Malibu picks sewers over smell

 

The Malibu septic-tank-versus-sewers issue has finally been settled after years of debate, according to "Septic tanks on their way out in Malibu" at latimes.com. The timeline:

New septic systems will not be permitted in Malibu, and owners of existing systems will have to halt wastewater discharges within a decade.

What it'll cost homeowners:

Residents in affected areas would be required to pay about $500 a month to cover the cost of hooking into a central sewage system, according to the city's projections. And businesses would face payments of up to $20,000 a month.

Wow. $500 a month? Some historical perspective:

In many ways, the septic tanks played a large role in Malibu becoming a city. It incorporated and formed its own government in 1991 to stave off Los Angeles County's efforts to install a sewer system in the area. Residents at the time feared sewers would unleash a wave of development that would turn Malibu into Miami Beach West.

In Malibu, septic tanks, leach pits and the ubiquitous stench known as the "Malibu smell" are familiar topics. After rainstorms, officials often post signs on Surfrider Beach urging swimmers and surfers to steer clear because of health dangers. Surfrider often gets failing grades on Heal the Bay's annual water-quality report cards.

Just in case you thought it was all a day at the beach in Malibu.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Surfrider Beach in Malibu. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

 

Hot Property: $65-million listing in Malibu

 

A 37-acre Malibu estate that has come on the market at $65 million is the most expensive listing on the Multiple Listing Service in the oceanside community. Only a  few Los Angeles-area residences for sale are priced higher.

Rocky Oaks Estate consists of a nearly completed Tuscan-style home, a 9,500-vine vineyard and pads for a potential helicopter landing site, guesthouse and guard gate. Its surrounding hillsides are filled with about 75 citrus trees, 50 fruit and nut trees, 100 avocado trees, 100 olive trees and more than 500 rosebushes.

Designed by architect Bob Easton, the 9,000-square-foot residence is approached from a 350-foot-long gated driveway and has a large motor court. When completed in the spring, it will have five fireplaces, tongue-and-groove and exposed-beam ceilings (including one in the living room reaching 32 feet high), elevator access to all three floors, and a rooftop observation deck. The five-bedroom, five-bathroom house will be clad in limestone.

There will be 5,000 square feet of decking, an infinity pool with spa and an outside loggia as well as a wine-tasting room. Malibu Rocky Oaks produced its first wines in 2006.

The owner, a businessman, was building the estate for himself but decided to sell it instead, according to listing agent Sally Forster Jones of the Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills East office.

There are more photos at latimes.com.

--Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Perched on a ridgeline, the house has 360-degree views. Credit: Everett Fenton Gidley

 

Frank and Jamie McCourt have bought several area homes since 2004

 The separation of Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his wife, Jamie, the team's chief executive -- and what that may mean for the baseball franchise -- is the subject of a story today at latimes.com. The pair have done their share of real-estate shopping since they moved to Los Angeles, buying two neighboring properties in Holmby Hills and two next door to each other in Malibu.

The Holmby Hills residence, a 20,000-square-foot villa that had been listed at $29 million, was purchased in April 2004.

Six months later an adjacent French country fixer of 8,385 square feet for $6.5 million was purchased, according to Multiple Listing Service records.

In August 2007, the John Launter-designed Segel Residence in Malibu was bought for $27,250,272 from actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette, and a beachfront bungalow next door in early 2008 for $18,975,000.

A check Wednesday revealed that none of these properties had been listed on the MLS for sale.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: The Segel residence in Malibu is owned by the McCourts. Credit: Michael McCreary

 

Wells Fargo's Malibu home is listed for $21.5 million

The bank-owned Malibu house allegedly used by a Wells Fargo executive to entertain family and friends appeared on the Multiple Listing Service late Friday, listed for sale at $21.5 million.

Listing details show the home's ownership when it was transferred in May and list the price then as $12 million.

Built in 1990, the two-story beachfront house has three bedrooms and four bathrooms in about 3,800 square feet of living space and sits on a 8,708-square-foot lot. Beyond the ocean and white-water views and sandy beach practically out the back door, the Malibu Colony house has fireplaces in the living room and master bedroom, central air conditioning and carpeted and hardwood floors. There is a bar, a breakfast bar, a dining area, a gym, a loft and covered and open-air patio areas. The gated community has 24-hour-a-day guard service.

Wells Fargo has fired the executive accused of using the house. Details are in the story at latimes.com.

Chad Rogers of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

-- Lauren Beale

Photo: The house in Malibu Colony that a Wells Fargo executive allegedly used for parties. Credit: Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times

Thoughts? Comments?

What do you think about the Wells Fargo-Malibu home story?

Responses to the two stories about the Malibu home owned by Wells Fargo have been pouring in, so let's open it to debate at L.A. Land.

Quick review, from Friday's story:

Bernard L. Madoff's massive fraud stunned some of the wealthy denizens of Malibu Colony, especially when a couple devastated by the scheme surrendered their oceanfront home to Wells Fargo Bank.

But some neighbors say the real shocker came when they saw one of the bank's top executives spending weekends in the $12-million beach house and hosting eye-catching parties there. What's more, Wells Fargo spurned offers to show the property to prospective buyers, a real estate agent said.

"It's outrageous to take over a property like that, not make it available and then put someone from the bank in it," said Phillip Roman, an 18-year Colony resident who lives a few homes away from the property.

From Saturday's follow-up:

Wells Fargo & Co., seeking to distance itself from a company executive's alleged personal use of a $12-million beachfront Malibu home owned by the bank, said Friday that it would "take decisive action" against any employee "who may have violated Wells Fargo's policies."

The bank's strongly worded statement came as it faced a potentially embarrassing public relations imbroglio in the aftermath of reports that one of its senior executives had lived in the home that was surrendered by victims of Bernard L. Madoff's massive fraud.

 "I almost fell out of my chair" when reading about the Wells Fargo allegations Friday morning, said Jerry Swerling, director of public relations studies at USC's Annenberg School for Communication. "That these folks could think this would not somehow become public astonishes me."

Among the opinions received via e-mail included thank-yous for exposing this to questions of why it is even a story and what the public interest is. What do you think, L.A. Land?

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

 

Hot Property: Cher redecorates and relists her Malibu digs at $41 million

Now that the interiors are redone, Cher has put her ocean-view Malibu estate back on the market for $41 million.

The singer-songwriter-actress had listed the home at $45 million in August, but withdrew it in early May while the work was going on, according to her listing agent, Robert Kass of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills.

The Italian Renaissance-inspired house, which Cher built in 1999, has seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a theater and a gym in 13,126 square feet. It sits on 1.7 acres of bluff top with a tennis court, an infinity pool and a guesthouse.

The updated look is "light, Zen, bright, beachy and beautiful," Kass said. Unfortunately, we can't see it. The Oscar, Grammy and Emmy winner, who keeps busy a concert schedule in Las Vegas, is not releasing any photographs.

The reason for this relisting has been the subject of media speculation elsewhere. When I saw the withdrawal in May, I thought it might have sold, as sometimes large sales are sometimes withdrawn before closing to divert attention from people like me. But calls then and now tell the same story: It has a fresh face now and a nearly 9% price reduction.

--Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: A 2006 file photo of Cher's Malibu villa. Credit: Sotheby's

Hot Property: Actress, outfielder are buyers

A couple real estate transactions of note reported at Hot Property this week:

Actress Dana Davis ("Heroes," "The Nine" and, shortly, "10 Things I Hate About You") purchased a NoHo condo in a four-story building for $430,000. The three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bathroom unit has 1,509 square feet of living space. Now one can debate the value of that, but it's unusual for me to see a show-biz person buying anything in this price range. Seemed downright sensible.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan J. Braun has purchased a foreclosed home in Malibu for $4.85 million. The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom gated Mediterranean has ocean views, three fireplaces and sits on more than an acre with a swimming pool, spa and built-in barbecue. There is a two-bedroom, one-bathroom guesthouse and a movie theater.

Since selling for $4.2 million in 2004, the property had been through a series of owners and transfers before ending up as bank-owned. It was listed at a high of $8.9 million in 2007 and had been marketed at $5,299,900 since the fall.

Sorry, no photos on either.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments? 
 

Hot Property: Leonardo DiCaprio sells home in Malibu that was listed at $7,999,000

 

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has sold a bluff-top contemporary in Malibu that had been listed at $7,999,000. The sales price was not disclosed on the Multiple Listing Service.

The main house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 2,374 square feet. DiCaprio put the property on the market in mid-November with listing agents Katie Bentzen and Sarah Kosasky of Bentzen Levin Real Estate, Malibu.

Public records show he purchased the house for $6.35 million in 2007. It could be months before it's known what the sales price was on this.

-- Lauren Beale

Photo: There is also a guesthouse with two one-bedroom suites and a four-car garage. A stairway leads to the beach. Credit: Cynthia Benjamin

Hot Property: Flea lists his two acres of Malibu oceanfront for $13,676,000

Bass guitar player Michael Balzary, better known as Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, has listed his bluff-top Malibu home at $13,676,000.

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom view house sits on two flat acres and has private access to the beach. The more than 2,700-square-foot house was purchased by Flea in 2006 for $9.98 million, according to the Multiple Listing Service. It includes two guesthouses. Sherri Rogers and Konstantine Valissarakos of Sotheby’s International Realty, Los Feliz, have the listing.

There are more photos at latimes.com.

I have no clue what the market will bear but that's a lot of coastal acreage. Ideas anyone?

--Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Guitars cover a wall of Flea's music equipment room.

Credit: Everett Fenton Gidley

Hot Property: Shannen Doherty lists Malibu home for $4 million

 

Actress Shannen Doherty has put her ocean-view Malibu residence on the market at $4 million.

The gated contemporary has five bedrooms and 4 1/2 bathrooms in 3,410 square feet of living space. Set back from a private street by a long driveway, it sits on more than an acre of landscaped grounds with mature trees, a swimming pool and a spa.

Robert Radcliffe of the Radcliffe Group, Sotheby’s International Realty, Pacific Palisades, has the listing. To see more photos, check out the gallery.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: There are high-pitched ceilings, large picture windows and multiple skylights. Credit: Mike Zent