A state court judge overseeing a case that challenged an environmental review that enabled construction of UCLA’s Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center ruled on Oct. 21 in favor of the Regents of the University of California, finding that the university was in full compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act when planning the project.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Thomas I. McKnew Jr. denied all claims by the plaintiffs, Save Westwood Village, and will issue a judgment in favor of the Regents.
“This ruling speaks to the extreme care with which UCLA’s staff worked to prepare an Environmental Impact Report for the conference center project that not only complied with every letter of the law, but also gathered campus and community input at several public hearings,” said UCLA Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs Kevin Reed. “As always, we are extremely grateful to the Luskins for their tremendous generosity, as well as their patience and understanding throughout the legal process.”
The Luskins and the UCLA Foundation, which manages contributions to the university, were previously named in this litigation. In January, Judge McKnew Jr. dismissed them from the lawsuit and ordered the plaintiffs to reimburse their attorneys' fees, estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
UCLA broke ground in September 2013 on the project, which will include 25,000 square feet of meeting space and 250 guest rooms when it is completed in 2016. Utilizing $40 million from a previously announced gift from the Luskins and another $112 million in financing to be paid off over time, the self-sustaining project will not use tuition dollars or state funding.
A state court judge in October 2013 dismissed the Luskins and the UCLA Foundation from a separate lawsuit challenging how the university collects certain taxes at its guest facilities, including the conference center. That case continues.