I spend a lot of my time kind of aimlessly drifting. It’s pretty weird that I do this; I think most business people are much more focused than I am on a day-to-day basis. What I do is read a whole bunch of stuff and talk to people. I’m not necessarily specifically looking for an … Continue reading “The gestation of an idea”
Category: Development
The problems with retail
I have spent years thinking about trying to apply our design sensibility to the retail asset class. After all, we’re very good at maximizing the value of small spaces. It ought to be possible to do this with stores, too. So, why haven’t we jumped in? Two reasons: 1. The macro-trend towards online shopping. My family buys … Continue reading “The problems with retail”
The kind of regulation that drives me crazy
Hat tip to Adrian over at Curbed for noticing a new, irritating piece of regulation from LA’s city council. Here’s the regulation, in a nut-shell: “The LA City Council … preliminarily pass[ed] an ordinance that will make it illegal to covertly demolish buildings more than 45 years old… The ordinance requires property owners to notify neighbors and their … Continue reading “The kind of regulation that drives me crazy”
Ballpark returns
Had an interesting conversation today with a guy looking at building condos / small lot. One of the questions he had was what kind of returns a developer can expect. I’m far from an expert on ground up, but I’ve run the numbers on a lot of projects. Right now, here’s where I think you … Continue reading “Ballpark returns”
Apologies for the lack of posts
Didn’t write Friday or Monday because I’ve been slammed. We were finishing up diligence on the first deal for Adaptive Realty Fund 3, our latest investment vehicle. Late last night, we removed contingencies, with closing to come early next week. On top of that, my very capable assistant has been out sick, so I’m doing … Continue reading “Apologies for the lack of posts”
See awesome construction pics
Adaptive finally has an Instagram account with tons of pics of our ongoing renovation projects. The tech-savvy among you can follow @adaptiverealty for on-going updates. The less tech-savvy (including, for example, me), can check out the pics here: instagram.com/adaptiverealty Going forward, we’re going to document all of our on-going projects (and there are a ton!) … Continue reading “See awesome construction pics”
Beware of setbacks!
Apologies, in advance, for a fairly technical piece, but this is very important information for anyone doing remodeling in LA. If you’re rehabbing a property, you need to be extremely careful about touching anything located in any setbacks. What do I mean by setbacks? They are the parts of any lot in which the city … Continue reading “Beware of setbacks!”
Some stats on our business
Jon and I are hiring a photographer to go back and document all of the buildings we’ve renovated. She asked for a list, so I went back through my records to produce one. Thought you would be interested in the results of my research: Completed gut-renovations on 25 buildings totaling 156 units Renovations in progress … Continue reading “Some stats on our business”
My thoughts on the anti-gentrification march on York this weekend
So this weekend a bunch of residents held an anti-gentrification march on York Blvd. in Highland Park. Here’s a description from the Eastsider: “A group of anti-gentrification protestors – some of them masked and waving banners – paraded down the sidewalks of York Boulevard tonight, taping “Eviction Notices” on new businesses…” Neither I nor anyone in … Continue reading “My thoughts on the anti-gentrification march on York this weekend”
Are there any good deals out there?
Well, I’ve written 4-5 offers this week. And I just stumbled across a deal that’s going to end up being somewhere between an 8.5-9.5% unlevered yield (eg cap). Of course, these things aren’t just falling off trees. You need some combination of superior local knowledge, skill / experience, and sufficient capital. Inventory is definitely tight, … Continue reading “Are there any good deals out there?”