I generally avoid politics here, because it’s bad for business. You never want to offend potential clients, investors, etc. with your idiosyncratic views. That said, I’m going to take a moment of your precious time today to complain about the state of affairs in Washington. No, I’m not going to place blame. I (obviously) have … Continue reading “Please stop f***ing around with the economy”
Author: Moses Kagan
Echo Park gang injunction approved!
Hat tip to The Eastsider for delivering this welcome bit of news. Regular readers know that the injunction has been a pretty controversial topic in the neighborhood. A small but vocal minority contends that the injunction is some kind of tool of gentrification and/or racially-motivated oppression. Everyone else would just prefer that the local yobs … Continue reading “Echo Park gang injunction approved!”
What you do when land gets scarce / valuable
One of the things we do to most of our buildings is privatize outdoor space. We do this because, as property prices and rents increase, you can’t afford to have land sitting around not generating rent. Apparently, Singapore is in kind of the same situation: they’re running out of land to develop, so they need … Continue reading “What you do when land gets scarce / valuable”
Some thoughts on gentrification
Hat tip to my friend John McGill, an architect, for sharing this article about gentrification in Bushwick on Facebook. There’s also this response, from a long-time Bushwick resident. Regular readers know that I’m pretty heavily involved in buying and fixing up screwed-up buildings in improving neighborhoods. So, I’m not exactly an impartial observer of this discussion. … Continue reading “Some thoughts on gentrification”
Those who forget history…
Today the JOBS Act went live, allowing for public solicitation for unregistered securities. Here’s a summary from the NY Times. In case you’re too lazy to click: Companies can now raise up to $1MM for unregistered securities They can also advertise the offerings publicly (on TV, radio, blogs, etc.) For now, investment is limited to … Continue reading “Those who forget history…”
Why I love Mid City
Let’s be clear about what I mean by Mid-City: Everything north of the 10, east of La Cienega, south of Wilshire, and west of Western. Why do I love it? Because: 1. It’s central: The area I just described is roughly 10-15 minutes by car from all of the jobs on the Westside (in Beverly Hills, … Continue reading “Why I love Mid City”
What’s the new neighborhood?
I’m not telling. Last time I had a good idea regarding location, I opened my big fat mouth trying to look cool at some industry functions. My guess is that I created 3-4 competitors for myself just by doing that. So, now, when people ask me which areas I like, I play it a little … Continue reading “What’s the new neighborhood?”
Attack of the dancing robots
If you live in LA, you’re used to seeing people dancing on street corners holding signs for businesses. Do you know why this exists? Ordinarily, there are pretty severe restrictions on business signage, particularly signage on public right-of-ways like streets and sidewalks. But, the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees people the right to free … Continue reading “Attack of the dancing robots”
Adaptive Realty, Inc. coming along quite nicely
Regular readers know that Adaptive does a bunch of different things. We run investment funds, do fee-for-service development, manage property, and broker deals. When we started Adaptive, the “brokering deals” part was just me. Now, we have a well-trained team of agents who are helping investors and owner-users do sensible apartment deals in the gentrifying … Continue reading “Adaptive Realty, Inc. coming along quite nicely”
Secretly, the most annoying part of my job
Because we handle investor money, we need to be super-careful about how we move funds around. After all, screwing around with investor money is career-ending for Jon and me. Therefore, I personally approve every single transfer of funds out of our accounts, which are all with Chase. At a big company, this is the kind of … Continue reading “Secretly, the most annoying part of my job”