Carolwood Estates Walks Into Clear Cooperation Policy Debate

Carolwood Estates is pooling its more than $1.3 billion in off-market listings into a new platform it hopes will give it a leg up on Los Angeles’ ultra-competitive high end.

The Carolwood Private Portal connects the company’s signed off-market listings with prospective buyers. It also pools current market information to compile market comps and valuations.

The Beverly Hills-based brokerage has now stepped into the heated conversation around the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy and the value of private listings platforms.

For Carolwood, the idea is to take back control of what it views as its own content, or listings, that would otherwise be used to pad the platforms of data aggregators such as Zillow.

“We have market share. Why wouldn’t we capitalize on that market share and create a more efficient system?” said Carolwood managing broker Nick Segal.

Blame game post-LA wildfires

Looks like the Federal Emergency Management Agency fell asleep at the wheel post-wildfires, per a report from the Los Angeles Times.

After a disaster, such as a wildfire, FEMA will typically rent apartments to survivors who need housing assistance under a program called Direct Lease. Federal and state emergency officials instead said the program wasn’t necessary in the case of the L.A. wildfires because they crunched the numbers and determined Los Angeles County has sufficient housing supply.

The conclusion has drawn the ire of some, such as U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat representing Monterey Park, who is pushing for further explanation on the decision.

Meanwhile, anyone looking for answers on who to blame for the city of Los Angeles’ response to the wildfires received an earful from Mayor Karen Bass this week during a panel at the Milken Institute’s annual Global Conference 2025.

Bass had a few names to toss under the bus when the subject of accountability popped up. That list included the LA Department of Water and Power, Los Angeles Fire Department, former LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley and the insurance industry.

Hitting the fast track in Altadena

Los Angeles County is now offering Altadena residents a self-certification program akin to what Mayor Karen Bass revealed during the State of the City last month.

The program would allow for construction plans to be certified by licensed professionals, removing the typical steps in the approval process with the aim of rebuilding the parts of Altadena destroyed by January’s wildfire.

Both the county and city’s self-certification program is being piloted in the burned areas as developers cross their fingers it might be rolled out broadly in the future.

Bel-Air blockbuster

Aussie billionaire James Packer can load up the moving truck after closing his $110 million purchase of 630 Nimes Road in Bel-Air.

It’s a blockbuster deal for Los Angeles’ high end as the broader industry remains cautious on which way business will go this year. Tariff talk and macroeconomic uncertainty are clouding outlooks. Combine that with the continued impact of the wildfires on the marketplace and it’s a dynamic landscape to say the least.

Racketeering allegations brought in Maybourne dispute

Businessman Patrick McKillen wants $20 million in damages after he claimed members of the royal family in Qatar ghosted him when it came time to pay for work completed on the Maybourne Beverly Hills.

McKillen is now reportedly going after Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Sheikha Lulwah, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani and their business associates Michele Faissola and Marc Socker in a lawsuit filed in federal court, according to the Beverly Hills Courier. Among the allegations are racketeering and failure to pay up for work done on the 205-room luxury hotel.

Irvine Co. looks to golf course for housing

Don Bren’s Irvine Co. sees the transformation of a golf course into homes as a good way to help the city of Irvine comply with housing needs.

The proposed Irvine Spectrum District Village would include 1,500 single-family homes and 1,600 apartment units on the Oak Creek Golf Course and neighboring land. A new school to support those residents would also be part of the deal.