New Pointe Nears Completion on Altadena Rebuild

Developers aren’t the only answer to the urgent question of how to fast-track rebuilding after a fire, but they’re one part of the solution, said New Pointe Communities founder and President Scot Sandstrom.

The San Diego-based developer would know after his firm was part of the community rebuilding following the Witch Creek fires in 2007.

“In San Diego, from Witch Creek, there were over 300 homes [burned]. We did 47,” Sandstrom told The Real Deal as he stood outside New Pointe’s nearly completed home at 3245 Arrowhead Court in fire-scarred Altadena. The four-bed, four-bath property is one of 15 single-family homes the company plans to redevelop on spec.

“There are 4,000 homes here that need to be rebuilt,” he said. “We need everybody to be a part of it, not just homeowners rebuilding [or] builders rebuilding. I think it takes everybody.”

Sandstrom, company executives and agents were on hand Thursday at Arrowhead Court for a caravan to show the property.

Arrowhead Court is the first and will be completed in January. It’s already listed for just under $1.9 million, or $890 per square foot. Compass’ Jeff Salcido and Mark Marquez are the listing agents.

The listing hits close to home for Salcido, whose brother and sister-in-law were the previous homeowners. With a baby on the way, rebuilding didn’t make sense and the couple made the decision to sell to New Pointe.

Palisades hits milestone

The Pacific Palisades is showing its own signpost of progress. Rick Caruso was on hand Friday to help mark that milestone at 915 Kagawa Street.

Thomas James Homes executives celebrated the completion of the company’s first rebuild as its CEO James Mead told press he thinks the number of TJH projects in the neighborhood could balloon to 100 next year.

Mead led Caruso on a tour of the four-bed, four-and-a-half-bath showcase home, with a gaggle of reporters, photographers, executives and media handlers at their heels as they walked the 6,500-square-foot property.

Caruso will be back in the area on Saturday when, just a few blocks away from Kagawa Street, his Palisades Village will host its Christmas tree lighting event as he noted the juxtaposition of something seemingly so normal with the surrounding burn scars.

Lori Hyland on the future

By Monday, Hilton & Hyland is expected to be fully back up and running after making the move to 345 North Maple Drive in Beverly Hills.

The legacy brokerage’s move comes just a few weeks after its former landlord, Standard Oil Investment Group, asked a judge to throw out its lawsuit against Hilton & Hyland for unpaid rent. At the time of the May filing, the brokerage owed more than $650,000 with over $65,000 tacked on in late fees, according to court documents.

Hilton & Hyland Chair Lori Hyland waved off any thoughts the move was the result of a dispute with the landlord, calling their relationship “good” and the new address “has absolutely nothing to do with our business.”

On that last point, market chatter had reached a fever pitch earlier this year as agents continued to leave the firm and speculation mounted that a sale was in the works.

Hyland — whose husband was the late Jeff Hyland, co-founder of Hilton & Hyland with Rick Hilton — said the brokerage was never up for sale and she’s not looking to strike a deal in the future either.

“You know… we live in a very, tight community,” Hyland said. “I’ve lived in Beverly Hills all my life. I went to grammar school here. I know it very well. Everybody has something to say and it’s not necessarily true.”

What comes after reality?

A lot, if you’re Josh Flagg.

The Compass agent is running his family’s commercial real estate business, Flagg Family Capital, which has deep roots in Los Angeles commercial real estate and history.

Flagg seems to be all over the place simultaneously, investing in consumer businesses, such as a Pop’s Bagels; co-founding real estate media firm Estate Media; and, of course, serving clients with his residential real estate business.

If you missed the story in TRD’s December issue, click here for a look at Flagg beyond the small screen.