New Suit Pits Oppenheim Group Against Paul Daftarian

Getting along can be hard to do in Southern California’s ultra competitive high end.

In the latest example, the Oppenheim Group sued OC luxury agent Paul Daftarian, his brokerage and the sellers involved in a Corona del Mar home sale that’s alleged to have gone south.

The Oppenheim Group, the original exclusive listing agent on 1318 Outrigger Drive, claimed in its Orange County Superior Court lawsuit it is owed money under terms of a listing cancellation agreement. The brokerage further claimed the sellers and Daftarian conspired to hide the home’s eventual closing so as to avoid having to pay anything to the brokerage started by “Selling Sunset” star Jason Oppenheim.

The home, which traded for $5.4 million, is small compared to most deals The Real Deal covers in Southern California.

Perhaps more striking than anything alleged in the lawsuit and a separate one filed about a week before by the buyers involved in the deal, is the fact that one could view the issue as another example of the continued tension between Orange County’s long-standing luxury brokerage community and what some might call the transplants from L.A.

TRD reported on this in the December 2022 issue of the magazine. That was followed up a couple years later in relation to now settled legal brawls within Douglas Elliman’s Newport Beach office in which the differences in culture between the LA brokerage community and OC’s were further underscored.

One veteran in OC’s luxury market called the locals a “close-knit crew.”

“We all know each other and most of us want to cooperate and work together. It’s a better way to conduct yourself,” the agent said at the time of the reporting for that story.

Signs of life

It’s been a bit quiet out there. The year has yet to see a mega residential closing on par with recent years.

Still, the Mandarin Oriental Residences in Beverly Hills managed to carve out a notable deal for itself this past week.

That’s when owner Centurion Real Estate Partners sold a penthouse unit to a Beverly Hills resident for $13.3 million, or $3,852 per square foot. It’s now Los Angeles County’s priciest condo deal so far this year on a per-square-foot basis. The previous record holder had been the sale of a unit at the Residences at WeHo Edition, which traded in January for $3,665 per square foot, or $14 million.

Even with this year’s record, it still doesn’t top last year’s $39.1 million sale of a 39th-floor penthouse at 1 West Century Drive in Century City, which equated to $4,153 per square foot.

Career shift

Luxury home developer Ardie Tavangarian is switching up his focus.

After making a name for himself in the world of ultra-luxe, mega mansions, he’s now diversifying with pre-set designs of fire-resistant homes he’s bringing to the Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Malibu. The floor plans homeowners have to choose from range from 2,500 square feet to 8,000 square as Tavangarian looks to help expedite rebuilding post-Palisades and Eaton fires.

Beyond the state, the developer and Arya Group founder, said he plans to take his homes into other parts of the country prone to natural disasters. That could include Northern California, Texas, Florida and Tennessee to address fires, earthquakes and hurricanes among other concerns.

Cityview-Montage link in Altadena

A joint venture between Cityview and Montage Development, called Genesis Builders, is also looking to make its own mark on the rebuilding effort in Altadena.

Genesis began work on the first of 30 homes it plans to rebuild in Altadena for families who lost their properties from last January’s Eaton Fire. The home is slated for completion by the end of the year.
Much like Tavangarian and other builders that are part of the rebuild, Genesis has 24 different plans for homeowners to choose from that have all been pre-approved by the County in a bid to expedite the permitting process. The cost to rebuild starts at $692,900.