Glendale considers a $300M trolley, Seattle strikes deal for housing near Amazon HQ: Daily digest

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up Los Angeles’ biggest real estate news. We update this page at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 4 p.m. PT. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

This page was last updated at 4 p.m. PT

Glendale is considering building a streetcar that runs through its downtown area. The project could cost between $250 to $300 million, and potentially draw as many as 5,000 riders per day. City officials are considering two viable routes, one of which would extend to Burbank. [Curbed]

Seattle’s local government has just closed on its biggest real estate transaction, ever. The city sold a 3-acre spread — next door to Amazon.com’s campus — to Alexandria Real Estate Equities for $138.5 million. The $1 billion development is slated to include two office buildings, a community center and an apartment tower with at least 175 affordable units. [Bloomberg]

“A swimming pool is a must.” That’s according to star agent Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker, who views the amenity as necessary as a kitchen. She’s not wrong: a 2018 study by Redfin found that homes in L.A. with pools sell for around $95,393 more than homes without one. [BI]

Bedly CEO Martin Greenberg (Credit: LinkedIn and iStock)

Is co-living starting to crack? An apartment-sharing startup, Bedly, last month closed all New York locations, leaving more than 600 tenants without valid leases and a month’s notice to find somewhere else to live. [TRD]

Marcus & Millichap COO Mitch Labar plans to retire at the end of the year, the brokerage disclosed today. J.D. Parker and Richard Matricaria, who were appointed to be executive vice presidents in March, will jointly assume his responsibilities. [Seeking Alpha]

Barneys secured a new offer from Brigade Capital Management and B. Riley Financial to keep it afloat until late October. The firms will inject $143 million in new debt while paying off a prior $75 million loan. As part of its bankruptcy plan, Barneys will continue to operate two stores in Manhattan, and locations in Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Boston and two warehouse stores. [CNBC]

From left: Robert Reffkin and Chris Cortazzo, with one of Cortazzo’s listings, 0 Zumirez Drive, Malibu

Compass poaches Coldwell Banker star agent Chris Cortazzo. The Malibu specialist, who did $500 million in sales volume last year, is the latest big broker to defect to the behemoth Softbank-backed brokerage. The signing comes as Compass is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering. [TRD]

Reliable Partners upsizes mixed-use plans in Hollywood. The firm was nearing a city decision on a 293-unit project on Sunset Boulevard, but now it wants to bulk up to a 412-unit complex by taking advantage of incentives. [TRD]

Barry Sternlicht (Credit: Getty Images)

Barry Sternlicht “frustrated” with Starwood stock price. Starwood Property Trust reported solid numbers in Q2, but CEO Sternlicht said in an earnings call that “trade wars fought at 4 a.m. with tweets” are eroding confidence in the markets, referring to President Trump’s social media posting platform of choice in the wee hours of the night. [TRD]

Douglas Elliman has a new transfer tax to thank for a boost in revenue for Q2. The brokerage’s parent company Vector Group recorded an 18 percent jump as buyers rushed to close deals and avoid extra costs. [TRD]

WeWork’s latest pursuits involve Martin Scorsese, Ashton Kutcher and an NBC show. The office space company sought the entertainment industry icons for marketing efforts, in another example of the startup trying to move away from its image as a traditional real estate company. [TRD]

Spec home builder Windsor Smith lists latest mansion in Brentwood. Smith is listing the Neoclassical-style, 13,000-square-foot home for $33 million. Smith is known for selling her first home to actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her second to Paltrow’s then-husband Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay. [WSJ]

Hackman Capital Partners is James Cameron’s new landlord in Manhattan Beach. The investment firm has been gobbling up studios left and right. Now it’s purchased the 22-acre Manhattan Beach Studios for $650 million, as well as the studio operating company MBS Services, from Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group. The campus is the headquarters of James Cameron’s production company Lightstorm Entertainment. The Real Deal first reported the camps were in advanced discussion in June. [LAT]

State says development costs are too high amid housing crisis. A report from California housing officials says state lawmakers should urge counties and cities to make fees more predictable and transparent in order to lower costs for developers, arguing that high costs are preventing housing production. [TRD]

Compass has a competitor in the East Bay. Red Oak Realty is now the largest indie real estate brokerage in the area after acquiring Marvin Gardens Real Estate, which will increase the firm’s headcount to 160 brokers. [Inman]

Toni Morrison (Credit: Getty Images)

The places that late Nobel laureate Toni Morrison called home. The idea of “place” played a central role in the Ohio-born writer’s work. She spent most of her adult life living in and around the New York City area, including in Queens and Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood, but it was her house in Grand View-on-Hudson that is most well-known. [TRD]

California officials threaten to sue Cupertino if it doesn’t meet housing goals. State housing officials say the city that Apple calls home is at risk of missing its goal of approving 1,064 new units by 2023. A local group has sued the city over approval of a 2,400-unit project near Apple’s headquarters. The city would likely miss its housing goal if the project is axed. [San Francisco Chronicle]

A rendering of the plaza that American Airlines has purchased naming rights for (Credit: LASED)

American Airlines first to sign naming deal at Rams-Chargers stadium in Inglewood. The airline will have exclusive naming rights to a 2.5-acre plaza at the massive L.A. Stadium and Entertainment District complex. The development team has yet to sign a deal for the naming rights to the actual stadium, but Bay Area-based lender Social Finance Inc. is reportedly in talks for the rights. [LABJ]

Walgreens to shutter 200 stores nationwide. The Deerfield-based drug store giant has not said which stores will close, and added that employees and patients will face minimal disruption by being shifted to other locations. Walgreens is seeking to cut $1.5 billion in costs and will also close 200 stores in the United Kingdom. [Chicago Tribune]

Wayne LaPierre (credit: Gage Skidmore on Flickr)

National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre sought investment from the firm’s former ad agency to buy a $5 million Dallas mansion. The deal, which ultimately didn’t pan out, emerged in a probe by the New York Attorney General’s office into the group’s operations. [WSJ]

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son is banking that his firm can offload Sprint in a merger with T-Mobile. The mobile carrier has been a thorn in the side of SoftBank, and racked up $47 billion in debt. He said Wednesday that shedding Sprint will allow him to focus on Softbank’s Vision funds, valued at $200 billion. [Bloomberg]

FROM THE CITY’S RECORDS:

A developer filed plans for a 412-unit mixed-use complex with 36,000 square feet of retail space at 5525 W. Sunset Boulevard, now a strip mall. [LADCP]

Compiled by Dennis Lynch