Sting and his home on Malibu Colony Road (Credit: Sting.com, Trulia)

The price might of this Malibu rental might Sting just a little.

Police frontman Sting and his wife, producer Trudie Styler, are looking to lease their 5,550-square-foot beachfront abode for a whopping $200,000 a month, Variety reported.

They acquired the property in 1997 for just $5.4 million from “Dallas” actor Larry Hagman, records show.

The adobe-style residence, located in the the prestigious Malibu Colony enclave, dates back to 1927 and has seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms and two half-baths. It features brick floors, wood beamed ceilings, multiple connected lounges in open plan, a wet bar, a fitness room and an outdoor indoor spa.

Sting, best known for hits like “Every Breath You Take” and “Message in a Bottle,” is leaving the pad fully furnished.

Mauricio Umansky of the Agency has the listing. [Variety] — Cathaleen Chen

Homes are constructed in Santa Clarita (Credit: Getty)

From the New York website: The index measuring builder confidence for the single-family home market in the United States this month jumped to its highest reading since June 2005, according to the National Association of Home builders.

During the month of March, the index reached a level of 71, the Wall Street Journal reported. A reading above 50 suggests that more builders see the conditions as good rather than poor, according to the paper.

“Builders are buoyed by President Trump’s actions on regulatory reform,” NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald told the newspaper.

Builder confidence also spiked in December, which was attributed to a post-election bump at the the time.  In January, confidence dipped amid concerns about rising interest rates, falling demand, the dwindling number of vacant lots and labor shortages.

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate to a range between 0.75 and 1 percent, and officials indicated they expect to raise rates at least twice more this year.

Builder confidence is now at its highest level since the peak of the housing bubble, according to the newspaper. [WSJ] — Miriam Hall

Nile Niami and the N. Whittier Drive home

It’s the cycle of life in tony Beverly Hills: Love, marriage, divorce, and a property breakup.

Mega-mansion builder Nile Niami and his wife Yvonne have sold their Beverly Hills home for $15.6 million, two months after filing for divorce.

The couple, who were married for over 18 years before separating two years ago, bought the property for $11.9 million in 2014 and gave it a top-to-toe renovation before putting it on the market for $17.95 million last summer. They owned the property through a trust, for which Yvonne served as the trustee, records show.

Yvonne, the founder of the charitable clothing label n:Philanthropy, has already snapped up another home in Bel Air for $16.2 million.

The Beverly Hills property, on N. Whittier Drive, sold to an LLC dubbed Amplitude of Blessings.

Listing broker Drew Fenton of Hilton & Hyland did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The gated, 9,200-square-foot home has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a motor court, a marble entryway, a formal dining room and a walk-in wine cellar.

Speculation has been rife in recent months that the couple’s split could have significant implications for the spec home builder’s real estate holdings, The Real Deal reported. Some have said it could throw the ownership of the infamous $500 million Bel Air mansion he is developing into question.

The site at 5420 W Sunset Boulevard

A developer wants to building a massive mixed-use project opposite the troubled Target site in East Hollywood.

An LLC connected to American Commercial Equities, a Malibu-based real estate firm with assets across Southern California and Hawaii, filed plans Tuesday to build 735 apartments and 95,800 square feet of commercial space at 5420 W. Sunset Boulevard, Urbanize reported.

The project would replace an existing shopping center that’s anchored by a Food 4 Less market.

The new complex, at the intersection of Sunset and N. Western Avenue, would span a total 845,868 square feet and rise 75 feet, city documents show. It can be built as of right, without zoning or general plan variances, Urbanize said.

Meanwhile, plans to build a huge Target store across the street are still in construction limbo, since Target remains locked in a legal battle with preservationists. [Urbanize] — Cathaleen Chen

Ariadne Getty and her unit in the Montage Beverly Hills at 225 N Canon Drive

Ariadne Getty, granddaughter of J. Paul Getty and an heir to his $5 billion oil empire, has relisted her Beverly Hills condo for $24.5 million, or $4,320 per square foot, The Real Deal has learned.

That price tag represents a nearly $10.3 million profit over what she paid for it in 2012, property records show.

The 5,670-square-foot apartment, which is one of 20 private homes at the Montage Hotel, first hit the market in March 2016 for $23.5 million, but was removed within two months, according to Zillow.

The pad overlooks Beverly Hills and the Montage courtyard and features a living room with built-in bookcases, a media room, a study, four bedrooms, and five bathrooms.

The property has been “completely redone with imported materials,”according to the listing.

Getty’s broker, Brett Lawyer of Hilton & Hyland, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The oil scion is the CEO of her son’s fashion line, August Getty Atelier, according to GLAAD.

Pacific Coast Highway home (MLS)

Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel put his Malibu pad back on market at an asking price of $6.9 million, or $2,079 a square foot. The 3,364-square-foot property on Pacific Coast Highway has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and a large office with a custom built-in desk and daybed offering ocean views. The smart home also features a wraparound deck with two outdoor showers and an electric car charging station in the garage. Sigel first listed in May 2015 for $7.5 million but removed the listing the following year.

Sigel has worked on a number of films over the years such as “Drive,” “Valkyrie” and more recently, “X-Men: Apocalypse.” He is the son of the late Irving Sigel, a prominent psychologist.

Christopher Cortazzo of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has the listing.

White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney (Getty Images)

From the New York website: The White House’s Office of Management and Budget released its fiscal year 2018 proposals this week, cutting $6.2 billion in annualized discretionary spending from HUD and eliminating the Community Development Block Grant program. It could have an outsized impact on New York City, which relies on the grants to fund critical repairs at public housing projects.

“The Federal Government has spent over $150 billion on this block grant since its inception in 1974,” reads the proposal from the office led by former congressman Mick Mulvaney, “but the program is not well-targeted to the poorest populations and has not demonstrated results.”

The Community Development Block Grant program, or CBDG, has enjoyed wide bipartisan support since President Gerald Ford signed it into law in 1975. In New York it has been employed to fund code enforcement, inspections at troubled buildings, repairs and improvements to senior housing, and economic recovery from the effects of Superstorm Sandy. For the current fiscal year, the government committed $3 billion to the program, and will receive no funding in the White House’s $40.7 billion HUD budget proposal for next year.

Stephen Glaude, CEO of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, told CNBC that he expected the program to get cut, but never expected it to be destroyed. “To come in and blatantly eliminate these programs because you’re trying to meet a budget number without talking to the stakeholders, the constituents of these programs, is a little concerning. In fact, it’s more than a little concerning. It’s actually alarming.” [CNBC] — Will Parker

Waverly Place convent and Katy Perry (Google Maps/Getty Images)

“I am the champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar,” Katy Perry croons in one of her most famous pop songs. But who knew the song would apply to her drawn-out fight with a group of nuns in Los Angeles?

An L.A. judge ruled Thursday that the singer can convert a Los Feliz convent into her personal estate, allowing Perry to finally close on her deal to purchase the $14.5 million property.

The ruling ends a two-year battle between Katy Perry and Sisters Rita Callanan and Catherine Rose Holzman over the sale of the eight-acre Waverly Drive property, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

Perry first tried to purchase the property from the Archbishop of Los Angeles for $14.5 million in 2015.

Prior to the sale closing, Sisters Callanan and Holzman claimed they were the rightful owners of the property and were in talks to sell it to restaurateur Dana Hollister.

What followed was a bitter fight between both parties with several of the nuns allegedly accusing Perry of engaging in witchcraft, according to THR.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick wrote in a ruling that the sisters didn’t have the authority to sell the property to Hollister.

“Even assuming that the Sisters had the authority to dispose of the Property, which they did not, they nevertheless failed to validly consummate the transaction,” Bowick wrote. “The deal documents were not properly documented.”

The Archdiocese of L.A. said it was forced to take legal action in 2015 on behalf of all the Sisters after Hollister took over the property without authorization for $44,000 and no guarantee of additional payment, according to THR.

Perry now needs a final approval from the Vatican. [THR] — Subrina Hudson

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A rendering of Metropolis (Greenland USA)

Chinese investment in the Los Angeles metro area totaled just under $1.59 billion in 2016, a new Cushman & Wakefield report shows.

The figure is just a touch higher than the $1.58 billion invested in 2015 — and a far cry from 2014’s $2.63 billion total.

La La Land, however, is still a favored city among Chinese investors. In 2016, L.A. took in 7 percent of all Chinese investment in American real estate, second only to New York and San Francisco, Curbed reported.

Massive Chinese developments such as Greenland’s Metropolis, Oceanwide’s Oceanwide Plaza and Hazen’s LA Center Downtown are “inspiring additional investment,” the report notes. [Curbed] — Hannah Miet 

Jeff Greene and the home on Lania Lane (Credit: The Agency)

If at first you don’t succeed, slash $66 million off your asking price.

Billionaire Jeff Greene has relisted his famed Palazzo di Amore estate in Beverly Hills for $129 million — a steal if you consider his original ask was $195 million in 2014.

More recently, the Beverly Hills estate was on the rental market for $375,000 a month, Forbes reported.

The Mohamed Hadid-developed compound spans 35,000 square feet and features a two-story marble entry, a breakfast room, a game room, an office, a 200-guest dining room, a 3,000-bottle wine tasting room, a “Moroccan room,” a Hammam, a vineyard and a “VIP” bedroom suite with silk upholstered walls. The fireplace mantels were hand-carved by a Peruvian woodcarver, who was on site for four months.

The 25-acre Tuscan estate comprises 12 bedrooms and 23 bathrooms in total.

The Agency’s Stacy Gottula and Mauricio Umansky have the listing.

Palazzo di Amore rivals the Spelling Mansion listing in price and extravagance. That 123-room mansion, which hit the market last October for $200 million, is the most expensive home for sale in the U.S.

Greene, who made most of his money by shorting subprime mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis, acquired the Mediterranean manor for $35 million in 2007 and invested millions to renovate it. [Forbes] — Cathaleen Chen

The site at 1246 W. Court Street and Todd Wexman

Local developer 4Site Real Estate is betting on its own foresight with another project in the emerging Westlake area.

The firm is planning a 54-unit apartment complex at 1246 W. Court Street, two blocks from the Vista Hermosa Natural Park at the edge of Echo Park and Westlake, city documents show. The site comprises three parcels, one of which is currently occupied by a single-family home.

The multifamily project would rise to six stories, including two levels of parking.

Todd Wexman, 4Site’s CEO, could not immediately be reached for comment on the plans.

It’s not the company’s first foray into the neighborhood. Last June, 4Site began construction on a nearby 45-unit mixed-use residential and retail project at 2300 Beverly Boulevard. It’s also been active in Historic Filipinotown, where it built the 49-unit Echo Designer Loft Apartments at 1647 W. Temple Street.

Westlake’s would-be renaissance has gone into overdrive in recent months. West Coast developer CityView recently set its sights on the neighborhood with plans for a 243-unit mixed-use complex at at 1800 Beverly Boulevard and LaTerra Development wants to build 221 condo units at 235 North Hoover Street, according to public filings.

From the New York website: U.S. housing starts are on the upswing, despite a lackluster showing from apartment buildings.

February’s permits for single-family homes were the highest in a decade, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Overall, housing starts climbed to a four-month high last month, Bloomberg reported.

Nationwide, residential housing starts inched 3 percent higher to 1.29 million. Construction of single-family homes rose 6.5 percent to 872,000, the highest level since October 2007. Applications to build one-family homes also rose to 832,000, the strongest since September 2007.

But overall, construction permits dropped 6.2 percent to 1.21 million thanks to a steep 21.6 percent drop in permits for multi-family construction. Actual construction on apartment buildings, including townhouses, fell 3.7 percent in February to 416,000.

In New York City, the number of approved residential construction permits — and new permit applications — fell last year, according to The Real Deal‘s own analysis. Citywide, the city’s Department of Buildings approved 15,697 new units last year, a 70 percent drop from 2015. Permits also dropped in every borough, most notably in Brooklyn, where developers filed permits for 23,393 new units in 2015, a number that dropped to just 4,535 last year.

So far in 2017, the number of approved permits is showing gains.  [Bloomberg] — E.B. Solomont

Izek Shomof and the office at 8155 Van Nuys Boulevard

The earthquake-ravished Panorama Tower on Van Nuys Boulevard, which is being transformed into a live-work complex, may be getting a separate retail component, city documents show.

Izek Shomof, a Los Angeles-based developer who heads Pacific Investment Group, filed plans Thursday for the construction of an “open mall building” next to the existing structure, records show.

Shomof purchased the abandoned 13-story office building for $12.5 million in 2015 through an entity called Grand Pacific 7-28 LLC. About a year later, he revealed his development plans: a 192-unit live-work complex and a ground-floor retail space.

It’s unclear whether the new open mall would replace the original retail component. Either way, the intersection at Roscoe and Van Nuys boulevards could become a new retail hub, given that the adjacent property at 8401 Van Nuys Boulevard is the Panorama Mall, which was acquired by Primestor Development.

And across the street at Roscoe Boulevard and Tobias Avenue, Icon Company is gearing up to demolish the shuttered Montgomery Ward department store to make way for apartments and retail space.

Shomof could not be reached for comment. In Chinatown, his firm is planning a 122-unit, seven-story mixed-use complex at the corner of Alpine and Spring streets, The Real Deal reported in September.

The native of Israel was among the first investors to have a hand in redeveloping Downtown L.A., restoring multiple buildings in the Historic Core starting in the 1990s, including the Premiere Towers at 621 South Spring Street.

Ashley Benson, Sunset Strip home (Getty Images/MLS)

Actress Ashley Benson sold her Hollywood Hills West pad above Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip for $2.65 million, after more than a year on the market and a few price drops.

The star of “Pretty Little Liars” purchased the 3,085-square-foot home four years ago for $2.2 million and put it on the market last year with an asking price of $2.9 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home was once owned by singer Kylie Minogue and David Stewart of Eurythmics.

The French Normandy-style house was built in 1938 and features a deck attached to the master suite with views of the backyard swimming pool, spa and cabana.

Benson has also stared in shows such as “Days of Our Lives” and “Supernatural.”

Nathaniel Smith of Compass was the listing agent. Robin Walpert of Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer. [LAT] — Subrina Hudson

Hong Kong (Exploringlife via Wikipedia)

From the New York website: Despite efforts to cool Hong Kong’s astronomical housing prices, the city’s real estate moguls are still raking it in.
Property billionaires account for nine out of 10 of the city’s richest people, according to Bloomberg, and they haven’t missed a beat since November, when the city imposed higher taxes in an effort to tame the market.

The city’s property billionaires saw their collective fortunes soar 19 percent over the last four years, Bloomberg found. And the Hang Hang Seng Properties Index grew at 10 times the pace of the broader index.

In November, city officials introduced a stamp duty hike in an attempt to curb Hong Kong’s high real estate prices. But while eight of the city’s 10 richest people lost more than $4.4 billion, initially, they have recouped those losses.

Over the past few years, Hong Kong real estate prices have soared, despite the efforts of the city’s current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying. In the current election year, the two leading candidates have both cited unaffordable housing as an issue they want to address.

Since November, developers haven’t missed a beat at new apartment buildings — where crowds have been lining up to cash in on discounts and rebates.

“The rich are inconvenienced by it, but it’s the middle class that are hurt the most,” Peter Churchouse, the managing director of Portwood Capital, told Bloomberg. “It makes selling in the secondary market extremely difficult because buyers have to pay the tax up front, whereas the payments are deferred in the pre-sales market.”  [Bloomberg] — E.B. Solomont

Serge Azria and his home on Siena Way

His designs, while pricey, may not rival Gucci prices — but Serge Azria’s Bel Air abode is asking a top-of-the-market rate.

Azria — founder of clothing lines Joie, Equipment, and Current/Elliott — recently listed his home for $35 million, Variety reported. He acquired it not quite six years ago for $21 million.

Designed by architect Paul Williams and more recently updated by its previous owner, house flipper Sandy Gallin, the 12,000-square-foot mansion contains seven bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. It features a foyer with a curved staircase, a spacious kitchen, a media lounge, a wine cellar, a fitness facility with spa, a billiards room, and at least seven fireplaces.

The backyard is filled by an infinity-pool the size of one-third of a football field. Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency has the pocket listing.

Azria, the brother of fellow designer Max Azria, owns quite the portfolio of luxury homes in L.A. In addition to this Bel Air compound, his Point Dume residence is for lease at $27,500 a month. Nearby in Paradise Cove, he also owns a nearly seven-acre estate he purchased for $41 million in 2013. [Variety] — Cathaleen Chen

The Real Deal publisher Amir Korangy and Robert A.M. Stern

From the New York website: Robert A.M. Stern is a fan of buildings that rise like wedding cakes. If he had his way, towers would still be designed in this fashion, gradually slinking away from the street to abide by a 100-year-old law.

“It was the first, and it was the best,” the septuagenarian architect said of the city’s 1916 zoning law.

It’s not necessarily a surprising opinion from an architect with a fetish for limestone and a polite distaste for glass. Stern spoke at the home of The Real Deal publisher Amir Korangy on Thursday night and praised the often derided setback rules that shaped buildings like the Walker Tower (formerly known as the New York Telephone building at 212 West 18th Street). [More]

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Priciest listings (MLS/Hilton & Hyland)

Jeff Greene, who made most of his money shorting subprime mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis, relisted his famed Palazzo di Amore estate in Beverly Hills for $129 million making it last week’s priciest listing – even with a $66 million price chop from its original asking price of $195 million.

The Beverly Hills mansion was developed by Mohamed Hadid and spans 35,000 square feet with 12 bedrooms and 23 bathrooms, the Real Deal previously reported.

Greene purchased the property for $35 million in 2007, investing millions to renovate the Mediterranean mansion.

Here are the top five single-family home listings in Los Angeles, according to TRD’s analysis of Redfin and MLS data:

9505 Lania Lane (MLS)

1. 9505 Lania Lane, Beverly Hills
   Price: $129 million
   Size: 35,000 square feet, 12 bedrooms/16 bathrooms
   Built: 2002
   Agents: Stacy Gottula of the Agency

225 N. Canon Drive (MLS)

2. 225 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills
   Price: $24.5 million
   Size: 5,670 square feet, 4 bedrooms/5 bathrooms
   Built: 2008
   Agents: Brett Lawyer of Hilton & Hyland

2805 Tennyson Place (MLS)

3. 2805 Tennyson Place, Hermosa Beach
   Price: $22.5 million
   Size: 6,392 square feet, 6 bedrooms/7 bathrooms
   Built: 2009
   Agents: Tristy Patterson of RE/MAX Estate Properties

8516 Hedges Place (Hilton & Hyland)

4. 8516 Hedges Place, Los Angeles
   Price: $22 million
   Size: 7,000 square feet, 5 bedrooms/6 bathrooms
   Built: 2017
   Agents: Patrick Fogarty and Tyrone McKillen of Hilton & Hyland

9694 Oak Pass Road (MLS)

5. 9694 Oaks Pass Road, Beverly Hills
   Price: $21.9 million
   Size: 11,500 square feet, 5 bedrooms/8 bathrooms
   Built: 1985
   Agents: Valerie Fitzgerald of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage