping Center, which includes a supermarket, drugstore, bank, restaurant, Conejo Village bowling alley, and a professional building" of 14000 square feet (1,300.6 m²).
Southward sprawl, Torrance Gardens "homes of the future"
During the post-World War II West Coast housing boom, in 1950 Lesser developed Torrance GardensTorrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
, and made $ (calculated in current dollars) in sales by 1950. Sales were made to veterans on the "no down payment" terms, prior to government housing credit restrictions being imposed. The development was considered of historic significance for leading the construction of automated "homes of the future
Home of the future
The home of the future, similar to the office of the future, is a concept that has been popular to explore since the early 20th century, or perhaps earlier...
" movement, using General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
's automatic dishwashers and automated garbage disposal
Garbage disposal
A garbage disposal unit or waste disposal unit is a device, usually electrically powered, installed under a kitchen sink between the sink's drain and the trap which shreds food waste into pieces small enough—generally less than —to pass through plumbing.Garbage disposal units are widely used in...
s, and thermostatic heat controls
Thermostat
A thermostat is the component of a control system which regulates the temperature of a system so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint temperature. The thermostat does this by switching heating or cooling devices on or off, or regulating the flow of a heat transfer...
in every home, in addition to tiled stall showers
Shower
A shower is an area in which one bathes underneath a spray of water.- History :...
, upholstered breakfast nooks
Nook
Nook may refer to a small corner formed by two walls.Nook may also refer to:*A slang name for a person reading; also known as a "book nook"*"Nook", a science-fiction TV series Lexx episode...
, and barbecue pits
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
in the backyards. Some of the innovations are now standard in all developments, such as thermostatic climate control, and some are relics of the times, such as upholstered breakfast nooks and backyard barbecues, which are now a subject of environmental concern.
Westward sprawl - Conejo Valley development
In 1955, Conejo Valley, located west northwest of the San Fernando ValleySan Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
, containing Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park
Newbury Park, California
The community of Newbury Park, California is located in the western portion of the city of Thousand Oaks and Casa Conejo, an unincorporated area of southeastern Ventura County's Conejo Valley, which is also in the northwestern Greater Los Angeles Area...
, and Agoura at the time, had a population of 2,000. By January 1, 1960, the population had grown to over 10,000, with Lesser developing 900 homes in the west Conejo Valley, adjacent to the Newbury Park industrial park, in early 1960. Highway 101 running north of the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...
became the Ventura Freeway
Ventura Freeway
The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. From Ventura to its intersection with the Hollywood Freeway in the southeastern San...
in summer of 1960. In 1960, Packard-Bell Electronics and Technology Instrument Corp. moved to Conejo Valley's newly developed industrial parks. California Lutheran College
California Lutheran University
California Lutheran University is a university of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Thousand Oaks, California.-Mission statement:The University's mission statement is as follows:...
was started, and announcement was made for the planned move of Northrop Institute of Technology, an aeronautical and electrical engineering school with 2,200 students, from its location at the time at Los Angeles International Airport. In 1961, Westland Plastics and Photo Analysis, Inc. moved to the valley, and the radioplane division of Northrop Corp.
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
began construction of a 350000 square feet (32,516.1 m²) facility, to move from its location in Van Nuys, California. Also planning moves to the valley in 1961 were General Telephone Co. and Semtech Corp Conejo Valley had a total population of 2,000 in 1955, and just over 10,000 in 1960. To accommodate the housing demands from the new industries, tract home develepoment intensified, the largest of which was Louis Lesser's Casa Conejo, a development of 1,000 homes, across from the industrial area.
Eastward sprawl, Philips Ranch development
Lesser purchased "the historic Phillips Ranch" southwest of Pomona in 1964, at 2.241 acres (9,069 m²), one of the largest parcels of undeveloped land in Los Angeles County. The Ranch was owned by the pioneer Phillips family since 1864. The sale of 5000 acres (20.2 km²) of the ranch in 1875 started the City of Pomona. Lesser developed 10,000 housing units in this single project. The land was originally part of a 40000 acres (161.9 km²) land grant from Mexico, Rancho San JoseRancho San Jose
Rancho San Jose was a Mexican land grant in northeastern Los Angeles County given in 1837 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado to Ygnacio Palomares and Ricardo Vejar...
, granted to Ricardo Vejar in 1837, who in 1864 sold to Prussian cowboy immigrant Louis Phillips, who came to California in the gold rush. Lesser's brother Alvin was his director of development at the time, and construction started in 1965. After the Civil War, the Southern Trail from the eastern United States, through Yuma, to the California coast passed through the ranch, and the Philipps Ranch Rubottom Hotel became a Saturday night wild west activity center, with fourteen saloons, and three opium dens for large numbers of settlers, businessmen, and others. Churches, schools, and Pomona College ended the lawless element.
Los Angeles high rise construction vs. sprawl
Lesser came in to opposition and development delays when he became an advocate of high rise development, and found himself in opposition to proponents of continued low rise, urban sprawl, as being part of the character of Los Angeles, "cutting off our open views, and, in effect, spitting (on) the city's face". Some architects argued that "high rises represent fairly low taste", and others that "Los Angeles’ character – sprawling as it may be – will be destroyed if we create another hodge podge of high rise like New York. The visible hills will be made of steel and stucco; the sky will hide behind rooftop air conditioners. Men and women will have to walk below in the dark canyons between unnatural megalopolitan mountains."In 1963, Lesser argued, "many people, especially older people, actually like to be congested. They want to see activity. To challenge the idea of high rise is like saying all automobiles ought to have cranks." It was also thought Los Angeles residents would not rent high rise apartments, or apartments at all. But the high rise concept was successful, the apartments rented out quickly, and by 1963, within two years, area housing starts went from 80% single home dwelling, to 35%. Barrington Plaza was 27 stories, Lesser Towers, 22 stories, and Lesser developed the Braemar-Lesser Towers, a 17 story apartment on the Sunset Strip, with 192 apartments, for $ (adjusted for inflation, $4.5 million in 1963).
Barrington Plaza
Lesser developed Barrington PlazaBarrington Plaza
Barrington Plaza is an apartment complex in Los Angeles, California developed by Louis Lesser, which opened in 1962. At the time it was built, the New York Times called it the largest privately financed apartment project ever built west of Chicago and one of the largest projects insured by the...
with Ben C. Deane, as largest urban renewal project in the history of western United States, under the Federal Housing Authority of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Barrington Plaza was the first Los Angeles urban renewal project, and "the highest (apartment) rise in the West". In 1962, the New York Times called Barrington Plaza the largest privately-financed apartment project ever built west of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Development cost was $ (adjusted for inflation, $18 million in 1963), with the FHA insuring $ (adjusted for inflation, $16,702,500 in 1963). It consisted in a 27 story building, two 17 story buildings, 712 apartments, and Olympic size swimming pool, putting green, and amenities, marketed as an upscale apartment complex, with underground parking, in addition to serving as a nuclear fallout shelter. It occupied 5 acres (20,234.3 m²), with 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) devoted to open space. It was considered controversial and risky, since at the time as Californians were considered to "resist apartment dwelling". Lesser paid back the FHA loan, the largest of its kind in FHA history, by 1963. Lesser sold the Plaza to Barrington Enterprises in 1965, according to the national labor relations board, after which the project ran into difficulties.
Lesser Towers, Sterling Towers, "Rooftop garden" concept
Lesser developed Lesser Towers, a 22-story building with 236 apartments, beginning in 1963, with an initial development cost of $ (adjusted for inflation, $7 million in 1963), completed it in 1966. Development setbacks caused by litigation caused the project to stand idle in the early stages of construction for more than two years. In 1966, a new builder was brought in on the development, Sheldon L. Pollack Corp., which was awarded the contract on a cost-plus basis, with financing through Security First National Bank. The building has historic significance in its design at the time of its conception, as it featured an elaborately landscaped rooftop gardens, in addition to a rooftop swimming pool, gymnasium, and sauna baths. A controversy arose when real estate mogul Donald SterlingDonald Sterling
Donald T. Sterling is an American real estate mogul, attorney, and the owner of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers. Sterling acquired the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million, and as of the 2008 rankings, the team is valued at $297 million by Forbes magazine, ranking them...
changed the name to Sterling Towers, and began to run ads claiming to have developed Sterling Towers, after Los Angeles Times articles in the 1960s stated that Louis Lesser Enterprises developed them.
Restoration of historic buildings
Lesser collected, restored, and leased historic or award-winning buildings. Lesser purchased the Beckman Instrument Company's Hellpot Plant in Newport, a "prize winning" 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) facility, for lease to Howard Hughes' Aircraft Company, in a deal for $12 million in 1958 dollars ($ today). The Hellspot Plant received awards in design from the American Institute of ArchitectsAmerican Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
, with a resort-like three-level building, overlooking Newport Harbor, and with 156000 square feet (14,492.9 m²). At the same time as the Hellspot Plant lease, Hughes leased five additional buildings from Lesser, transferring part of Hughes' semi-conductor division to five Lesser buildings in Costa Mesa, for producing germanium and silicon diodes.
In 1961 Lesser purchased the historic 1919 skyscraper, the Fulton Fresno Building, originally built by Fresno vintner and winemaker Andrew Mattel. The building was acquired by Bank of America in 1932, purchased from Iris Securities in 1954, then conveyed to Triangle Development, which conveyed it to Lesser the same day. At the time of Lesser's purchase, the building housed Fresno Guarantee Savings & Loan. Lesser fully restored the building to its 1919 condition. Lesser purchased and restored historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including the Great Western Savings Building at 706 South Hill St., the Foreman Building at 707 South Hill Street, the Brockman Building
Brockman Building
The Brockman Building is a 12-story Classical and Romanesque Revival building located in Downtown Los Angeles. Built in 1912, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The building was built in 1912 for John Brockman and designed by George D. Barnett of Barnett, Haynes...
at 520 WSest Seventh St., and the McDonald Building at 708 Grand Ave. Lesser developed or restored historic downtown San Diego buildings and hotels, including the California Theater Building at 1122 Fourth Avenue, the First and "C" Building on the northwest corner of First Ave. and C Street, the Robinson Building at 520 East E Street, developed the 355000 square feet (32,980.6 m²) Electronics Capital Building, as well as numerous large San Diego apartments and properties.
"Inland Marinas" concept
Keyes Marina was of historic note in that it was unconventionally developed one mile (1.6 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean, rather than being on the ocean, in a bay, or on a major navigated waterway. The Keyes Marina project was unique at its time, providing one thousand waterfront homes, each with its own bulkhead and boat mooring, fronting on a 400 feet (121.9 m) sea water channel leading to the ocean, with an extensive breakwater system at the mouth. The project included a 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) shopping center, 52 apartment house sites, and 125 public marina boat slips with related commercial and service facilities. The project was located in Costa Mesa, CaliforniaCosta Mesa, California
Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 census. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and "edge" city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light...
, and was developed with Paul Snyder The project was developed prior to requirements for extensive environmental impact studies.
Civil Defense Commissioner, Nuclear Fallout Shelter development
Lesser was appointed to the Los Angeles County Civil Defense and Disaster CommissionLos Angeles County Civil Defense and Disaster Commission
The Los Angeles County Civil Defense and Disaster Commission is a nine member panel originally set up to deal with the threat of nuclear war, in addition to perennial Los Angeles County concerns involving flooding, landslides, fires, and earthquakes.-History:...
in December 1961, an appointment of significance both for being at the peak of the Cold War nuclear scare, and for the potential of a conflict of interest, due to massive government funding for development of nuclear fallout shelters, and Lesser being a developer bidding on the projects proposed. Lesser served on commission with Los Angeles County Sheriff Peter J. Pitchess
Peter J. Pitchess
Peter J. Pitchess was the 28th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. He was originally from Salt Lake City, Utah....
, Los Angeles Police Chief William H, Parker, and six other members. Lesser buildings were later approved to be nuclear fallout shelters, with local and federal government funding and subsidies for their development. Lesser's proposed Barrington Plaza development was approved as a nuclear fallout shelter by the Board, in addition to receiving the greatest funding support of any western United States Federal Housing Authority urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
project under president John F. Kennedy.
Litigation
In 1970, Lesser filed suit against Irvin J. Kahn and Rancho Los Penasquitos, Inc. Kahn was San Diego's largest land developer. Lesser alleged that in 1965, he made an oral agreement with Kahn for a half interest in the $100 million ($ today) company's 12000 acres (48.6 km²) parcel of land in Northern San Diego. Lesser alleged that he arranged for a Teamsters Union pension fund loan to Kahn in 1965 by introducing Kahn to St. Louis attorney Morris ShenkerMorris Shenker
Morris A. Shenker was an American lawyer best known for his connections to labor leader Jimmy Hoffa and Teamster funding of Las Vegas in the 1960s....
, "at a time Kahn was in dire need of funds to meet financial commitments and recognized that the property that is Los Penasquitos was or would soon be subject to foreclosure". Morris Shenker was known in the press for his work on selling the interest in Las Vegas hotels and casinos of Lesser. Lesser claimed to have learned that the Teamsters Union fund received a 25% interest in Los Penasquitos, in return for the loans. Kahn claimed to have arranged the Teamsters loans himself. In April 1969, the federal government filed a civil suit alleging that a number of Kahn-Shenker firms had repeatedly violated federal law by failing to pay minimum wages and time and a half for overtime. Kahn and his companies settled, paying back wages and accepting a permanent injunction against further violations.
In addition to his connections to Lesser and sales of the interests in Las Vegas hotels and casinos, such as the Dunes Hotel
Dunes (hotel and casino)
The Dunes Hotel was a Paradise, Nevada, hotel and casino that operated from May 23, 1955 to January 26, 1993, and was the tenth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip. The Bellagio now stands on the former grounds.-History:...
, Shenker was in the press for being the chief counsel for Teamster Boss James R. Hoffa ("Jimmy Hoffa"), and for being named chairman of the new St. Louis Crime Commission. Life magazine reported that St. Louis Mayor Alfonso J. Cervantes, who named Shenker to the crime commission, had business and personal ties with organized crime figures.
It was later revealed that the 25% interest Lesser claimed was owned by Shenker, who became known as "The Money Mover" following a Los Angeles Times story titled "Morris Shenker: The Money Mover". Lesser had been developing and acquiring historic downtown San Diego buildings and hotels, including the California Theater Building at 1122 Fourth Avenue, the First and "C" Building on the northwest corner of First Ave. and C Street, the Robinson Building at 520 East E Street, and developing the 355000 square feet (32,980.6 m²) Electronics Capital Building, and numerous other large San Diego apartments and properties. The Los Angeles Times reported that "two Las Vegas casino operators appear to be landlords to a group of federal agencies in a downtown San Diego skyscraper", the Charter Oil Building, and that "the title company and the building manager will not tell us who owns it." In its September 13, 1963 audit of Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc. for the SEC, Arthur Andersen attributed development and ownership of the Shelter Island Inn to Louis Lesser Enterprises, Inc., but on September 20, 1970, the Los Angeles Times reported that Kahn had an interest in the hotel. A May 29, 1970 Life Magazine article on Shenker described him as the "foremost lawyer for the Mob in the U.S." and a brilliant befuddler of Internal Revenue Service investigations into labyrinthine business deals. According to the Los Angleles Times, Shenker first came to national attention in the early 1950s, related to syndicated gambling, where "Shenker represented more of the big time gamblers than any other lawyer. In his complaint, Lesser said that Shenker "was and is now an agent of the (Teamster) fund".
Tri National Development Corp.
According to a filing with the SEC, Lesser was a financing and real estate transactions consultant to the Tri National Development Corporation beginning in 1991. On October 23, 2001, Tri National Development Corporation filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court in San Diego, California, to allow the company to remain in possession of its assets and properties, and allow its directors and officers to continue to oversee operation of Registrant's business as a debtor-in-possession, subject to supervision and orders of the Bankruptcy Court of matters outside the ordinary course of business.Controversial partners and development methods
In 1958, Lesser reportedly developed a housing project under a deal with Prince Kashim Kashani of IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, about five years after America being accused of involvement in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, deposing the democratically elected
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
government of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq.
Also in 1958, Lesser reportedly began the construction of a grain warehouse for use by the Mexican Government
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, at the time when PRI rule was becoming increasingly authoritarian and at times oppressive.
Lesser is also believed to have begun construction of a skyscraper office building in Caracas, Venezuela, to be owned in association with Financiadora Administradora Inmobiliaria, S.A., later associated with allegations of Venezuelan government corruption involving its then president at the time, Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was a soldier and Presidents of Venezuela from 1952 to 1958.-Career:Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was born in Michelena, Táchira State. His father, Juan Pérez Bustamante, was a farmer; his mother, Adela Jiménez, a schoolteacher...
.
Lesser is alleged to have developed over 60,000 homes before current environmental laws were in place, including 10,0000 homes at one time in his Phillips Ranch development, on "one of the largest parcels of undeveloped land in Los Angeles County".
Lesser leveled an entire small valley to build the Convair Astronautics Division for General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
in San Diego, moving 150,000 cubic yards of soil.
In an article about a number of developers, the Los Angeles Times stated that developers, "recognizing the beauty" of the ancient "gnarled old oak trees", (California live oak, Quercus agrifolia) in the Conejo Valley, preserved them in development, "using them to compliment... development of land", but excluded Lesser from the report.
Lesser created, owned, and operated Zenith Refinery in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
in 1975, one of the first major American recycling companies, but reportedly moved Zenith to Hong Kong to avoid American air quality regulations.
Lesser's partner in Lesser Diesel Enterprises, former Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
Mathematical Statistician Eric Diesel, received press coverage for development practices that were alleged to have caused environmental problems on his property on California State Highway 9, between 1.2 miles (1.9 km) and 1.46 miles (2.3 km) below California State Highway 35.
Diesel was arrested and prosecuted by the County of Santa Clara. Cal Trans alleged that grading of Diesel's driveway caused tremendous offsite damage from an enormous debris flow from the property. Diesel maintained that the material came from dumping by Caltrans. The jury acquittal was overruled by the judge. Diesel was ordered to attend restitution hearings for damage to adjacent properties, including to Caltrans. Despite the specific jury acquittal in the grading matter, the court ordered Diesel to pay substantial amounts to Caltrans and off site government agencies over a period of the eleven year-long trial and restitution hearings.
Rex Upp, the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists
Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists
The Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists , is the principal American association of professionals in the fields of Geotechnical engineering, Engineering geology, Soils engineering, Hydrological engineering, and Environmental geology...
president of 2003, asserted that the prosecution used junk science
Junk science
Junk science is a term used in U.S. political and legal disputes that brands an advocate's claims about scientific data, research, or analyses as spurious. The term may convey a pejorative connotation that the advocate is driven by political, ideological, financial, or other unscientific...
in prosecuting Diesel, instead of using accepted principals in engineering geology. Upp reportedly found that the geological material Diesel was accused of generating did not exist on Diesel's property, "was geologically different and could not have come from the defendant's grading".
Upp's opinion was that, "The sandstone and shale that had blocked the highway was geologically different and could not have come from the defendant's grading." Upp also reported that the debris Caltrans accused Diesel of causing was from a different canyon, and not Diesel's, "The debris flow that blocked the highway in the El Niño storm of February 1998 was caused by a slope failure in a different watershed from the defendant's grading.". Upp's opinion was also that the allegations that any damage alleged to be caused by Diesel were impossible since "Virtually all of the sediment that eroded from the defendant's grading remained in retention basins on the defendant's property.".
In October, 2007, CBS News reported that Diesel was improperly prosecuted, and that the material Diesel was accused of dumping was dumped by Caltrans. CBS reported that Caltrans employees referred to the land as the "Pet Cemetery", with CBS referring to the site as "Caltrans’ secret pet cemetery".
In reports to CBS News, Caltrans executives and senior County officials claimed not to have known of the dumping of material. Diesel alleged the material was hauled to his property, then dumped there by Caltrans, writing "The extraordinary videotape evidence of dead animal carcasses mixed with highway clean-up debris and road cones, then dumped directly into the drinking water supply of the neighbor below HH (at PM 1.46) (as reported in the letter of Craig Britton discussed by Mr. Anderson) gives a tremendous motivation for Caltrans to shift liability to Mr. Diesel, and to destroy his credibility with a conviction followed by a large restitution judgment."
The CBS News story on the Cal Trans Pet Cemetery opened up further investigation of Caltrans dumping in other areas with the discovery of a second discovery of other such dumping by Caltrans.
The incident on Highway 9 in Saratoga was the topic of the keynote address of Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists
Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists
The Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists , is the principal American association of professionals in the fields of Geotechnical engineering, Engineering geology, Soils engineering, Hydrological engineering, and Environmental geology...
president Rex Upp, Ph.D., to the Association, and publications by Dr. Upp on the geological evidence.."
Diesel also received coverage for a 300 acre timber harvest damaging Rattlesnake Creek in Santa Cruz County ("Rattlesnake Gulch", per USGS Loma Prieta Quadrangle map), which also involved Diesel's partnership with Harvard–Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
mathematician George Golitzin. The death of John Golitzin put George Golitzin in line to be Czar of Russia after his oldest brother, Oxford University theologian Father Alexander Golitzin, who currently has a claim to be Czar of Russia.
Recognition for philanthropy and business achievement
Louis Lesser made gifts to youth, welfare, and religious organizations. Lesser served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the City of Hope. Lesser was a member of the Board of the University of Temple, as well as an active participant in national Jewish Welfare Fund appeals.Personality and family
Lesser was born and reared in the Hollywood area.In 1963, The New York Times described Lesser in its "Personality] section, as "restless, fast-talking" and "one of the more aggressive Western developers currently riding the crest of the real estate boom", "a business executive right out of Hollywood's ‘Hometown Boy Makes Good’", also as having run through several business careers, and in 1963, as "making his bid as a ‘Big Time Real Estate Operator’… although not yet a (William) Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf, Sr. was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp – for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 – he developed a significant portion of the New York City urban landscape.-Career:Zeckendorf's...
, (Del) Webb
Del Webb
Delbert Eugene Webb was an American construction magnate, real estate developer and sports-team owner, who is most significant for founding and developing the retirement community of Sun City, Arizona.-Early life:...
, or (Paul) Tishman
Paul Tishman
Paul Tishman, was a real-estate developer and a collector of African art. Paul Tishman was a member of the long established New York construction and real estate family whose independent development company did major projects in the New York area....
".
Louis Lesser's parents were Russian-Polish Jews who immigrated to America sometime before 1910. His father was in the women's garment business, making lady's coats. Lesser was born in Los Angeles, California. Lesser had a younger brother, Alvin, and three sisters, Clara Lomas, Ehtyl Malat, and Shirley Rudman.
Lesser's wife was Jeanne Lesser, to whom he was married for 70 years, until her death in 2006. Lesser had a son, Craig Adolph Lesser, and three daughters, Teri (husband Jack Ford), Kathy Sanson, and Francine Keefe.
Jeanne Lesser died on November 26, 2006, at the age of 88. Lesser's daughter Francine died in a single-car auto accident, leaving two sons, Andrew and Allen, who were then raised by Lesser and his wife Jeanne.
Craig Lesser
Craig Adolph Lesser (November 18, 1948 - December 5, 2005) was a California businessman who specialized in financial factoring, and received press attention both for his highly successful international real estate and securities partnerships with his father, Louis Lesser, specializing in financial factoringFactoring (finance)
Factoring is a financial transaction whereby a business job sells its accounts receivable to a third party at a discount...
, and for allegations of being the operational director involved in kidnapping, drugging, brainwashing, and defrauding victims of real estate and otherwise, for the Adi Da
Adi Da
Adi Da Samraj , born Franklin Albert Jones in Queens, New York, was a spiritual teacher, writer and artist, and the founder of a new religious movement known as Adidam...
cult in Lake County California. Craig Lesser died after his real estate was deeded to Adi Da cult members with "power of attorney" signatures, in an unwitnessed single-car auto accident on California State Highway 29, in a remote mountain area between Highway 176 and Bottle Rock Road, and his death was never investigated.
Craig Lesser was employed in factoring
Factoring (finance)
Factoring is a financial transaction whereby a business job sells its accounts receivable to a third party at a discount...
(a financial transaction where the ability to collect an amount owed (accounts receivable
Accounts receivable
Accounts receivable also known as Debtors, is money owed to a business by its clients and shown on its Balance Sheet as an asset...
) is sold for less than what is owed, by a factor, since there is a cost to trying to collect on the debt). Craig Lesser was named as a defendant in the 1986 "detention
Detention (imprisonment)
Detention is the process when a state, government or citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom of liberty at that time. This can be due to criminal charges being raised against the individual as part of a prosecution or to protect a person or property...
and brainwashing" litigation involving the Adi Da
Adi Da
Adi Da Samraj , born Franklin Albert Jones in Queens, New York, was a spiritual teacher, writer and artist, and the founder of a new religious movement known as Adidam...
cult, the complaint in that litigation stating: "Comes now Plaintiff M. MILLER who alleges as follows…When the young couple arrived at the Sanctuary on or about the evening of September 2, 1976 they were met by Craig Lesser… being advised by Lesser that MASTER DA himself used alcohol and drugs and that he required the use of drugs and alcohol by his disciples".
Kathy Sanson
Lesser's daughter, Kathy Sanson, is a dancer, choreographer, and dance instructor, working in jazzJazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...
, modern
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
, tap
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, salsa
Salsa (dance)
Salsa is a syncretic dance form with origins in Cuba as the meeting point of Spanish and African cultures.Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are recognized solo forms such as solo dancing "suelta" and "Rueda de Casino" where multiple couples exchange partners in a circle...
, swing
Swing (dance)
"Swing dance" is a group of dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s-1950s, although the earliest of these dances predate swing jazz music. The best known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, a popular partner dance that originated in Harlem and is still danced today...
, improv
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
, and musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, now living in New York. Her resume includes roles on stage, film, television, and music videos. She appeared on Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's Everyone Says I Love You
Everyone Says I Love You
Everyone Says I Love You is a 1996 American musical film that was written and directed by Woody Allen. The film features many stars, including Julia Roberts, Alan Alda, Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore, Gaby Hoffmann, Tim Roth, Goldie Hawn, and Natalie Portman.Set in New York, Venice, and Paris, the...
and has choreographed an Academy Awards Ceremony.