This weekend: A flurry of condo and townhome auctions

Still sorting out your weekend plans? Maybe it’s time to snap up that discounted downtown loft.

Beverly Hills-based auction company Kennedy Wilson is closing out 55 units in the Market Lofts building with a session Saturday. The auction is part of a trend playing out across the region as fancy edifices put up during the boom years are now sitting vacant.

From The Times’ May 18 story on the subject:

Across Southern California, projects conceived during the housing boom, but completed after the bust, are sitting largely vacant. Developers are desperate to unload these units, but they face some particular challenges. Banks often won't provide mortgages to buyers in buildings that are less than 50% occupied, reducing the pool of eligible purchasers. Converting the projects to rentals means even steeper losses because the cash flow often won't cover a developer's construction costs.

The one- and two-bedroom lofts on sale this weekend are on West 9th Street and South Flower Street and are built in typical Brooklyn style with exposed, 9-foot ceilings. The lofts are constructed above a series of retail shops including Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cold Stone Creamery and Quiznos Subs and a Ralphs grocery store.

Other amenities include a furnished lobby with three elevators, a landscaped deck, a swimming pool, a spa, a 20-seat screening room and a fitness center. Starting bids will run from $140,000 to $295,000 for properties previously priced from $438,500 to $888,761.

Check out the full details here. Those who want to register can still do so.

If downtown isn't your style, then 14 luxury townhomes are also on the block this Sunday at Hansen Villas in Pacoima. The auction will be at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys. More information is here.

And speaking of condominiums, the Evo condominium building threw itself a party Thursday night for residents on its sixth-floor pool terrace. The developers were celebrating their 200th condo sold. The 24-story tower is at West 12th Street and Grand Avenue downtown.

-- Alejandro Lazo

Photo: The Market Lofts in downtown L.A. Credit: Kennedy Wilson

Owner of downtown L.A.'s Marriott Hotel files bankruptcy

L.A. Hotel Venture filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today in an effort to stave off creditors, access cash and to keep its Marriott Hotel in downtown Los Angeles open for business.

 

The filing lists about $500 million of debt and about $100 million in assets for the company owned by businessman Ezri Namvar.

 

But today's filing isn't the only bankruptcy efforts Namvar is facing.

 

Court records show Namvar declared bankruptcy for his investment company, Namco Capital Group, in January and for himself in March as a result of petitions filed against him and his company in December by investors who say they are owed more than $400 million.

 

The 469-room Marriott Hotel at Figueroa and 3rd streets was purchased by Namco in 2007. Namvar didn't say how much Namco paid for the 14-story hotel at the time, but real estate experts valued the sale at about $115 million.

 

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Finally, a late night DASH for downtown (for now)

Among the dumber policies implemented by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation is one that requires that all DASH bus routes pay for themselves. That's why some routes have closed in recent years and others (like the one in my Studio City neighborhood) stop running at 5:30 p.m., far too early to make it a realistic link for people who need to get back and forth from public transportation hubs (and thus get out of their cars). But thanks to local merchants, who chipped in to pay for an extension of some of the routes, people who live downtown will be able to use the DASH until 3 a.m. on weekends during the holiday season, starting this Friday. Only catch: After Dec. 27 it all goes back to normal.

-- Sharon Bernstein

Photo of the day: The hole downtown

The site of a proposed federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, and one of the slowest-moving construction projects in the city. Also one of the larger man-made holes you'll see in L.A.

For the better part of a decade, it was the site of a vacant state office building. The federal government began plans for a new courthouse there in 2000, and owns and maintains the site, but has not set a date to begin construction. Gene Gibson, a spokeswoman for U.S.General Services Administration, told L.A. Land the GSA anticipates the project will proceed in fiscal year 2010.

-- Peter Viles
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo credit: L.A. Land

Stall: 3 big L.A.-area projects in trouble (Updated)

This has not been a good week for big real estate development projects. Three very big ones have failed, stalled or sputtered. Two words come to mind: credit crunch.

In Pasadena, from the Star-News: "The Ambassador West project [site pictured], one of the largest and most prestigious in the city's history, has been foreclosed on and the property is back on the market for the fourth time in a decade. 'We no longer own any of the property,' Howard Weinberg, a part-owner of Ambassador West, said Monday. 'A foreclosure sale has occurred.' " The L.A. Times matches the story here.

There's also the bankruptcy filing Sunday of CalPERS-backed LandSource, which was developing 15,000 acres north of Los Angeles. When big entities like LandSource file for bankruptcy, they still have enough money for lawyers and public relations executives, and they publish press releases that make it sound like bankruptcy is nothing special or unexpected, just another challenging chapter in the life of a business. This is not true. Nobody expects bankruptcy to happen. Do you really think honest, hardworking local businesses that did work for LandSource thought they would have to fight in court to get paid for work they've already done?  You can follow the bankruptcy at this site.

Lastly, government leaders in Los Angeles are threatening -- threatening -- to play hardball with the cash-strapped developers of the Grand Avenue project: "The government board overseeing the $3-billion Grand Avenue project on Monday unexpectedly rejected the developer's request for an eight-month delay to begin construction on the development across from the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  While both sides said they remain optimistic that the sprawling downtown Los Angeles development is on track, the vote is the strongest sign yet that government officials are growing concerned over repeated delays and hope to keep a tight rein on the developer they handpicked for the project almost four years ago."

Update: Barbara Casey, a public relations consultant to Related California, e-mailed this afternoon with these thoughts: "The Grand Avenue project is not in foreclosure or bankruptcy and neither is its developer, Related Companies. It is completely unfair to include it in your litany of bad news. In fact, Related is not cash strapped at all, having received a $1.4-billion investment from Goldman Sachs, Michael Dell, and sovereign funds of Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia at year end 2007. The JPA did not threaten in any way to take the project away and did not reject Related’s request to move the construction start to February 2009 but deferred a decision on this until its next meeting July 28 in order to gather more information. Nothing was indicated that the JPA would not approve the extension to February 15, 2009. I refer you to the Downtown News and Daily News for more accurate accounts of what occurred at yesterday’s meeting."

Those of you who want to take Casey's advice and compare and contrast the two news accounts of Grand Avenue, here they are:
L.A. Times: "Developer's request to delay L.A.'s Grand Avenue project is rejected"
L.A. Daily News: "Grand Developer gets extension"
I would happily include a link to the Downtown News story but can't for the life of me find the article on their website.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

Grand Avenue project delayed -- again

The off-again, off-again ground-breaking for the big Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles has been delayed again. Now delayed until early 2009, if construction financing can be arranged. That is a big "if."

From LATimes.com: "The developer of the massive Grand Avenue project said Monday that completion of the $3-billion redevelopment effort will be delayed until 2012 because of difficulty in obtaining construction loans amid the real estate downturn. ... Bill Witte, head of Related California, said he now believes that construction will begin in the first quarter of 2009 and emphasized that the project is not in jeopardy."

From LA Downtown News: "Initially, Related intended to begin construction on the project in October 2007, but the schedule has been pushed back multiple times." The delay is a new lease on life for a previously doomed parking garage that was closed and scheduled to be demolished last month, but is now likely to reopen, LA Downtown News reports.

Thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.

Another look at downtown L.A.

Backstory: About five weeks ago the L.A. Times ran a controversial piece about downtown real estate, pointing out "signs that downtown's residential boom is slowing, if not stalling out altogether." I say controversial because the story unleashed a flood of comments on this blog, many of them from defenders of life downtown who were angry about the article  (That was the thread in which I was accused of having a  "Westside white-bread classist attitude").

Now the new part: Today's paper takes another look, a friendlier look, at life downtown, this time focusing on the industrial district and its "intoxicatingly youthful vibe."

"Here, away from the bustling sidewalks and skyscrapers of the city center, narrow, quiet tree-lined streets intersected by old rail lines have become magnets for urban residents looking for a different downtown experience. ... Birds chirp over the low rumbling of trucks. Residents say the area reminds them of New York's TriBeCa or Chelsea districts when they were just becoming residential hot spots."

I'm anxious to hear your comments on this one, but first just one piece of newspaper spin on publishing two seemingly contradictory stories about downtown: they're both valid views of what's happening. Yes, the residential boom appears to be slowing down. And yes, there is also a growing community of people who enjoy living downtown.

There, my spin. Your thoughts? Comments? Email story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com. FYI: Long weekend ahead. No new blog posts until late Monday.  Comments will post, eventually.

A new downtown L.A., sponsored by ... Dubai

What happens when you combine a collapsing dollar, America's addiction to oil, a slumping commercial real estate market, tight credit markets, and hopes for revitalization of downtown Los Angeles?

You get a situation where the royal family of Dubai plays a major role in shaping the future of Los Angeles.

News item: "Armed with $100 million from Dubai and a refined design plan, officials Monday said construction will finally begin next month on the Frank Gehry-designed residential and shopping plaza along Grand Avenue that is considered a linchpin to downtown L.A.'s revitalization."

More, from the L.A. Times: "The announcement comes after months of delays and questions about the viability of such a massive development in the midst of L.A.'s real estate slump. But those doubts were eased significantly Monday when the government agency overseeing the redevelopment approved the investment of Istithmar, a fund controlled by the royal family of Dubai."

OK, the floor is open. Add comments and observations, or e-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: Related Cos./Gehry Partners via L.A. Times.

Who says Downtown L.A. is no fun?

The world is falling apart, banks are collapsing, the government is bailing them out, and our real estate market is "crippled." Which means it's time for a harmless Friday diversion. Rock 'N Roll chicks in bikinis. On the sidewalk. With fireworks.

What's the point? A large number of you wrote in defense of downtown L.A.,and the blogger palewire let me know there really is fun street life downtown. Here's what happened the other night: "So I’m out on a casual stroll in downtown LA the other night, and what do I bump into? If you guessed an illegal rock show put on by a group of chicks armed with fireworks and dressed in bikinis, you guessed right."

See the same band in a previous street concert here, on YouTube.

My two cents: If Manhattan had street life like this, Eliot Spitzer would still be governor.

The band is Josh Taylor's Friends Forever.
Hat tip and photo credit: Palewire.
Now, let loose with your comments, and enjoy the diversion, because it's back to gloom and doom after this.

Downtown blues: Rough edges, falling prices

Downtown L.A. residential real estate is suffering more than the city as a whole, the L.A. Times reports tonight in a story that questions whether the much-heralded revival of the city center is really happening:

"Prices of condominiums, which dominate the downtown market, have fallen more sharply here than in Los Angeles and Orange counties overall, according to DataQuick Information Systems. More than one-third of the residential projects approved by city officials have been sidelined."

Telling anecdote: Developer James Osterling is working on a residential project in Chinatown, but isn't interested in living there: "Though he calls himself 'a huge believer in the renaissance in downtown Los Angeles,' he likes his Altadena house just fine.  If he did downsize, 'I'd probably get a condo in Pasadena,' he said. 'It has the theater, restaurants and culture without the rough edges of downtown.'

Rough edges.

Random personal observation: I've been working downtown for 3 1/2 months now, and the thing that strikes me is the lack of shopping. It's pretty much a retail dead zone. Just before Christmas I was trying to sneak in some lunch-hour Christmas shopping, and after a couple of attempts came to the conclusion it couldn't be done downtown, which surprised me. I don't know of another big American city where that's true.

Thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: L.A. Times.