Lucy and the boys and I spent the weekend in SF with one of my best friends and his family. Because I’m me, I spent a bunch of that time looking at buildings. As I was admiring the tall, thin, ornate homes (which must date to the 1890s-1920s), I had a startling realization: Those properties … Continue reading “A curious difference between LA and SF”
Category: Development
2514 London is sold
Just sold the second of our Fund 1 deals: 2514 London St., a fourplex just south of the 101 in Westlake / HiFi This one was pretty good, though not nearly as good as our 1947 Clinton deal. The numbers: In for around $850k Took in cash of approx. $20k during ownership Sold for $1,150,000 … Continue reading “2514 London is sold”
It’s happening again…
Just took the whole team over to one of our projects to take a look at progress and opine on the finishes. We’re getting close… have a look: We’re going to have four beautiful 2 bed / 1 bath bungalows with private yards, parking, finished studio/storage spaces, etc. Should be ready to rent by sometime … Continue reading “It’s happening again…”
Revitalizing urban areas
Fred Wilson, one of the most successful venture capitalists on the planet, recently wrote a blog post regarding efforts to revitalize urban areas. Thought it might be fun to take a look at his argument and see how it matches up with the situation on the ground here in LA. The money lines: “I’ve been … Continue reading “Revitalizing urban areas”
Housing for the poor
Yesterday’s NY Times Magazine had a really interesting piece on investors who buy and fix up mobile home parks. In a somewhat surprising twist, the reporter seemed genuinely to respect the investors who are, after all, providing pretty decent accommodation to people at absolutely the lowest possible rung of the housing ladder. For investors, I … Continue reading “Housing for the poor”
Another way brokers screw up
Wasted a ton of time this weekend due to broker error. This genius, who will remain nameless, listed his property for sale on the relevant listing databases. The property is odd, but it has a ton of potential if you change its use. We spent a bunch of time running numbers and dreaming up a … Continue reading “Another way brokers screw up”
More on the ‘burbs
Regular readers know I’m not exactly a big fan of the suburbs. My chief complaint is that the lack of density pretty much guarantees that municipalities will not be able to fund upkeep of the infrastructure, because there are too few people / businesses per mile of road / sewer pipe / water pipe / … Continue reading “More on the ‘burbs”
The negative consequences of limiting property taxes
The NY Times has an interesting piece today on cities trying to help long-time homeowners whose property taxes are going up as a result of gentrification. Here’s the money quote: “The initiatives, planned or underway in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh and other cities, are centered on reducing or freezing property taxes for such homeowners in … Continue reading “The negative consequences of limiting property taxes”
How to screw up a huge development project
Word comes today from the Eastsider that the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council has just approved the Sunset Gateway project on the eastern edge of Echo Park. Regular readers know that I’m a big fan of dense, in-fill development. And the part of Sunset on which this project is sited is particularly grim and in need … Continue reading “How to screw up a huge development project”
Getting close on Bellevue
We’re getting closer and closer to finishing the 4plex at 3210 Bellevue that we bought last July. It’s an interesting deal, in that we got smaller units than we did at, for example, 1012 N. Virgil, (825 sq ft instead of 950), but a lot of land (10k+ sq ft). I like these little bungalow … Continue reading “Getting close on Bellevue”