Real Estate News
Arts District mixed use project moving forward again
The development will include 344 live-work units Plans are moving ahead for a project in the southern Arts District originally proposed back in 2014. Joining the dozen-and-a-half or so projects already in various stages of development in the area, it would bring 344 live-work units and 29,544 square feet of commercial space to the neighborhood. Plans filed with the city yesterday call for a seven-story structure that would rise from a large industrial parcel at the intersection of Alameda and I…
Remodeled 1940s house in Van Nuys’s historic district asks $535K
Wood floors, corner windows, and a fancy water filtration system Tucked into Van Nuys’s historic district, this two-bedroom house built in 1940 has 21st century updates that include drought-tolerant landscaping and reverse osmosis water system. Inside, the living room and dining area’s corner windows light up the space. Wood floors run throughout the two communal rooms and the kitchen, which is open to dining area. A large, rock-covered fireplace makes a statement in the master bedr…
Santa Monica approves pedestrian-friendly makeover for Lincoln Boulevard
More crossings, better crossings, and a rush-hour bus lane City officials in Santa Monica are betting on a streetscape makeover to make one of its main thoroughfares, Lincoln Boulevard, less of a mess, especially for people on foot and on bikes. Santa Monica’s City Council approved plans Tuesday for the first phase of the Lincoln Neighborhood Corridor Plan, reports Santa Monica Lookout. The makeover will affect a stretch of Lincoln that’s just over 1 mile long, extending from Olymp…
LA wants to keep better track of its affordable housing
The City Council wants better tenant protections and a database of affordable units The Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions Wednesday aimed at protecting tenants and preserving the city’s precarious stock of affordable housing. Councilmember Jose Huizar, who introduced the measures, pointed to rising rents in his district as evidence of a citywide housing crisis. “We have to do more than just increase the supply,” he told the council. The motions direct city sta…
South Pasadena’s Rialto Theatre will reportedly become a church
The historic venue played a starring role in La La Land South Pasadena’s historic Rialto Theatre, featured prominently in the movie LA LA Land, has been shuttered since 2007, but the historic venue could soon see new life as a church and event space. Local preservationist Escott Norton, who heads a group called Friends of the Rialto, tells the South Pasadena Review that trendy Los Angeles-based church Mosaic has agreed to operate the theatre, which is owned by developer Izek Shomof. Norton…
LA earns ‘disappointing’ C grade for its sustainability efforts
The Los Angeles basin still has some of the worst air quality in the U.S. Los Angeles County still has a long way to go in its quest for sustainability, a new report from UCLA shows. The university released its 2017 environmental report card today and gave Los Angeles County a meager C grade. The report card rates the county’s efforts to become more energy efficient, curtail greenhouse gas emissions, and clean up the air. “Although there is progress towards meeting local and state g…
Echo Park and Silver Lake are the hottest markets for condo buyers right now
A new map shows neighborhoods where condo sales are on the rise Los Angeles has plenty of options for buyers in the market for condos (here are a few now)—but some ‘hoods are in more demand than others. A new MLS map tracks recent sales across the city, and it found Silver Lake/Echo Park is the hottest neighborhood for condo buyers these days. Twenty-five 25 condos sold there in the first quarter of 2017—up from just eight in the first quarter of last year. The total amount pai…
The destructive force of Rebuild LA
How the nonprofit created after the 1992 ‘riots’ failed the community it was supposed to help Two stray pit bulls swaggered like old pals toward the intersection of Florence and Normandie. On the northeast corner was Tom’s Liquor, on the southeast corner sat a Unocal station, and the northwest and southwest corners housed two vacant lots, one of them charred and burnt-out. The Eight Tray gang stood watch over the liquor store. The rest of the street was fires, smashed glass, lo…
Sierra Madre Spanish-style estate listed for $3.75M sits on more than 1 acre
Once home to the son of President Hoover This Sierra Madre estate was previously owned by the son of the 31st President of the United States, Herbert Hoover. Naturally, the president and Mrs. Hoover visited numerous times. (Hoover is often considered to be among the worst presidents in history.) The seven-bedroom house sits on 1.15 acres north of the Hastings Ranch area of Pasadena. Built in 1928, it comes with colored glass windows, high ceilings with exposed beams, a large fireplace, and a woo…
City committee rejects appeal to stop Tommie micro hotel in Hollywood
Opponents call it a “party hotel” A Los Angeles City Council committee on Tuesday unanimously rejected two appeals of its approval of an eight-story hotel planned for a Hollywood parking lot on Selma Avenue between Wilcox and Schraeder. One of many hotels set to rise in the area, this one has drawn complaints from some residents who say the Tommie hotel would have too many rooms and draw a particularly raucous crowd. Attorney Daniel Wright, representing one of the appellants, Sunset …