AIRPORT REVOLUTION: One of the largest construction endeavors in Los Angeles history, the $5 billion Landside Access Modernization Project, promises to revolutionize road and rail access to the Los Angeles International Airport, according to city officials. The project, expected to begin in the third quarter of next year and finish by 2023, would include an elevated 2.25-mile automated people mover with six stations connecting LAX terminals with a Crenshaw Line light-rail station at 96th Street and Aviation Boulevard. It would also include intermodal transportation facilities with parking lots where airline passengers could get off trains and buses and check in for their flights.

PROJECT RUNWAY: Runway Playa Vista, a mixed-use development in Playa Vista, was sold last week to a Dallas investment firm for $475 million. The property, consisting of retail, residential and office space, cost $300 million to develop. The steep price for the Runway Playa Vista what happens when firms such as Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. come to town, according to the Los Angeles Times. Investors are banking on those and similar companies luring highly educated and highly paid workers to the burgeoning community as it nears completion.

‘STAR’ CROSSED: In spite of the blockbuster success of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which drove the Walt Disney Co.’s quarterly income and revenue ahead

of Wall Street expectations last week, the success was overshadowed by its ESPN network posting a decline in profit. The loss was blamed in part on higher programming costs at the channel and a decline in subscribers.

SOLAR ENERGIZED: Los Angeles County had more people working in the solar industry last year than anywhere else in the country, with Orange County a close second, according to a report released last week by the Solar Jobs Census. The report counted more than 15,000 solar industry jobs in Los Angeles County and 6,100 in Orange County.

FAVORED FILMS: The California Film Commission announced last week that 13 new feature films, including 10 studio and three independent productions, have been earmarked for the state’s expanded Film and Television Tax Credit Program in its second round of selections. The 13 making the cut (from 174 applicants) are predicted to generate an estimated $400 million in direct in-state spending, including $174

million in wages to more than 2,000 below-the-line crew members. Additionally, they will employ an estimated 540 cast members. The highest-profile productions include a Warner Bros. remake of “A Star Is Born” starring Beyonce Knowles-Carter and directed by Bradley Cooper that qualified $8.9 million in tax credits.

DEFENSIVE DAUMAN: Days after replacing ailing Sumner Redstone as executive chairman at Viacom Inc. last week, Philippe Dauman was on the defensive after the company fell short of revenue expectations for the fifth quarter in a row. In an earnings conference call, during which he engaged in a heated exchange with analysts about the company’s lackluster fiscal performance, he was pressed on why shares fell more than 17 percent to a 52-week low last Tuesday, trading at $34.44 – more than 60 percent below its July 2014 peak. He argued that while the stock beat the S&P 500 average for five years running, the drop in share price had been “accentuated in the recent past by a lot of noise,”

referring to a dispute over who will control Viacom when Redstone dies.

COLLEGE BOUND: College Station, a multipurpose Chinatown development, has been redesigned under the direction of New York’s Atlas Capital Group. Atlas acquired Evoq, the firm that proposed the project in 2014. The new plan announced last week, devised by Chinatown-based architecture firm Johnson Fain, replaces an original design featuring a 20-story tower with six low-rise buildings, public plazas and retail space spread across a 5.7-acre site at Spring and College streets near the southern tip of the Los Angeles State Historic Park. Johnson Fain said the project would have a total of 624 apartments and 51,000 square feet of retail, including a roughly 37,000-square-foot market.

INVESTOR INSIGHT: Mark Suster, a partner at venture capital firm Upfront Ventures in Santa Monica, has warned that a major correction could be coming

to the tech financing market. In his blog, Suster wrote that “outsiders,” including hedge and mutual funds, have poured too much money into the industry. And since those firms judge success differently than venture capital firms, startups will not be able to burn through cash in the way many have grown accustomed to. He also said the startup industry may be “resetting,” which doesn’t mean a crash, but a resetting of valuations, time scales, winners and losers, capital sources and the relative emphasis of growth versus burn rates.

DIRECTOR DEPOSED: The California Coastal Commission voted 7 to 5 to fire Charles Lester, its executive director, in a private session last week in spite of a showing of public support for Lester. Before moving into closed session, several commissioners criticized media reports quoting coastal activists and environmental groups that attributed the move to fire the executive director to a desire by some panel members for more coastal development.

Last week’s major news from labusinessjournal.com and other sourcesNEWS OF THE WEEK

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 NEWS & ANALYSIS LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL 13

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People on the MoveAdvertising Feature

REAL ESTATE

Charles S. Cohen, president and CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, has announced that Spero Plavoukos has been promoted to Senior Vice President at Pacific Design Center (PDC). Plavoukos’ role includes interfacing with all facets of PDC operations, from staff management to events and business operations to tenant relations.

Plavoukos

ARCHITECTURE

RNL, an international architecture, design and planning firm, welcomed Amy Chang, AIA, LEED AP, BD+C, to its Los Angeles office. Chang brings more than 19 years experience in architecture and design management to her role as Senior Project Manager/Business Development for the firm’s commercial practice.Chang

CONSTRUCTION

PCL Construction Services is pleased to announce Thai Nguyen has been promoted to Manager, Special Projects, and Priscilla Chavez has joined as Manager, Diversity and Inclusion. In his new role, Nguyen’s division will manage all projects with a construction value under $10 million. Nguyen is a 2016 Engineering News-Record (ENR) California Top 20 Under 40 honoree. Chavez will oversee and manage community outreach, certified subcontractor relationships, and local hiring requirements to meet PCL and client goals.

Nguyen Chavez

FINANCE

Bank of the West Wealth Management Group announced the promotions of several key executives within the organization in its Southern California market which includes Orange County, Pasadena, and the Inland Empire. Glenn Hamburger market leader in Orange County was promoted to senior vice president, Rachel DeLauro is now senior vice president and market leader responsible for the Group’s Greater Los Angeles markets, and Jack Keleshian was named senior vice president and will continue his role as market leader for the Pasadena market.

DeLauroHamburger Keleshian

‘Star’ Crossed: Disney. Favored Films: Beyonce. Defensive Dauman: Viacom.