State rent control bill heads to Gov. Newsom’s desk, LA moves on controversial plan to build supportive housing in Echo Park: Daily digest

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California’s sweeping rent control bill heads to Gov. Newsom’s desk for signing. Assembly Bill 1482 passed the Senate on Wednesday, not without fierce debate, and Newsom is expected to sign it into law. The measure will cap annual rent hikes in any unit older than 15 years across the state to 5 percent and institute a slew of tenant protection measures. The new measures do not apply to existing rent controlled units in cities including Los Angeles. [LAT]

City Council moves controversial plan for supportive housing at youth rec center. L.A. lawmakers forged ahead on a plan, still at its early stages, to replace a basketball court and other recreation space run by the nonprofit El Centro del Pueblo, which runs services for communities affected by gang violence. Opponents say they don’t want to lose a valuable community resource. [Curbed]

Realtors exempt from state’s “gig economy” legislation. Agents will not be subject to new rules that will reclassify independent contractors across the state as employees with rights to benefits. The legislation was mainly conceived to address labor issues for “gig economy” companies like Uber and Doordash, who classify many workers as contractors. Securities brokers, insurance agents, and commercial fishermen are among other workers exempt. [Inman]

Kevin Hart’s former Tarzana home hits market for $3.4 million. The actor and comedian sold the 6,550-square-foot home just four months ago for $2.8 million, but the new owners appear to think they can turn it around in a quick flip. The home was built in 2000 and has seven bedrooms and bathrooms. [LAT]

Real estate investor Josh Bendheim among buyers of Beverly Hills Courier. An investment group led by Bendheim, president of Bendheim Enterprises Inc., bought the weekly newspaper for an undisclosed price. The Courier has a distribution of around 40,000 and focuses on hyperlocal news in the Beverly Hills area. Another one of the buyers, writer Lisa Bloch, said she wants to expand distribution to West Hollywood and expand staff. [LABJ]

President Trump wants to the Fed slash interest rates below zero. He tweeted Wednesday that the Fed should slash interest rates to zero or below, raising questions about how negative rates would work, and what they would do for the economy. [NYT]

Guardant Health is vulnerable to WeWork’s valuation woes. While headlines about WeWork’s faltering IPO path have focused on SoftBank, another SoftBank-backed company, Guardant Health, may also be vulnerable. The company’s stock price dropped 7.8 percent on Wednesday following reports that SoftBank is urging WeWork to shelve its IPO. [Bloomberg]

FROM THE CITY’S RECORDS:

A 60-unit Transit Oriented Communities project is in the works at 3702 W. Jefferson Street in West Adams. An applicant with the company Branmark Group filed plans for the project on Wednesday. [LADCP]

Developer Daniel Pourbaba is planning a five-story, 21-unit project at 5817 W. Lexington Avenue. Pourbaba runs Proper Development and is the son of David Pourbaba, CEO of 4D Developments and Investments. [LADCP]