It goes without saying, but pictures or social media posts aren’t always worth 1,000 words.
That rang particularly true this past week on a ride through parts of the Palisades with local brokerage owner Anthony Marguleas, founder of Amalfi Estates.
The takeaway: Anyone peddling only photos of uncleared, burned lots is selling a dated sense of reality. Construction is now the story for the Palisades as more and more builders enter the scene.
“There’s so much misinformation,” Marguleas told The Real Deal (find more from that conversation in our upcoming October issue of the magazine). “There are a couple people online that are so politically charged, and I’m not going to talk about the whole political conversation, but there’s a couple individuals who are so anti-Mayor [Karen] Bass and so anti-[Gov. Gavin] Newsom and so conspiracy theorist. All I care about is our town being rebuilt.”
He ticked off several items to dispute, but at the top of the list was the subject of permitting.
Critics of Bass have long accused the city of a sluggish rebuild. Part of that may have been fueled in the early days beginning with the lack of clarity around a contract awarded to the Chicago outfit Hagerty Consulting in February for as much as $10 million. Questions around that still stand.
However, in the community’s Alphabet Streets alone, an increasing number of lots now bear frames of homes or are wrapped with the names of builders who are working.
As of Friday morning, there were 569 permits issued by the city of Los Angeles for 336 addresses, according to the Department of Building and Safety online dashboard. Another 720 plans have been approved with 769 in review.
For Marguleas, more of that information should be the norm rather than the noise of those shooting from the hip.
“I love data. Everything I have is backed up with data,” Marguleas said. “A lot of agents are just kind of willy-nilly with it, but everything I have is data.”
Samara’s rebuild work
Not a lot has been revealed on the progress of Steadfast LA and Airbnb spinoff Samara’s planned donations to survivors of January’s Palisades and Eaton fires since the February announcement of their partnership.
It took some time for homeowners to make decisions about whether they would stay or leave, for starters, Samara co-founder and CEO Mike McNamara told TRD on Thursday. There have also been the more pragmatic realities, such as determining whether one of Samara’s factory-made accessory dwelling units are the right fit for a lot.
The first home recipients, residing in Pasadena and Altadena, have been selected, and Samara’s now moving forward on permitting, the CEO said.
Samara closed $34 million in Series B funding led by Thrive Capital, which McNamara said is “growth capital” as the firm faces demand from wildfire survivors, multi-generational households and multifamily property owners.
Big deal
Some might cheer Friday afternoon’s $44 million closing of a Brentwood estate as being yet another market bright spot following the January fires.
The deal on the home at 11740 Crescenda Street, which was named “Ocho Manos” by its former owners, sold to a mystery buyer represented by the Beverly Hills Estates’ Michael Fahimian and Jack Harris.
The sellers, financier and Milwaukee Brewers minority owner Robert Beyer and his wife Catherine Beyer, had the 20,000-square-foot home custom built and reportedly sought $75 million for it in 2023. It was most recently listed for $54.9 million.
Carolwood Estates co-founder and CEO Drew Fenton, along with Andrew Beyer, were the listing agents.
The closing makes Ocho Manos Brentwood’s most-expensive sale since the off-market trade of 13058 Rivers Road in Brentwood. That property sold for $56.6 million in December 2021. Fenton was also the listing agent there, along with Compass’ David Kramer. Tracy Tutor, now of Compass, represented the buyer.
$110M hits peak popularity
If Bel-Air and Holmby Hills can do it, why not Malibu? The “it” in this would be closing on a $110 million home sale this year.
Spelling Manor at 594 South Mapleton Drive in Holmby Hills and 630 Nimes Road in Bel-Air are tied for this year’s priciest residential sales in Los Angeles County, with both estates going for $110 million.
Now, the owners of 6962 Wildlife Road in Malibu are testing the price point in the seaside community, with the over 7,000-square-foot residence entering the market on Friday. The asking price is $15,530 per square foot.
The property — at one time owned by the king of late night, Johnny Carson — is reportedly being sold by August Tigrett, whose father Isaac Tigrett founded Hard Rock Cafe and House of Blues, and her husband Riaz Valani, the first investor in electronic cigarette maker Juul.
If sold, the home would be a big headline for Malibu after the $80 million sale of 28719 Grayfox Street, which was recorded by the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office in late July.
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