Case Study 2.0 Launches to Help Fast-Track Fire Rebuild

An old idea just got a new life as architects and builders think about how to best — and quickly — rebuild Altadena, Pacific Palisades and Malibu after January’s wildfires.

Los Angeles land use firm Crest Real Estate assembled over 40 architects for a reboot of the post-World War II Case Study program, which they’ve named Case Study 2.0.

In brief, homeowners can choose from a catalog of designs created for many standard lot sizes in Altadena and the Palisades, trimming the time spent on design planning. Where the program really has legs is when multiple homeowners use the same design. Once the first plan goes through the city approval process, all others are expected to go straight through at a faster clip. The same expedited process is also applicable in the construction of these homes. Once one home is built, construction crews will already have the muscle memory from the first.

“Immediately after the fires, Jason and I were talking almost daily about what we could do to help with this rebuilding effort,” said Crest CEO Steven Somers, who co-founded the company with his brother and president Jason Somers. “We’re both third generation Angelenos, We both grew up in the city. We both went to UCLA. Our uncle lost his home in the Palisades, and so we care very, very deeply about this city and these communities.”

The program officially launched to the public Thursday.

Blue-ribbon plan

On a related note, an independent commission is calling for the creation of a new authority that would oversee fire rebuilding countywide.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire-Safe Recovery offered the idea of establishing the Resilient Rebuilding Authority earlier this month to provide the oversight needed to get Altadena and Pacific Palisades rebuilt. Part of the suggested plan would be to have the authority step in to buy lots from property owners and then work with developers to coordinate the large-scale rebuilding. The idea is to stem the possible tide of speculative developers scooping up lots, rebuilding and then relisting the properties at unaffordable prices.

“Left to business as usual, you will see this being driven by land speculation,” Cecilia Estolano, a commission member and former chief executive of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, told the Los Angeles Times.

Rick Caruso on regs, DTLA

Developer Rick Caruso told a room of real estate executives he’d like to “unbundle the place” from regulations if he were governor.

The question has been posed many times over whether he wants to run for office, and he confirmed during his keynote at the Connect Los Angeles conference about a week ago that he’s looking into a path to mayor or governor. So when someone from the crowd asked what he’d focus on if he oversaw the state as governor, the response in a word was regulations — “attacking” them, that is.

“All of us feel in the state we’re over regulated. We’re overly taxed and we don’t have, which I think is critically important in the state and the city, we don’t have affordable housing,” Caruso said. “And when I say affordable housing, I mean affordable housing at every entry point.”

One suggestion on housing that Caruso offered is for the government, at any level, to step in and buy Downtown L.A.’s Oceanwide Plaza, which sits covered in graffiti in an image that went viral last year.

Big score on the Eastside

Last week a Silver Lake residential deal made waves by surpassing the neighborhood’s previous historical high after 1844 Silverwood Terrace closed for $10 million.

Carolwood Estates’ Jonathan Mogharrabi and Marci Kays were the listing agents, while Redfin’s Laura Reckmeyer represented the buyer.

Silverwood Terrace beat the $8.6 million sale of 2138 Micheltorena Street set in 2014, which was the neighborhood’s previous high and shatters the closings of more recent deals that have sat around the $5 million to $6 million mark.

So are Eastside prices on the up? Maybe. As any good agent will say, it all depends on the property.

CIM sells studio campus for $230M

CIM sold The Lot at Formosa for $229.8 million to a Delaware-registered shell company it controls.

A spokesperson for the investor and developer told The Real Deal the trade was a “recapitalization” that received the greenlight from an “independent committee” at the firm.

CIM scored a $155 million loan from Blue Sky Servicing, which shares an address with CIM, for the deal on the 11-acre West Hollywood property comprising seven sound stages and offices.

Miramax inked a deal announced in January to move its headquarters from Century City to 16,000 square feet at the Lot.

Other tenants there include Dotdash Meredith, Live Nation and Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat.

From Tinder to real estate

Justin Mateen, co-founder of Tinder, just made another go at Los Angeles real estate.

He paid $69 million for the Hollywood Galaxy shopping center and neighboring Petersen Building.

“While others are pulling back from cities like L.A., we’re doubling down. Its resurgence feels inevitable,” Mateen told the Los Angeles Times, referring to himself as a “contrarian investor” by way of the JAM Fund he started.

The deal is the latest for Mateen as he and his brother Tyler Mateen look to capitalize on a market many investors feel lukewarm on.

Last July the Mateens paid $211 million for Wilshire Rodeo Plaza in Beverly Hills. The 300,000-square-foot office and retail property was sold by Nuveen and expanded their holdings into the tony Golden Triangle. The property sits at the corner of Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard.

Hotel owners look for exit amid LA minimum wage hike

If only Pebblebrook Hotel Trust CEO Jon Bortz could find a buyer for his properties.

“We would love to sell [our L.A. hotels],” Bortz told The Wall Street Journal. “But nobody will buy them.”

Investors have been giving hotels the cold shoulder after the Los Angeles City Council approved a plan to hike the minimum wage eventually to $30 an hour. The new ordinance for workers at hotels of at least 60 rooms will be phased in over several years, first rising to $22.50 with incremental increases until $30 is reached in July 2028.

The ordinance has even stalled hotel renovations, with Mark Beccaria telling TRD in May that his plan to invest $10 million into his boutique property has been tabled.

“You’re going to have a lot of hotels in Los Angeles that will become run down,” Beccaria told WSJ.

That places the city and broader region in a potentially precarious situation as the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles nears.