January 13, 2010
It may not be oozing profits as it did during the Aughts, but the U.S. homebuilding industry is showing signs of life. The Los Angeles Times today showcases Irvine’s Woodbury East community as an example of a once-stalled residential project emerging from the mire of the Great Recession. Don’t believe everything you read in newspapers? Then, chew on this: In just four short weeks last December, Santa Ana-based homebuilding start-up City Ventures sold all nine first-phase homes at Viscaya, a collection of 19 single-family residences outside San Diego. Is the builder using Jedi mind-tricks to convert these sales?
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October 12, 2009
Housing sales are finally experiencing positive momentum, and the glut of unsold inventory is starting to shrink. But new-home construction is emerging in an entirely new landscape. Who is buying the assets of collapsed builders, who will build new neighborhoods, and how will they fund and organize their operations? The Los Angeles District Council of the Urban Land Institute will explore the dynamics of the post-bubble market in a panel discussion with Los Angeles’ leading or new residential developers and thinkers. Beyond the Bubble: New Homebuilding Solutions, is 6:30-8 p.m., Thursday, October 22, 2009, at SPF:a Gallery, 8609 Washington Blvd., Culver City, 90232 (map). To Register: Visit ULI-Los Angeles or call (213) 213-2245.
ULI Los Angeles’ panel includes Paul Jennings, Principal of PCS Development; Joseph Miller, President of The Runyon Group; Casey Lynch of Pelican Holdings, LLC; and Robert J. Gardner, Managing Director at Robert Charles Lesser & Company. The discussion will be moderated by Jack Skelley, Senior Vice President with Roddan Paolucci.
ULI Los Angeles’ Beyond the Bubble is sponsored by PCS Development, Roddan Paolucci and SPF: architects.
January 8, 2009
Controversy surged when the “WE’RE IN” Anchorage Daily newspaper headline ran stating Alaska’s acceptance into the union which became official in January, 1959. This Hot Sheet reporter’s Alaskan grandfather Caz Silko voted in that momentous election – against statehood. A WWII vet, Silko respected the U.S. but felt joining the union may not serve the Alaskan people or its resources well. Some could say he was justified in those sentiments considering the handling of the Exxon Valdez disaster and the government’s subsequent scouting of ANWR. But Alaska has always been known to “stir things up” from its purchase in 1867 from Russia by U.S. Secretary of State, William H. Seward for less than 2 cents an acre and the infamous “bridge to nowhere” to the debut of Governor Sarah Palin on the world stage.
Beyond the Great Land’s approximately 586,400 square miles of diverse beauty and wildlife attracting nearly 2 million tourists each year, Alaska provides the U.S. with countless resources in fishing, mining, logging and oil with plans in the works to share its abundant gas and water with the lower 48 as well. While many in the contiguous states may hold differing opinions regarding some of Alaska’s more controversial topics, one thing is for certain – “Seward’s folly” was most assuredly the best “mistake” the United States ever made. Read More
December 10, 2008
Terranea, Los Angeles’ only destination resort on the Pacific Ocean, partnered with local Keller Williams real estate office owner Al d’Amico to host Palos Verdes’ long-standing Toys for Tots holiday charity event on Sunday, December 7th. Over 300 guests attended, each with a toy to help brighten the holidays for needy children throughout the Los Angeles area. Read More
November 12, 2008
Terranea, Los Angeles’ only destination resort on the Pacific Ocean currently under construction, recently caught the eye of Kevin Smith, business editor of the Pasadena Star News. In a story last Sunday, Smith focused on Terranea’s unique purchase/rental strategy: Terranea offers whole ownership (not timeshare) combined with a rental program for those who buy homes at the resort (on the Palos Verdes Peninsula). The story was a bright spot for the real estate industry which faces daily doom and gloom headlines. Read More
November 6, 2008
You may have seen the Kohler commercial currently airing on television where a woman sets a faucet on an architect’s desk and says, “Design a house around this.” Compared to a recent request by airplane aficionados, at least the faucet seems reasonable. A group in Santa Paula, California is so enamored with their airplanes that they are developing an entire community of “hangar-condos.” That’s right – these two-story homes named the Sky Lofts at Santa Paula are designed specifically to house each family and their pet plane.
Bob Banman, the mastermind behind the hangar-home community, conceived the idea during the September 11 attacks when many unattended, private airparks were considered prime targets for terrorists. Banman also recognized the significant demand by many pilots, “who love their planes and want to live as close as possible to their aircraft.”
While there are hundreds of fly-in communities around the country, (John Travolta parks his Boeing 707 at his airpark home in Ocala, Florida) which are adjacent to airports and offer a taxiway to the runway, the Sky Lofts at Santa Paula are unique because they reside directly on the airport and each resident will actually own the piece of airport under the house. Read More
November 5, 2008
Who in the world would own a yacht with a rocket launching system? One guess, he’s no longer alive. That’s right, Saddam Hussein.
Iraq said it has decided to sell Saddam Hussein’s luxury yacht after winning a legal dispute over its ownership.
The former dictator’s 269-foot super yacht is fitted with swimming pools, salons, a secret passage and of course, a rocket launching system. Read More
October 30, 2008
What do Will Farrell, Queen Latifah, Jon Voight and the cast of Entourage have in common? They are all expected at Urth Caffé, the eco-conscious, L.A. restaurant celebrating the grand opening of its new headquarters at Barker Block Lofts in the downtown Arts District November 16th. If at least one of them shows up, nobody will be surprised. But everybody will groove to musical entertainment and Urth Caffé delectables while touring the classic brick structure with original buttresses and tiles painted by Downtown artists. Read More
October 8, 2008
Across the Inland Empire, on the eastern fringe of L.A., the lawns are brown and the swimming pools are green. City employees drain the mosquito-breeding pools, while others dye the dead grass green for bankruptcy sales.
The mortgage meltdown has hit the Inland Empire hard with the one of the largest foreclosure rates in the country. Click here for a story by The Wall Street Journal on how the area is grappling with this slow-motion disaster.
Ah, but there is a bright spot in the Inland Empire. $4 million worth of bright. Read More
October 3, 2008
As the nation’s foreclosure crisis reaches a boiling point, it seems everyone has an explanation for its origins. But Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at UC Riverside, may have one of the most compelling – or perhaps frightening – explanations for why many hard-working Americans have found themselves on the wrong side of a failing mortgage. Walton is claiming that faith-based economics, or the belief that God will somehow “find a way” to pay the bills – has led many followers into financial obligations they can never live up to. Read More
