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Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

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Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

In May 2003, a breach of contract action was filed against us alleging that a one page document entitled “Final Proposal” constituted a ground lease of a parcel of property located adjacent to our Santana Row property and gave the plaintiff the option to require that we acquire the property at a price determined in accordance with a formula included in the “Final Proposal.” The “Final Proposal” explicitly stated that it was subject to approval of the terms and conditions of a formal agreement. A trial as to liability only was held in June 2006 and a jury rendered a verdict against us. A trial on the issue of damages was held in April 2008 and the court issued a tentative ruling in April 2009 awarding damages to the plaintiff of approximately $14.4 million plus interest.

Based on this tentative ruling, we estimated interest could range from $2.1 million to $8.4 million. Accordingly, considering all the information available to us on May 6, 2009, when we filed our Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2009, our best estimate of damages, interest, and other costs was $21.4 million.

Accordingly, we increased our accrual for the matter from $0.8 million at December 31, 2008, to $21.4 million at March 31, 2009. In June 2009, the court issued a final judgment awarding damages of $15.9 million (including interest) plus costs of suit. In July 2009, we and the plaintiff both filed a notice of appeal. The plaintiff also filed reimbursement motions for $2.1 million of legal fees, expert fees, and court costs of which $1.9 million was subsequently denied. In December 2009, the plaintiff filed an “appellee’s principal and response brief” providing additional information regarding the issues the plaintiff is appealing. The plaintiff’s appeal included only the denial of expert fees which totals approximately $0.4 million. Given the additional information regarding the appeal, we lowered our accrual to $16.4 million, which reflects our best estimate of the litigation liability. The net increase in our accrual of $15.6 million is included in “litigation provision” in our consolidated statement of operations, and the $16.4 million accrual is included in the “accounts payable and accrued expenses” line item in our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2009. During 2009, we incurred additional legal and other costs related to this lawsuit and appeal process which are also included in the “litigation provision” line item in the consolidated statement of operations.

We expect oral arguments on the appeal to be scheduled for later in 2010. All judgments will be stayed until completion of the appeals. Furthermore, we continue to believe that the “Final Proposal” which included express language that it was subject to formal documentation was not a binding contract and that we should have no liability whatsoever, and will vigorously defend our position as part of the appeal process.

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