Category: City government

One of the iron-clad rules I learned while doing the Better Dwellings portfolio is about to be turned on its head by the city council. Here’s the rule: Never buy a building with a non-conforming unit. I learned that rule the hard way at 2117 Clinton St., where we got whacked on a SCEP inspection. … Continue reading “If you’re going to allow units without parking, allow lots of them!”

Yesterday, Curbed had an article about the proposed DTLA people-mover, which is apparently going to travel about the speed of a walking human. I’ve been a supporter of the project for a while, because I love Broadway and want it to continue to improve. But I’ve changed my mind, and here’s why: Two days ago, … Continue reading “Against the Broadway people-mover”

Last night, I walked over to the Last Bookstore, bought an interesting old novel for $6, walked home and read it. What does this have to do with real estate? Everything. Regular readers know I’m constantly banging on about density. I can’t stand the way city planning works in LA and I’m up on my … Continue reading “Why I love density (it’s not what you think)”

Am a little late to the party on the California Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow so-called inclusionary zoning, but think it’s important to comment on what I regard as a total travesty. First, some background: Five years ago, the City of San Jose passed a law requiring that 15% of units in new buildings of 20 … Continue reading “The CA Supreme Court just screwed up”

Bisnow has an interesting piece on the state of the art in microunits. For those who don’t know, “microunit” is the name given to super-small studios being developed in expensive coastal cities. The idea is to create a self-contained 220-350 sq ft apartment which, in theory, ought to be affordable for younger tenants who care … Continue reading “Some more thoughts about microunits”

Fund 3 investors know we’re in the process of adding a second story with two units to a duplex we bought a few months ago. This is a pretty straight-forward operation: There is plenty of room on the lot and the zoning allows for more than two additional units. This should be the kind of project … Continue reading “Another report from the front line of the zoning wars”

Today we learned that the mayor over-ruled his own planning commissioners to approve a high-rise building in K-Town. Here’s the money-quote from the LA Times explaining the opposition to the project: “Such a huge project would be ‘wildly inappropriate’ for the location, said Commissioner Maria Cabildo, an affordable housing developer. “I’m probably one of the biggest advocates … Continue reading “Score one for density”

Just got done reading this piece in Pando, which is basically Sarah Lacy complaining about Lyft’s new Lyft Line service, which is basically paid car pooling (eg the software lets you split the cost of a car service with some strangers, thereby reducing the cost). Buried in the piece is an extraordinary insight from Lacy: That … Continue reading “The evolution of ride-sharing”