Los Angeles briefs

Los Angeles briefs

C. J. Wilson
C. J. Wilson

Angels pitcher makes a play

Retired Los Angeles Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson hopes to throw a strike with his Beverly Hills mansion after a 20 percent price drop.

The athlete — who is now focused on his auto racing team, C.J. Wilson Racing — listed the mansion for $25 million in September but dropped the asking price to $19.9 million last month.

The 10,000-square-foot property has five bedrooms, six bathrooms and a private guest suite. Automated smart-home technology controls the entire mansion, which also has an infinity pool and four-car garage.

Wilson purchased the site for $2.8 million in 2012.

Listing agent Shervin Rafii of Keller Williams Newport Beach said that the property was not intended to be a spec mansion — Wilson renovated the property to make it more private and secluded.

Wilson also put his 3,400-square-foot home in Corona del Mar on the market this January for $2.7 million.

Wilson announced his retirement in February; he had not pitched in the major leagues since 2015 due to nagging shoulder injuries.

Title giant develops big stake in CA brokerage business

Fidelity National Financial, a big kahuna in the title insurance industry, is actively looking to acquire more real estate brokerages on the West Coast -— a move that could put the title company in competition with some of its largest brokerage customers.

“We’ve focused on the West Coast because we have a pretty good operation in the Bay Area and we’ve recently expanded that into Southern California,” William Patrick Foley, Fidelity’s CEO, said in a fourth-quarter earnings call.

Fidelity has already been quietly building a brokerage component to its business.

In late 2014, it bought a controlling 66 percent stake in San Francisco-based Pacific Union. Through its stake in Pacific, it has acquired a piece of L.A. companies such as John Aaroe Group and the Mark Company. Pacific and John Aaroe completed a merger in late 2016, bringing their total to 1,100 agents.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Separately, Fidelity also owns a stake in L.A. luxury brokerage Gibson International and is the sole owner of J. Rockcliff Realtors in San Francisco’s East Bay.

Fidelity reported $183 million in revenue from Pacific Union in 2014 — a number that will be boosted by the Aaroe acquisition.

Sources told TRD that Fidelity’s designs on the brokerage business could have a far-reaching impact.

“They’re saying, ‘We want to be your full body shop from cradle to grave,’” said Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland, a luxury brokerage in Beverly Hills. “It’ll put some mom-and-pops out of business and create more mergers.”

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell

Hollywood couple disembarks from home

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell didn’t go overboard this time. The Hollywood couple sold their Pacific Palisades home for $6.9 million, a sliver under its $7.25 million ask.

The stars of the 1987 classic “Overboard” bought the 1951 Georgian-style residence for $4.1 million in 2004.

The 6,400-square-foot home has a formal dining room, gym, media room and country-style kitchen with skylights.

There are five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The master suite, in a separate wing, has double closets and its own sauna. Outside, there’s a pool and an adjacent meditation hut.

Hawn, 71, is starring opposite comedian Amy Schumer in the upcoming comedy film “Snatched.”

Russell, 65, is appearing in the Marvel blockbuster “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and “The Fate of the Furious.” Kimberley Pfeiffer of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage was the listing agent. Partners Trust’s F. Ron Smith and David Berg represented the buyer.