Here’s a dumb idea: Medical office in Mariachi Plaza

Per Curbed, Metro LA is considering building a giant retail / medical office plaza with a ton of parking in Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. Big bureaucracies come up with stupid urban planning ideas all the time, but this one is right up there. Consider: Mariachi Plaza is a beautiful public space, well-served by public … Continue reading “Here’s a dumb idea: Medical office in Mariachi Plaza”

Why rents in Highland Park are rising so quickly

Obviously there is a bunch of controversy around the renovation of apartment buildings in Highland Park (“HLP”) by our company and others. So far, the reporting on this topic has focused on the human aspect without really getting into the root economic / political issues driving gentrification in HLP. To understand why rents are rising fast … Continue reading “Why rents in Highland Park are rising so quickly”

Some thoughts on rents going up in Highland Park

The last few weeks have seen a ton of interest / debate / protest about the rapid gentrification of Highland Park. We have been receiving media inquiries and I thought I’d take the time to share my thoughts here. We have learned a lot, both from our day-to-day business and also the reaction to our agent’s bike … Continue reading “Some thoughts on rents going up in Highland Park”

Why all us smirking hipsters are wrong about the Palmer fire

Have spoken with a ton of people over the past few days who are sort of happy Geoff Palmer’s partially-built apartment building burned down. Obviously being happy about a fire is kind of weird. But no one got hurt (that I know of) and many people loath Palmer’s buildings because they’re ugly and anti-social (in the … Continue reading “Why all us smirking hipsters are wrong about the Palmer fire”

Paying for Garcetti’s earthquake plan

Today, Mayor Garcetti announced the release of a major report on earthquake safety. The report addresses telecommunication, water systems, office buildings and, most importantly from our perspective, apartment buildings. The issue with apartment buildings is pretty simple. The city has roughly 16,000 soft-story apartment buildings. These are buildings whose ground floor structure can give way … Continue reading “Paying for Garcetti’s earthquake plan”