From top down: Development sites on Fairfax, Barrington , and Commerce avenues

In Los Angeles, multifamily developers are increasingly taking advantage of the city’s incentives for building next to transit stations and for including affordable units in their plans. That’s especially true when it comes to smaller constructions.

Developers for four of the five most recent proposed projects requested bonuses through the Transit Oriented Communities program.

The projects are larger than what have been proposed in the last several months, and if completed would add 176 units to L.A. stock of housing, 22 of which would be reserved for low-income renters.

731 N. Fairfax Avenue | Mid-City | 43 units

Developer David Safai wants to demolish a one-story commercial building near the corner of Melrose Avenue for this five-story TOC development. The proposal is to set aside four of the units for low-income renters, Safai requests a 60 percent density bonus, a parking reduction, and three additional incentives through the TOC program. Safai purchased the property for $3.4 million in 2015.

2415 S. Barrington Avenue | Sawtelle | 38 units

This is another Transit Oriented Communities project planned to rise to seven stories. The entity developing the property is Barrington Five LLC, based in the Pico-Robertson area. Steve and Pirooz Amona are connected to the entity, which purchased the property in late 2016 for $2 million. They would demolish two single-family homes on the property.

10132 N. Commerce Avenue | Tujunga | 37 units

In Tujunga, developer Hassan Soltani wants to demolish an eight-unit multifamily building to build a 37-unit project. Soltani purchased the property a year ago for $1.6 million. He’s requesting a density bonus and a maximum height increase to 44 feet from 33 feet.

517-525 N. Gramercy Place | Greater Wilshire | 32 units

Three single-family homes would get the wrecking ball to make way for this four-story 32-unit project. The development seeks TOC bonuses and will set aside three units as affordable. The developer, David Hanasab, of Gramercy Holdings 26 LLC purchased the three properties for $3 million in 2016.

14715-14721 W. Blythe Street | Panorama City | 26 units

Developer Ofer Dayan purchased this Panorama City property in February 2018 for $1.3 million and plans to replace eight units there with a 26-unit TOC project. Dayan requests a density increase, an increase in floor-to-area ratio, and a parking reduction for the project. Six of the units would be set aside for low-income renters, more than the minimum required by the program.

From left: Dale Kinsella and Liz Edlich with Il Pelicano, which is listed for $35 million (Credit: Douglas Elliman)

The custom home built into a Malibu cliff and named for the pelicans that flock the area has been re-listed, with a big price cut.

Less than a year after it was put on the market for $57.7 million, the residence above Malibu’s beaches and overlooking the water is now asking $35 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The owners of “Il Pelicano,” Liz Edlich and Dale Kinsella, spent more than seven years completing the home, which replaced a small surf shack.

The home is off Pacific Coast Highway and includes 3,800 square feet with three bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms on a half-acre lot.

Edlich co-founded Radical Skincare, and Kinsella is an attorney. The couple paid $2 million for the land in 2000, and had materials delivered from around the world to build the home. It includes stone from Italy, balustrade from France, and antique doors from Morocco.

In addition to the sale price, the property is also available for lease at $70,000 a month, or $22,000 a week.

New buyers would become neighbors with Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, who recently purchased a Malibu home for $6.6 million. But the Malibu crown still belongs to billionaire Michael Smith and his wife Iris, who paid $110 million for Peter Morton’s house in Carbon Beach last August.

Developer Scott Gillen is also building a luxury community in Malibu with fire retardant walls and a 24-hour guard tower. [LAT] — Gregory Cornfield

Ronnie Mellen and her Beverly Hills Post Office home

Los Angeles is no stranger to eye-popping asking prices, but a Beverly Hills Post Office double lot is seeking a cool $16,700 per square foot.

Actress-turned-location scout Ronnie Mellen listed her 1,500-square-foot two-bedroom home for $25 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. To put that in perspective with some MLS listings, that’s the same asking price on a 13,000-square-foot spec mansion in Beverly Hill, a lavish penthouse in Century City, and a 28-acre development lot in Pacific Palisades.

But its the 3-acre grounds that could explain the high ask. The property sits on a hilltop with 360-degree views that stretch from Mount Baldy to the Pacific Ocean, according to the Times. That could make it highly attractive to a developer or a buyer who wants to build a new mansion there. Its also one of nine homes in the Summitridge gated community.

The listing comes amid a softening in the luxury market. Listing prices for $5 million plus homes in Beverly Hills have dropped an average of nearly 11 percent from first listing through December 2018.

Mellen acted in television and films, including the 1960s series’ “The Fugitive” and “The Munsters.” She is now the owner of Santa Barbara Location Services.

Ginger Glass of Coldwell Banker Residential has the listing. The property is also listed as a rental for $20,000 per month. [LAT] —Dennis Lynch

Adelaide Polsinelli and Robin Abrams of Compass with the Compass Global Headquarters at 90 Fifth Avenue (Credit: Google Maps)

Nine months after launch, Compass’ commercial division is yet to make its mark on the New York commercial market. Instead, the brokerage says it is spending 2019 “listening to” its commercial agents before charting out the unit’s future.

In August, the startup, now valued at $4.4 billion, announced the arrival of its commercial arm, to be led by Eastern Consolidated veterans Adelaide Polsinelli and Robin Abrams. Since then, Polsinelli said the team has grown to include 30 full-time commercial brokers in New York, and will expand further. In addition, the company said it has around 70 brokers nationwide who conduct sporadic commercial transactions.

It’s not an original idea: Many major residential brokerages have opened commercial divisions to complement an overflow of deals stemming from residential clients. But few, if any, establish themselves as prominent commercial firms in their own right.

“There’s no reference of a residential company with a successful commercial arm,” said James Famularo, who was a principal at Eastern Consolidated and now leads Meridian Capital Group’s retail leasing arm.

“Many residential firms have stuck their toe in the water, but [commercial is] a different animal,” said Eric Anton, an investment sales broker at Marcus & Millichap, which has around 200 commercial brokers in New York. “It takes a massive amount of time and experience to compete in the commercial field.”

It is difficult to gauge the ambition and direction of Compass’ new division, as the company was unable to provide clear metrics on the performance of its new unit. Instead, it provided The Real Deal with the results of a survey it conducted on its brokers, that said it had more than 100 commercial listings nationwide spanning 500,000 square feet, with a total listing value around $250 million. However, Compass would not provide the listings, because it said some were off-market.

When asked how many deals the division has done since it launched, a Compass spokesperson said it had done a “handful,” but declined to provide a figure. An analysis by TRD identified eight deals in New York, based on news reports and submitted deals made public between August 2018 and April 2019.

The division has grown to include brokers covering investment sales, office leasing, retail spaces and hotel markets, but Compass would not provide specifics on the composition of the division — how many brokers were dedicated to each discipline.

“We are going to spend 2019 listening to our commercial agents to understand what their needs are now and in the future,” Compass’ New York general manager Rory Golod said in a statement, adding that its residential division “has been, and will continue to be, the bulk of our business.”

With 30 dedicated agents in New York, the commercial division is already larger than that of rival residential brokerages that dabble in commercial sales and leasing. At Douglas Elliman, there are approximately two dozen brokers dedicated to commercial sales, as well as a small retail team that was previously led by the late Faith Hope Consolo. Nest Seekers International, the residential brokerage led by Eddie Shapiro, has a dozen brokers focused on commercial sales, while Corcoran Group and Brown Harris Stevens also retain a small commercial presence.

“Our experience with them has been pretty much the same as any other firm in the marketplace,” Shapiro said of Compass.

Though Compass, which received $400 million in a Series F funding round in September, isn’t positioned to pick off the city’s biggest commercial brokerages like CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield and JLL, it could create an additional headache for the crowd of middle-market firms scrapping for deals, like Meridian or Lee & Associates, some observers said.

“It will be competing to take a bite of what Meridian does, or what we do,” Shapiro said.

Andrew Heiberger, whose firm Town Residential shuttered last year when it had 600 agents, had a team of 18 dedicated commercial brokers led by Jonathan Butwin, and an additional 30 agents who did occasional commercial deals. With its current setup, Heiberger didn’t see Compass making a big dent in the local commercial market.

“You are probably going to need to buy another firm that specializes in retail, in office, in order to be considered,” he said, “and not be stigmatized, as ‘a residential firm that does commercial.’”

Don Heller and Loren Judd

Loren Judd has left his 15-year stint at Coldwell Banker to join Hilton & Hyland. Judd had been working as a manager at the firm’s Beverly Hills North office for the last five years. In his new role, he’ll be working as an agent again. Previously, he worked at Westside Estate Agency. In an interview, Judd said he wanted to get back into what he was passionate about when he first started out 30 years ago. “It was time to go,” he added.

Days after buying a boutique brokerage in New York, Compass is once again expanding its team its team in Los Angeles. The firm has recruited Don Heller and his team of five from the Agency, the latest in a series of poaches from the Beverly Hills-based brokerage. Some of the biggest deals from the Don Heller Group include selling residences at the Cosmopolitan Brentwood and listing the Gardenhouse in Beverly Hills, built by famed architect Ma Yongsong. Heller and his team will be based in Compass’ Beverly Hills office.

Jason de Guzman joined 29th Street Capital, a privately-held real estate investment firm, as senior vice president of acquisitions. Guzman previously worked as vice president of acquisitions for Neilson Hammer, a family office in Beverly Hills. In his new role, he’ll lead multifamily acquisitions and asset management strategies at the company.

Multifamily firm Goldrich Kest has promoted Paul Dubord to executive vice president of operations. Dubord will continue to oversee a number of departments, including human resources, payroll, technology and marketing. Prior to the promotion, he worked as vice president of information technology for three years.

Vornado Realty Trust chairman Steven Roth (Credit: Getty Images)

Vornado Realty Trust’s Steven Roth is not just one of New York’s top commercial landlords. He is also one of its top collectors of dividends from shares he does not own.

Vornado made $463,000 worth of such payments to Roth last year, which equals almost half of his salary, according to Crain’s. Other executives who received money from dividends include AllianceBernstein CEO Seth Bernstein and Philip Morris International CEO André Calantzopoulos.

Crain’s identified nine companies in the New York area that pay dividends on unowned shares, a practice that appears most common at real estate investment firms and financial institutions. Companies generally only disclose the information in regulatory filings’ fine print and do not say precisely how much money is involved.

Executives are regularly paid through restricted shares that will not vest for years, but some companies pay them dividends before the shares vest as if they own them. Firms defend the practice by saying the totals are not very large compared to total salary and are a good way to keep executive talent.

However, investor groups have said compensating executives this way can weaken the link between performance and pay.

The Real Deal recently examined how much the CEOs at seven top public real estate firms made in 2017 and found that SL Green’s Marc Holliday topped the list with an income of $17.41 million. Roth made $10.47 million. There has been a growing belief at REITs that CEOs should be punished or rewarded based more on the company’s performance and portfolio than on investor moods. [Crain’s] – Eddie Small

Jodie Foster and her former home (Credit: Getty Images and David Kramer)

Actress Jodie Foster didn’t have to wait long to snag a buyer for her updated 1950s-built Beverly Hills spread.

The actor, director, and producer sold the home for $14.9 million, less than two months after listing it for $15.9 million, Variety reports. The sale price is $3.1 million more than Foster paid for the 7,500-square-foot home in 2012, according to property records.

The home, built in 1952, sits on a little more than a half-acre on a hilltop above the Franklin Canyon Reservoir. The previous owner before Foster, British-born television producer Colin Callender, added a second story to the home. Along with the five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, the home has a theater room, a second-story deck space to take advantage of the westerly views, and a backyard pool and patio area.

Foster faired better with the Beverly Hills home than she did when she listed her last home in Hollywood Hills’ Bird Streets neighborhood in 2013. First listed at $6.4 million, it sat on the market for more than a year before selling for $5 million.

Foster has been a Hollywood mainstay since the 1980s. Her first big role, at the age of 14, was in “Taxi Driver” opposite Robert de Niro. She’s best known for her Academy Award-winning roles in “The Accused” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”

Hilton & Hyland’s David Kramer had the listing. [Variety] – Dennis Lynch 

Bernard Arnault and François-Henri Pinault and the Notre-Dame Cathedral (Credit: Getty Images)

A pair of French billionaires are among those who are pledging hundreds of millions of euros to rebuild the fire-ravaged Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE – a major investor in Miami’s Design District – said his family and the luxury-goods company it controls would donate 200 million euros, or the equivalent of about $226 million, while billionaire François-Henri Pinault said his family would donate 100 million to the rebuild, according to the Wall Street Journal. Pinault is chairman and chief executive of Kering SA, a rival to LVMH.

Total SA, a French oil and gas company, plans to give 100 million euros. Martin Bouygues, chairman and chief executive of Bouygues, a telecommunications company, said he and his brother will each donate about 10 million euros.

A fire broke out on Monday afternoon at the more than 850-year-old cathedral, destroying most of the roof and central spire. French authorities were still investigating what caused the fire, although it was likely related to the construction surrounding the historic building’s renovations.

It’s unknown how much the rebuild will cost in terms of money or time, but Peter Aiers, chief executive of the Churches Conservation Trust in London, told the Wall Street Journal that he expects it will cost “many hundreds of millions of euros.” The building will also need to dry out over a long period of time, he said.

“It will be several years to complete a full restoration and I would imagine the works will have to be phased so that there can be public access as soon as possible even though there will be works ongoing,” Aiers added.

It’s also unknown how many artifacts, paintings and other works were spared and what were not. A crown of thorns that is said to have been worn by Jesus Christ during his crucification was saved. [WSJ]— Katherine Kallergis

(Credit: iStock)

IWG, the world’s largest flexible-office provider, is now turning to McDonald’s for inspiration on how to ward off competition from WeWork.

The Swiss firm, which has about 555,000 workstations globally, is planning to roll out the franchise model pioneered by McDonald’s back in the 1950s in a bid to accelerate its growth, according to The Wall Street Journal. Through its brands Regus and Spaces, the company builds out spaces in commercial office buildings, and subleases the spaces to companies on flexible terms.

Under the new structure, the company plans to outsource this process to franchisees, a move it hopes will widen the gap between itself and WeWork, which has 466,000 workstations globally, and is rapidly closing the margin. During a March earnings call, IWG Chief Executive Mark Dixon said the company wants more than 60 percent of IWG’s locations to be set up as partnership agreements, which includes franchises.

This week, the company reportedly sold all of its 130 spaces in Japan to meeting-room company TKP Corp. $419.1 million.

IWG was founded 30 years ago, and is often considered among the first companies to have pioneered the co-working model.

In recent years, WeWork has reshaped the industry with chic spaces and a community-minded marketing campaign. After its most recent fundraising in January, the firm was valued at $47 billion, and rebranded as the We Company. It now has more than 400 locations.

[WSJ] — David Jeans

The San Pedro complex and Mark Litman of Ridan with the property at Riverside Drive

Multifamily developers spent a combined $114.3 million on the five biggest deals in Los Angeles County in March, reflecting a minor drop from the $121 million total in February. https://therealdeal.com/la/2018/03/13/las-top-5-multifamily-investment-sales-of-february/

The lion’s share of deals were based in the City of Los Angeles, while the fifth most-expensive took place in El Monte. A joint venture of affordable housing developers claimed the largest deal by far.

The Real Deal compiled the list based off deed records from Property Shark.

1. 1301 West Park Western Drive — SDG Housing Partners, Affordable Housing Access | $63 million

SDG Housing Partners and Affordable Housing Access, two affordable housing developers, teamed up to buy a 213-unit multifamily complex in San Pedro for nearly $63 million. The seller was a trustee of William Pavone, a Newport Beach resident, according to the deed. Located at 1301 West Park Western Drive, the South Bay property spans seven acres. An affiliate of Colorado-based Bear Creek Securities, acting behind an LLC, provided a $53 million acquisition loan.

2. 11473 Riverside Drive — Ridan | $15.3 million

Ridan, a real estate investment firm based in Westlake Village, paid $15.3 million to acquire the Riverside Arts complex in North Hollywood. Heico, a parent holding company for a variety of industries, sold the property through an LLC named Heico Riverside Arts Apartments. Located at 11473 Riverside Drive, the four-story complex includes 51 units.

3. 1324 North Poinsettia Place — Dromy International | $13 million

A Hollywood apartment complex traded for $13 million last month. The buyer was Dromy International Investment Corp., a multifamily investment firm based in Beverly Hills. An LLC tied to Maher Azer sold the property, located at 1324 North Poinsettia Place. Dubbed the Hollywood Apartments, the complex includes 51 apartments spread across three stories.

4. 1850 North Harvard Boulevard — Afton Properties | $11.8 million

Afton Properties, a real estate investment and management firm, paid $11.75 million to buy a 36-unit apartment building at 1850 North Harvard Boulevard. The seller was Martin Goldman, a trustee of David and Esther Weismasser. They owned the Thai Town complex, built in 1955, since 2003. Afton Properties owns several apartment buildings around L.A., the bulk of which are in the Eastside.

5. 11690 Ramona Boulevard — Pi Properties | $11.3M

Goldman, acting through the same trust, also sold a multifamily complex in El Monte for $11.3 million. The buyer was Pi Properties No 97 LLC, which is tied to an individual named Rao Yalamanchili, records show. Located at 11690 Ramona Boulevard in El Monte, the 1964-built complex includes 47 units.

Trey Parker and his new home (Credit: Getty Images and Zillow)

The force behind hit animated show “South Park” has found a new place to call home.

Following a divorce from his wife of five years, Trey Parker has paid $6.2 million for a newly built pad in Brentwood, the Los Angeles Times reported. The home listed last November asking $6.5 million.

Located on Anita Avenue, the home spans 5,330 square feet and includes four bedrooms. The modern residence also boasts a temperature-controlled wine cellar, porcelain wall, office and swimming pool with spa.

Rodeo Realty’s Adi Livyatan and Oren Barkan brokered the deal.

Parker and Matt Stone created “South Park” in 1997. In addition to the show’s 22 season-run, Parker co-wrote and co-directed “The Book of Mormon.”

Earlier this month, Guggenheim Partners executive Andrew Rosenfield paid $34 million to acquire an 8,600-square-foot home in Brentwood. The seller was Bruce Karsh, CEO of L.A.-based Oaktree Capital Management. [LAT] — Natalie Hoberman

NAR president John Smaby (Credit: NAR and Pixabay)

Even more home sellers are taking aim at the National Association of Realtors and major home-selling brokerages over buyer commissions and multiple listings services, according to a new antitrust lawsuit filed this week.

The suit, filed in the Northern District of Illinois by Sawbill Strategic Inc., alleges that the industry group and the “big four” home-selling brokerages — Realogy, HomeServices of America, RE/MAX and Keller Williams — are “conspiring to require property sellers to pay the broker representing the buyer of their properties, and to pay an inflated amount,” in 20 metropolitan areas, according to Inman.

The filing follows a near-identical suit filed last month against NAR by home-seller Christopher Moehrl of Minnesota, that takes issue with NAR rules that require sell-side brokers to offer buyer-broker compensation when listing a property on a MLS, a move that has driven up costs to the seller and whittled down competition.

Together, the lawsuits are seeking class-action status, on behalf of “thousands” of home sellers who were made to pay a commission to the broker representing the buyer of their homes in the last four years.

In response to the latest filing, NAR said the “complaint is baseless and contains an abundance of false claims,” according to a statement provided to Inman.

“The U.S. courts have routinely found that multiple listing services are pro-competitive and benefit consumers by creating great efficiencies in the home-buying and selling process.” [Inman] — David Jeans 

State Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 50 doesn’t have many fans at L.A. City Hall (Credit: Flickr)

Los Angeles is all in favor of more affordable housing and increased apartment construction.

But on Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously — though largely symbolically — to oppose a state bill to allow more dense residential development near transit stations across California.

Thought city officials have no say in state legislation, the vote authorize the city’s lobbyists in Sacramento to fight state Senate Bill 50. Curiously, it also allows the same lobbyists to support the bill if L.A. were made exempt, according to the Times.

The bill, authored by State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would allow the construction of four- to five-story apartment buildings near transit stations. The goal would be to increase the supply, to help ease the state’s housing crisis. Its emphasis on transit is billed as an environmentally friendly way to get cars off the road and to urbanize California’s metro areas.

Generally speaking, L.A. lawmakers have opposed state-level bills they see as taking away their decision-making power, particularly over real estate development.

The L.A. Council argued that its Transit Oriented Communities program already allows dense development near transit and argued SB 50 could destroy local neighborhoods.

The Council also voted last year against the first version of SB 50’s direct predecessor, SB 827, before Weiner significantly scaled it back and added protections for renters. Even with those changes, state lawmakers killed SB 827 in its first committee hearing in Sacramento.

Under SB 50, local governments could propose alternative development plans where they are concerned about gentrification and displacement. Developers couldn’t use the bill to demolish and redevelop rental properties occupied in the last seven years.

The Council has no direct control over the bill, but Tuesday’s vote pressures state lawmakers behind it to tweak it to gain local support. As currently written, the bill would not need the approval of local bodies to take effect in their jurisdictions. [LAT] — Dennis Lynch

The Real Deal’s Spring 2019 issue

The Real Deal Los Angeles’ spring issue is live, and digital subscribers to TRD are getting the first look at what’s inside.

Subscribers now have access to stories including:

— WeHo’s Weed happening: an inside look at the leasing deals for new cannabis retail, smoking lounges and other onsite consumption spaces coming into the pioneering neighborhood, which is the first in the city to issue such licenses.

— TRD‘s ranking of the top luxury brokers in L.A. county.

— An in-depth look at Keller Williams’ bid to become a tech giant in league (or even eclipsing, they hope) Compass.

— What the chairmen and CEO’s leading some of L.A.’s most influential public real estate firms earn. (Get ready to read ’em and weep with jealousy!)

— A look at the top contractors in the city, ranked by the square footage they filed for, over the past year.

— Why all the Singaporean cash flowing into Los Angeles has some insiders saying it’s Chinese investment in disguise.

And so much more! Click here to read TRD’s spring issue.

Non-subscribers will get access to TRD’s magazine stories on April 22.

Trump National Golf Club Westchester and David Carlucci (Credit: Trump Organization)

The golf industry is pushing back against a new bill that could raise property taxes for golf course owners in New York.

The proposed legislation would give local governments the option to assess and tax golf courses on “highest and best use,” the Wall Street Journal reported. That means many facilities could be considered residential developments with a much higher value.

Industry players have argued the change would raise taxes on many facilities and lead to golf course closures, hurting the hospitality and tourism sectors at a time when golf already faces competition from other sports.

The bill’s Democratic sponsors, state Sen. David Carlucci and Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, believe it will force facilities like country clubs to pay their their fair share of taxes. One example they’ve cited is the Briarcliff Manor-based Trump National Golf Club, a private membership club in Westchester County.

Trump National is challenging a $14 million estimate of its market value in a lawsuit, according to the Journal. The club claims the property is worth 10 percent of that figure and the assessed value is “unequal, excessive and unlawful.” President Donald Trump, however, valued the club at $50 million or more in federal financial disclosures — but the methodology behind that appraisal is unclear.

The Journal noted that since golf courses are not usually sold on the open market, assessors have struggled to find comparable sales data, often looking at market rents for catering halls, clubhouses, restaurants and tennis facilities.

George Amedore, a Republican state senator from New York opposing the bill, told the Journal the measure is “politically motivated” and “ludicrous.” [WSJ] — Meenal Vamburkar

Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Credit: Getty Images and Wikipedia)

The Cosmopolitan hotel and casino was one of the biggest failures of the Las Vegas Strip in the last decade. Now, five years after buying and reversing its fortunes, Blackstone Group is reportedly exploring a sale.

The New York-based investment giant has retained Deutsche Bank and PJT Partners Inc. to explore options for the property, including a sale, according to the Wall Street Journal. If sold to a casino operator, the property could be earn $4 billion or more. That’s about double the $1.7 billion Blackstone paid for it in 2014.

The 110,000-square-foot hotel with 3,000 rooms sits next to the Bellagio and will likely attract interest from other resort and casino operators, including larger local players or international operators like Malaysia’s Genting Group.

The $330 average daily room rate at the Cosmopolitan is the highest on the Las Vegas Strip and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is around $300 million, sources told the Journal.

Those earnings are more than triple the earnings of the hotel before Blackstone bought the property from Deutsche Bank, which took over the unfinished property after the Bruce Eichner-led development group behind it defaulted on a construction loan.

The property opened in late 2010. Blackstone invested $500 million in the renovations, including converting the four then-unfinished top floors of the hotel into 21 suites meant to attract high rollers. It also built 18 new bars and restaurants at hotel and casino.

Blackstone benefited from strong tourist activity in Las Vegas during its ownership of the hotel, including an all-time peak of 43 million tourist visits to the city in 2016. [WSJ] — Dennis Lynch

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson and the University of South California (Credit: iStock) 

A hotel may soon stand where affordable housing was once planned.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to advance a project that would bring a 167-room Courtyard Marriott hotel to a lot on the western border of the University of Southern California’s campus, Urbanize reported. Orion Capital, a local investment firm, would build the project.

In 2011, the city acquired the 33,000-square-foot site at 3685 South Vermont Avenue, formerly occupied by the Bethune Library, from the CRA/LA, a local agency with some authority over development.

City officials then began soliciting bids from developers who could build affordable housing on the site, which is in a rapidly gentrifying area. They struck a deal with an entity called NCNVision LLC, a joint venture between National CORE and Nvision Development Group, last May.

But the exclusive negotiation agreement expired before NCNVision’s plans to build 114 units could become a reality, and the property has remained empty since Bethune Library relocated more than a decade ago.

City Council’s vote to advance Orion’s proposal comes on the heels of a new report from the Economic & Workforce Development Department, which recommended the city sell the vacant plot to the firm. [Urbanize] — Natalie Hoberman

The top five office investment sales of March

March was a busy month for office trades, but a blockbuster trade for Class A space at the Lantana Campus in Santa Monica easily topped them all. Here’s a look at the top trades last month.

1. Lantana Center and Lantana West, Santa Monica | $321.5M

Media production company Skydance Media closed on a deal for half of the Lantana office complex in late March, paying Artisan Realty Advisors and Brightstone Capital Partners around $1,152 per square foot for 278,700 square feet of Class A office space between two buildings.

Sources told The Real Deal that Artisan and Brightstone are gearing up to market the 203,000-square-foot south portion of the campus with Eastdil Secured. Tenants include Tennis Channel and Dick Clark Productions.

2. 8942 Wilshire Boulevard, Wilshire Corridor | $107.5M

Dutch investment firm Breevast cut a deal with a joint venture of Ocean West Capital Partners and Walton Street Capital for two office properties in L.A. last month. The larger of the two deals was for an 83,000-square-foot office building leased entirely to Paradigm Talent Agency. Breevast secured $64 million in financing for the deal.

3. 4525 Wilshire Boulevard, Wilshire Corridor | $46.5M

The other building part of the Breevast deal is a 76,000-square-foot building on Wilshire. Breevast took out a $24.4 million acquisition loan with Zions Bancorporation for the purchase. As of 2016 when Ocean West and Walton Street purchased it, the building was 90 percent leased to a handful of tenants.

4. 18455 South Figueroa Street, Gardena | $29 million

Atlas Capital Group inked a leaseback purchase with struggling electric vehicle developer Faraday Future for its 125,900-square-foot headquarters in Gardena. The firm bought its headquarters — located two neighboring addresses — in 2014 and 2015 for $21 million combined. Faraday said it plans to put the funds toward a rollout of its new model this year.

5. 15127 Whittier Boulevard, Whittier | $19.5M

In Whittier, an entity linked to Arcadia-based investment company Positive Investments sold this 57,000-square-foot office building for around $342 per square foot. The buyers were a family trust for Dr. Sohaul Mahboubian, an Encino-based cardiologist and an entity linked to property manager Davis Harouni. Positive Investments paid $16.5 million for the property just six months prior in September.

Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman (Credit: Getty Images)

Blackstone Group is changing is corporate structure to become a corporation, in a move that others have used to boost stock ownership.

The company said the change from a partnership will be effective on July 1. The conversion to a C-corp comes after the tax law changes lowered the highest corporate rate to 21 percent from 35 percent.

“We believe the decision to convert will make it significantly easier for both domestic and international investors to own our stock,” CEO Stephen Schwarzman said in a statement. In an accompanying video, he added that other companies have converted and “have experienced strong stock price performance, a meaningful pickup in trading volume and a significant increase in mutual- and index-fund ownership.”

C corporations are taxed on their profits and again when those profits are distributed to shareholders as dividends. Meanwhile, partnerships as pass-through entities that allow income to pass to owners and get taxed at individual rates.

Private equity competitors KKR and Ares Management corp. already changed their corporate status.

The move coincided with the firm’s first quarter earnings. It earned $481.3 million, or 71 cents a share, compared with $367.9 million, or 53 cents a share, a year earlier.

Distributable earnings were $538 million, or 44 cents a share. That’s up from $502 million, or 41 cents a share a year earlier.

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Attorney General William Barr speaks about the release of the redacted version of the Mueller report at the Department of Justice (Credit: Getty Images)

Attorney General William Barr vigorously defended President Trump in a press conference Thursday morning ahead of the release of the Special Counsel’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Barr repeatedly stressed that the report concluded no members of the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government in its attempts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, often using one of the favored phrases of the president himself: “no collusion.”

And while the special counsel’s report apparently did not determine whether certain acts committed by Trump and his administration would constitute obstruction of justice, Barr said he concluded that the evidence they presented was not enough to establish an obstruction of justice offense.

Barr defended Trump’s actions concerning the investigation by saying he faced an “unprecedented situation” when he came into office, citing scrutiny from federal prosecutors and “relentless speculation in the news media” about his personal culpability. He stressed that the White House had fully cooperated with the investigation and defended the redactions he had made to the public report, noting that he will make a less redacted version of the report available to Congress.

Barr also said he had “no objection” to Special Counsel Robert Mueller personally testifying before Congress.

Barr maintained that, overall, the report largely exonerated the Trump campaign from any claims of working with the Russians to influence the 2016 election.

“After nearly two years of investigation, thousands of subpoenas, hundreds of warrants and witness interviews, the special counsel confirmed that the Russian government sponsored efforts to illegally interfere with the 2016 presidential election,” he said, “but did not find that the Trump campaign or other Americans colluded in those efforts.”

Barr didn’t discuss the Trump Organization’s pursuit of a deal in Moscow to build a residential tower.

Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani admitted in January that Trump’s discussions to build the skyscraper — with approval from key Russian officials — continued through election night in 2016. Former fixer Michael Cohen testified to Congress that the president instructed him to lie about when negotiations ended.

Felix Sater, a former Trump associate, previously said the Trump Organization considered his idea to offer Putin the $50 million penthouse in the skyscraper. The tower was never built.