Mapping LA’s rental prices, Urban Stearns plots new Opp Zone project in San Pedro: Daily digest

A daily round up of LA real estate news, deals and more for August 30, 2019

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up Los Angeles’ biggest real estate news. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

This page was last updated at 2:17 p.m. PT

Urban Stearns has a new Opportunity Zones project in the works. The developer filed plans to build a 120-unit apartment complex near the San Pedro waterfront. The $40 million project, which will seek Transit Oriented Communities bonuses by adding a certain number of affordable units, is expected to break ground early 2020. [Urbanize]

 

Available listings for an average earner spending 30 percent of their income on housing.

Available listings for an average earner spending 30 percent of their income on housing.

Choices are few for renters on a $61,000 salary looking for a place in L.A. An interactive map the Los Angeles Times created shows you how many rental properties are deemed affordable in ZIP codes across California. But the unaffordability of L.A. is stark. [LAT]

 

Speaking of affordable, an 85-unit affordable housing complex broke ground in El Sereno. The Rosa de Castilla Apartments is one of 19 affordable projects financed by Measure HHH funds. The developer, East LA Community Corporation, is reserving more than half of the units for homeless veterans. [Curbed]

 

L.A. is accepting proposals to redevelop West L.A. Civic Center. The aging city government outpost in Sawtelle has five buildings connected by a central plaza. Councilman Mike Bonin highlighted the need for a senior facility and outdoor public space, along with “sorely needed affordable housing and workforce housing for local seniors and residents.” [Urbanize]

 

Aerial view of 611 N. Brand Boulevard and Rossano de Cotiis (Credit: Hunter Kerhart Architectural Photography)

Aerial view of 611 N. Brand Boulevard and Rossano de Cotiis (Credit: Hunter Kerhart Architectural Photography)

Onni Group pivots to massive hotel in Glendale. The Canadian developer is busy with a handful of residential projects in Downtown L.A., but now wants to build an 857-room hotel on North Brand Boulevard. Onni would demolish an office tower at the site it purchased two years ago, and where it had intended to build a 600-unit residential complex. [TRD]

 

Half of a Palmdale shopping center sells. About 55,000 square feet of the Rancho Vista Plaza property sold for $11 million. The complex has tenants including MetroPCS, Subway and State Farm. It’s the latest in a string of retail center trades over the last couple months, despite wariness over the sector’s long-term viability. [TRD]

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The S&P 500 is up 2 percent this week and 19 of the 29 stocks that The Real Deal follows have risen, signaling somewhat diminished fears of a trade war with China. The winners this week were commercial brokerages Marcus & Millichap, which rose 4.12 percent, and Newmark Knight Frank, which rose 4.11 percent. Realogy, on the other hand, was down 26 percent this week, another terrible week for the resi brokerage conglomerate. [TRD]

 

A New Mexico Attorney General says that the state should take possession of Epstein’s ranch. Epstein apparently planned to inseminate hundreds of women at his ranch before his death at a New York City jail by suicide. The Attorney General said Epstein should never have been granted the leases in the first place and suggested turning the lands over to local farmers. [WSJ]

 

A Benchmark Realty real estate agent added a “sexy selfie” Tuesday to an otherwise unremarkable listing. The photo, which has since been removed, was attached to a listing for a four-bedroom home asking $399,000. The risky shot shows the agent engaging in a sex act with a lover faced away from the camera in a bedroom. [NYP]

 

Builders around the world are using novel construction methods to reduce emissions. Former Whitehouse advisor Steve Bannon suggested using “hempcrete” to build walls, while firm JustBio Fiber Solutions plans to fill orders to produce enough hemp bricks to build 2,000 homes. [Bloomberg]

 

For just $105,000, you can buy a 44,000 pound, 774-square foot home on Amazon called “The Cliff.” It’s listed as currently unavailable on the site, but in theory, would be delivered on-demand to the purchaser. The home is a big step up from the $7,000 tiny home that sold within hours on Amazon earlier this year. [Inman]

 

FROM THE CITY’S RECORDS:

An LLC associated with Jones & Jones Management Group has purchased a 71-unit apartment complex at 5800 Green Valley Circle in Culver City for $22 million.

An LLC managed by SoCal Better Homes CEO Curt Ranta has filed plans for a 26-unit TOC apartment building on Brynhurst Avenue in Hyde Park. The location is eligible for Tier 3 incentives. [LADCP]