Prospective buyer of Montecito Heights lot explores 100-unit condo project

Hillside property is 12 acres and the potential buyer is looking at a big construction project there

The vacant property at 4500 E. Via Marisol (Credit: Google Maps)
The vacant property at 4500 E. Via Marisol (Credit: Google Maps)

The prospective buyer of a 12-acre site in Montecito Heights is exploring the possibility of developing 100 condo units there.

The party filed paperwork with the Department of City Planning for a pre-development meeting to determine whether the condos are feasible at 4500 E. Via Marisol.

About two-thirds of the vacant property is a stepped hillside, while the other third is a graded area along E. Via Marisol. The area has single family homes as well as apartments and condo developments.

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A sale for the property hasn’t closed yet, and it’s currently listed on Loopnet for $700,000. It is owned by the Via Marisol Revocable Land Trust, controlled by Jonathan Perino.

The trust purchased it for $100,000 in 2016 from CRA/LA, the successor agency to the state-level Community Redevelopment Agency for Los Angeles, a now-defunct agency tasked with boosting economic activity. It often developed affordable housing and was abolished during the financial crisis.

The agency has been liquidating assets as it prepares to be absorbed by the city of L.A. In 2017 it sold off the Dolby Theater to the city — essentially a sale to itself — for $100,000.

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