Leo Pustilnikov

Founder, Principal, SLH Investments

Leo Pustilnikov has pioneered using the state legal loophole known as the builder’s remedy that allows developers to skirt zoning in cities with uncertified state housing plans, with mixed-use projects in the works in Beverly Hills and Redondo Beach. 

His projects include 125-129 South Linden Drive in Beverly Hills, which would be the tallest building in the city.

The developer purchased a former power plant in Redondo Beach in 2020 for roughly $150 million, after the city had battled for years over its fate, and his redevelopment plan. With over 500 units set aside for low-income tenants, it would also rank among the largest affordable housing developments ever built in California. 

In 2024, he acquired 17 buildings in Downtown Los Angeles from nonprofit Skid Row Housing Trust for $10 million in 2024. The properties comprise single-room occupancy hotels and small apartment complexes. The deal required judicial approval because the trust had financially collapsed into receivership last year. It marked “one of the largest portfolios of homeless housing in Los Angeles,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

While still in high school, Pustilnikov began his real estate journey, using his own savings along with a loan taken out in his parents’ name to purchase a condominium for his grandparents in the family’s North Hollywood building, according to The Real Deal. When his grandparents opted not to move in, he renovated the unit and sold it for a profit, later reinvesting the proceeds into additional properties following the 2008 financial crisis.