Greenlaw, Shopoff called “preferred developers” in Anaheim probe

In a nearly 400-page report investigating corruption in the City of Anaheim, Orange County real estate players will find two recognizable names: Greenlaw Partners and Shopoff Development. 

Greenlaw and Shopoff were found to be two “preferred developers” in the city and were “friendly” with former Mayor Harry Sidhu, who resigned last year amid an FBI corruption probe, according to the report released Tuesday. 

Laguna Niguel-based firm JL Group published the report, after the Anaheim City Council commissioned the firm to lead an independent investigation into political corruption at CIty Hall in light of the FBI probe. 

JL Group alleges Sidhu and the former head of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Todd Ament, participated in “influence peddling.” The report also details a “potential criminal conspiracy” involving the alleged shuffling of pandemic recovery funds. 

But the report also details a close relationship Sidhu had with both Greenlaw and Shopoff, two prominent developers across the O.C. 

“These developers seemed to have preferred status in the city based on various city employees’ observations,” the report said. “Mayor Sidhu ‘pushed’ city staff to use these two developers for certain projects.”

Greenlaw, run by Wilbur Smith III, is primarily an office and industrial developer. In June 2022, the firm sold a portfolio of eight Amazon.com-leased warehouses across California and Utah for $520 million. 

In Anaheim, Greenlaw scored City Council approval in 2019 to build up to 65 townhomes and 38,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The development required Greenlaw to buy a 30-acre parcel of land from the city. Greenlaw had hired Jeff Flint, who was involved in the initial FBI probe and as a lobbyist on the failed sale of Angel Stadium, to lobby on the firm’s behalf. 

According to the report, when Anaheim Planning Director Ted White was working on the entitlements for the project, Greenlaw principal Rob Mitchell “would make it known that he supported Mayor Sidhu in his campaign.”

Grace Ruiz-Stepter, the city’s director of economic development, also recalled that Sidhu told her: “You will figure out how Greenlaw gets that deal,” according to the report. 

In 2020, Greenlaw contributed $25,000 to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce political action committee — a PAC that spent more than 71 percent of its contribution funds on Sidhu’s mayoral election. Shortly after, Greenlaw’s project was approved. 

“Mayor Sidhu wrongfully took a direct hand in pushing city staff toward certain developers that he favored,” the report said in its conclusion. “Greenlaw was no exception concerning this preferential treatment and advocacy by Mayor Sidhu.”

The report also mentioned that Shopoff, run by Bill Shopoff, had used Ament, who pleaded guilty to federal fraud and criminal tax charges last July, to lobby for a residential project at Lincoln Avenue and Euclid Street. Ament was allegedly paid by Shopoff, but was not registered as a lobbyist.

“Ament was able to utilize his influence with the mayor and the City Council to get a residential component of this project approved after several other prospective developers had been denied the same opportunity,” the report said. 

Neither Shopoff nor Greenlaw responded to a request for comment. 

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