Tenacious Developer.

Developer Robert Maguire's legendary tenacity has paid off for him once again.

MaguirePartners has settled its dispute with Dai-ichi Life Property Holdings Inc. over one of downtown's premier skyscrapers, Gas Co. Tower.

The settlement allows MaguirePartners to purchase Dai-ichi's interest and take control of the property. An affiliate of MaguirePartners is the general partner in the group that owns the tower, and Dai-ichi is the limited partner.

MaguirePartners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 1998 after it failed to convince Dai-ichi to approve a refinancing of the 52-story tower at 555 W. Fifth St. Dai-ichi also did not consent to the bankruptcy filing. Maguire had been pushing Dai-ichi to refinance the tower's $192 million outstanding mortgage debt with Sumitomo Bank.

If all goes according to plan, Sumitomo will be paid in full following Maguire's purchase of Dai-ichi's interest, said MaguirePartners' counsel, Paul Rutter of Gilchrist & Rutter.

"If (Sumitomo and Dai-ichi are both paid), Maguire will end up assuming Dai-ichi's interest and there will be new debt on the building," Rutter said.

Maguire was out of the country and unavailable for comment last week, and Dai-ichi's attorney did not return calls for comment.

Rutter declined to reveal how much Dai-ichi would be paid, nor how much money it has invested in the property. Dai-ichi owns a 5 percent stake.

There were actually two settlements -- one with Sumitomo and another with the unsecured creditors, who were left in limbo when the bankruptcy was filed. Those creditors, including lawyers, accountants and others who were owed money for services provided before the bankruptcy filing, were recently paid in full, Rutter said.

He added that all the creditors continued to provide services to the building during the bankruptcy, the partnership never defaulted on its mortgage payments, and the tenants were not affected.

Rutter said Maguire is actively pursuing financing to buy out Dai-ichi, which may come from a combination of equity and debt.

"They've already identified people who are interested," Rutter said.

Though the dispute with Dai-ichi was acrimonious at times, Rutter said all the parties felt they were treated fairly in the end.

"It was a highly negotiated settlement. Everyone came away comfortable with the result," he said. "It gives everyone a solution to a difficult situation and resulted in a friendly relationship."

He said Maguire is also working to increase occupancy at the building, which stands at 96 percent. The Bunker Hill high-rise was completed in 1991 and was developed by Maguire Thomas Partners, Maguire's former company.

On another front, Maguire is also in charge of developing an office campus at Playa Vista. Maguire had been involved in a bitter dispute over that property with DreamWorks SKG, which last summer dropped its plans to develop a studio and headquarters there.