Check out this article about the controversy surrounding the opening of a restaurant called Great Balls on Tires which intends to upon at the New Genesis apartments, a mixed-use project with both indigent and moderate-income residents, along with retail space, on Skid Row. As you might expect, a bunch of advocates for Skid Row residents … Continue reading “Skid Row liquor license controversy”
Category: Development
1947 Clinton St is sold
Apologies for the long gap in posts. As you will see in a moment, it’s been a busy run-up to the holidays for us here at Adaptive. On Friday, we closed on the sale of 1947 Clinton St., the fourplex we bought in October of 2012, renovated, and put on the market right at the … Continue reading “1947 Clinton St is sold”
How to solve the housing affordability crisis
Per the NY Times today, there is an acute shortage of affordable rentals all over the country and primarily in cities where the economy is doing well. The reporter spends a bunch of time detailing how terrible the situation is, and very little time talking about solutions, except to point out that the government could … Continue reading “How to solve the housing affordability crisis”
What could possibly go wrong?
Per Adrian at Curbed, the City Council just voted to allow homeowners to paint murals on their houses in Echo Park and some of the surrounding areas. If you think this is going to end well, check out the handiwork of one aspiring artist in the area, thoughtfully painted on the front fence one of … Continue reading “What could possibly go wrong?”
Reconsidering the front set-back
One of the more annoying aspects of LA zoning is the requirement for large front setbacks in almost all neighborhoods. What’s a “front setback”? Simple: It’s a front yard. In your standard R1 zone, which is the zoning for most single family homes in the city, the required front yard is 20% of the depth … Continue reading “Reconsidering the front set-back”
2514 London is in lease up
We’ve just completed construction on another fourplex for Adaptive Realty Fund 1. This one is on London St, just south of the 101. It’s kind of an experiment for us, since we’ve never done a project there before. But the units came out great, and we’re pretty confident we’re going to get our rents. If … Continue reading “2514 London is in lease up”
The DWP Tax
No, this isn’t a piece about taxes on our utility bills. Or, at least, not explicit taxes. Instead, I’m writing today about the implicit tax imposed on LA property owners by DWP’s horrific customer service. First, some context: When you buy and renovate an apartment building, you need to: Switch the master utilities into your name … Continue reading “The DWP Tax”
653-659 Silver Lake… leased.
We just signed the last lease on a 13 unit project on Silver Lake Blvd. Total time to lease up all of the units was 18 days, start to finish. Rents ended up averaging around 10% more than what we expected when we started the project last Christmas. Hat tip to Jon for his designs … Continue reading “653-659 Silver Lake… leased.”
Full contact renovation
I’m always surprised, when I speak with other so-called “value add” players, how limited their definition of “value-add” is. There are loads of firms out there running around buying buildings with plans to slap on a coat of paint, re-carpet the hallways, switch out the appliances, and raise rents a little bit. We are not … Continue reading “Full contact renovation”
Love that dirty water?
If you spend a lot of time in crappy parts of LA (like I do), you have probably noticed an odd kind of retail establishment popping up in low-end strip malls: Water stores. Here’s how these businesses work: They have a normal connection to the city water system They install a fairly expensive charcoal filtering … Continue reading “Love that dirty water?”