Ahmanson Says No More Concessions : Development: The firm cautions that it stands ready to cancel the Simi Hills housing project if negotiators continue to press for more money.

Assuming a take-it-or-leave-it posture, Ahmanson Land Co. has notified entertainer Bob Hope and other partners in the $1-billion Ahmanson Ranch housing project that they will be given no more financial concessions to make the deal work, officials said Wednesday.

Ahmanson, the deep-pockets partner in the complicated deal to develop a mini-city in the rolling Simi Hills, this week notified Hope, his developer and park agencies that Ahmanson is ready to cancel the project if negotiators continue to press for more money, Ventura County Supervisor Maria VanderKolk said.

“What I understand from Ahmanson,” said VanderKolk, who spoke with a top company executive Wednesday afternoon, “is that they have been nickeled and dimed . . . and they just finally threw up their hands and said, ‘We’re not going to take this any more. What are you going to do about it?’ ”

Ahmanson has maintained for months that its profit margin from the deal has been whittled away by a bad economy, nine lawsuits and unexpectedly high demands for payouts from the nearby cities of Los Angeles, Calabasas and Malibu, and Los Angeles County.

Approved by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in December, the project would create a community of 8,600 residents south of Simi Valley. And it would turn over nearly 10,000 acres of mountain land--7,000 owned by Hope--to state and federal park agencies for $29.5 million.

Neither Hope nor representatives of his developer partner, Potomac Investment Associates, could be reached for comment. Ahmanson spokeswoman Mary Trigg said only that the company is “still working” on the deal.

But Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, confirmed Ahmanson’s new no-give posture.

Edmiston, whose state parks agency would receive about 4,700 acres in the deal, said a scheduled round-table discussion this morning among Ahmanson, Hope and Potomac could determine whether the massive project is built. VanderKolk also said Ahmanson executive Robert DeKruif told her that today’s meeting would be pivotal.

In the interim, Edmiston said Ahmanson’s tough negotiating stance has already prompted him to withdraw three requests--for more money or access to future parkland--as negotiations have dragged on three more months.

“Ahmanson has been the best negotiator in this whole deal, better than me, better than anybody,” Edmiston said. “At every point they have been willing to walk, and the one willing to say goodby the fastest, wins.

“We just removed everything we asked of them down to the last speck,” Edmiston added. “The last thing we want is for (Ahmanson) to do a press conference and say there’s a terrible business climate so the deal’s off.”

Edmiston had requested that Ahmanson cover $5,000 a day lost by the National Park Service because the park service has $19.5 million in a non-interest-bearing escrow account to buy two of Hope’s ranches. But now the conservancy will cover those losses, he said.

The National Park Service had warned it would pull the $19.5 million out of escrow unless developers reached final agreement by March 31. The park service extended the deadline to Wednesday after Edmiston guaranteed to make up the daily losses.

And park service Supt. David Gackenbach said he has extended the deadline through Friday to allow for final negotiations. Gackenbach said he believes a final agreement will be reached today and escrow closed by the middle of next week.

“I guess they’ll finalize the paperwork and get the documents to us Friday so we can review it,” he said. Escrow would close after regional park service administrators in San Francisco also review the documents, he said.

The deal has been delayed because Ahmanson, Hope and Potomac have not been able to agree on how to split profits from the project or how to write fallback provisions in case the lawsuits are successful and the project is never built, VanderKolk said.

Under the original agreement, Hope would receive $29.5 million from park agencies for his three ranches plus a share of profits from the development. But as potential profits have dwindled in the face of payout demands and lawsuits, Hope has insisted on guaranteed payments beyond the $29.5 million, VanderKolk said.

Edmiston, though not a party to the developers’ negotiations, said Hope has received guarantees for some additional money. But Edmiston would not say how large those payments would be or whether Potomac or Ahmanson would pay them.

VanderKolk said Wednesday that DeKruif told her that Ahmanson will deny requests for any additional compensation from its partners and the park agencies. The additional requests are on top of multimillion dollar concessions to Ventura County and Calabasas and a $20-million demand by Los Angeles County to cover the cost of road improvements.

“It’s been kind of funny,” VanderKolk said. “We’ve had people come in over the last six months and say maybe they can get some money from Ahmanson for this project or that project.