Fom left: Dorit and Paul Kemsley, Jason Yaselli, Adam Lambert, and Usher Raymond (Credit: Linkedin, Wikimedia Commons, Getty Images)

This broker was a burglar, authorities say.

A Keller Williams agent and Beverly Hills resident was arrested for his role in a string of burglaries of celebrity homes, including those belonging to Usher and Adam Lambert.

Jason Emil Yaselli was charged Thursday with more than 50 counts related to the alleged burglary spree, in which the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said raked in more than $500,000 in stolen luxury merchandise.

The thefts took place between 2016 and 2018, and Yaselli faces 32 counts of money laundering, a dozen counts of first-degree residential burglary, and conspiracy charges.

The district attorney’s office said that Yaselli and his alleged accomplice, Benjamin Eitan Ackerman, stole the luxury items from 14 homes. The pair allegedly committed or planned the burglaries during open houses, the prosecutor’s office said.

In addition to Usher, the pair allegedly burglarized the homes of Adam Lambert, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” stars Paul and Dorit Kemsley, and former NFL player Shaun Phillips.

Earlier this summer, Lambert relisted a 3,800-square-foot home in the Hollywood HIlls that he purchased in 2014. He first put it on the market in mid-2017.

In L.A., thieves have targeted celebrities from their social media posts, using the information to determine when the person is away.

That was the case in 2017 and 2018, when a burglary ring involving more than a dozen people allegedly targeted and stole from two-dozen celebrities, before eventually getting caught and charged.

Agency CEO Mauricio Umansky and his wife Kyle Richards were among the victims. The thieves stole more than $1 million worth of goods from their home in 2017, while they were on vacation in Aspen, Colorado.

In the most recent case, Ackerman was arrested in connection with the burglaries last September, but wasn’t charged until earlier this month. He pleaded not guilty. Ackerman allegedly posed as a broker himself when he attended open houses to case homes or steal luxury items.

Ackerman would sell the stolen items and Yaselli used that money to pay off charges to his credit card, authorities said.

Yaselli and Ackerman each face a maximum of 31 years in prison if convicted on the top counts. The district attorney’s office plans to request bail for Yaselli at $1.73 million. A preliminary hearing for Ackerman’s case is scheduled in October.

Governer Gavin Newsom and homes in California (Credit: iStock and Getty Images)

Attention, NIMBYs.

Southern California will now need to rezone for 1.3 million new homes in the next decade, according to state officials.

The figure from the state housing authority comes amid Los Angeles and California’s growing housing crisis and is more than three times what local governments suggested they needed earlier this summer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

State law requires cities and counties must evaluate their zoning measures every eight years to account for population increases. The Southern California Association of Governments had originally proposed zoning for 430,000 new homes during the same time period. It’s now looking into how to divide the goal of 1.3 million new homes around the SoCal area.

According to the state law, more than 40 percent of the new homes should be reserved for lower-income residents. Gov. Gavin Newsom has previously said that he wants developers to build more than 3.5 million new homes across the state in the next decade.

As evident of the need for more housing, a new multifamily report from Marcus & Millichap showed that despite an infusion of more than 10,000 apartments in L.A. County in the last year, demand remained strong as vacancy rates dropped. [LAT] — Natalie Hoberman

Donald Trump at Trump National Doral (Credit: Getty Images)

Ex-members of Trump National Doral have been waiting to inch forward on the refund list at the Doral golf course and resort — and they may have to wait decades more.

To move up on the list by one spot, four new members need to join the golf club, and the list is more than 265 people long, according to the Miami Herald. The deposits range from $10,500 to $19,000.

The Trump Organization bought the 800-acre golf resort out of bankruptcy in 2012. At the time, now-President Trump agreed to honor the membership and refund waiting list. At that point, there were nearly 500 active members and roughly 200 on the waiting list.

Since the president was elected and took office, Trump National Doral has suffered, blaming its losses on hurricanes and the Zika virus. Some members have left, the saying the club became too political or that they no longer wanted to support the president, the Herald reported.

Few members have joined between December 2017 and January 2019. One member said that he moved up by two spots, which means only eight members had joined, according to the Herald.

In an attempt to reduce the property’s tax bill, Tax consultant Jessica Vachiratevanurak told a Miami-Dade County official that the property is “severely underperforming” compared to other resorts in the area.

In 2018, Trump reported that the resort and golf club made 34 percent less than two years prior, down to $76 million.

One member told the Herald that after he met with the director of membership operations in December 2018, the wait for a refund would have been about 12 years. That means that those who left after the 2016 election could be waiting about 85 years to get their deposits back. [Miami Herald] – Katherine Kallergis

From left: Lewis Frankfort of Flywheel Sports, Bruce Dunlevie of Benchmark, Ronald Fisher of Softbank, Mark Schwartz of Softbank, and John Zhao of Hony Capital (Credit: Stanford University; Softbank; Getty Images)

WeWork recently revealed the makeup of its Board of Directors in advance of its much anticipated IPO, and the selections are already stirring up some controversy.

Many have zeroed in on the fact that none of the board members are women, despite the fact that the co-working giant’s S-1 filing promoted a “culture of inclusivity.” And because WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann remains chairman of the board and its majority shareholder, he retains the ability to outvote all six other board members on virtually any decision, even if they are aligned against him.

Unlike other startups such as Slack and Salesforce, Neumann has not cemented an employment agreement with WeWork ahead of its IPO, and his wife Rebekah Neumann will be responsible for appointing his successor if he dies or becomes permanently disabled within the next 10 years. Venture capitalist Bruce Dunlevie and asset manager M. Steven Langman will also serve on the selection committee.

WeWork declined to comment for this story, and representatives for the board members did not respond to requests for comment.

Here are some of the other key things to know about WeWork’s new board members:

Bruce Dunlevie
The 62-year-old Dunlevie is a founding partner at the San Francisco-based venture capital firm Benchmark, which famously invested in eBay in 1997 and has backed startups such as Uber, Twitter and ZIllow. A 20-plus year veteran in the world of tech investing, Dunlevie was a general partner at the VC firm Merrill, Pickard, Anderson & Eyre and founded Everex Systems’ personal computer division before starting Benchmark. He earned an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and also serves as the director of One Medical Group. He has been a member of WeWork’s board of directors since 2012.

Ronald Fisher
Fisher, 71, is a vice chairman at WeWork mega-backer Softbank Group, where he’s worked since 1995. He founded SoftBank Capital and was the CEO of Phoenix Technologies before joining the bank. Fisher joined the board of directors at WeWork as part of SoftBank’s 2017 investment of $4.4 billion in the company. The Japanese bank had planned to invest an additional $16 billion in WeWork late last year, but that number later shrank to $2 billion amid concern from investors. Fisher earned an MBA from Columbia University and has been on WeWork’s board of directors since 2017.

Lewis Frankfort
Frankfort, 73, is the chairman of Flywheel Sports and the former executive chairman at luxury accessories brand Coach. He also serves as the executive-in-residence at Sycamore Partners LLC. He started his career in city government, at one point serving as the commissioner of New York City’s Head Start and Day Care programs. He gave the keynote speech at WeWork Summer Camp in 2014, where he told the employees that they could get lucky in business, but there was still “no substitute for working hard.” He has been on the board since 2014, and he has received $6.3 million in loans from the company.

Steven Langman
Langman, 57, co-founded the London-based private equity company Rhône Group in 1996, which last year formed a joint-venture with WeWork named ARK that has pulled together $2.9 billion to invest in buying real estate. Langman is also the chairman of ARK. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs in the mergers and acquisitions department and at Lazard Frères as a managing director, where he also specialized in mergers and acquisitions. He has been on WeWork’s board of directors since 2012.

Mark Schwartz
Schwartz, 65, was until recently a member of the board of directors at SoftBank, a company he formed a close relationship with as a longtime executive at Goldman Sachs. Schwartz had been head of the investment bank’s Asia-Pacific region before retiring in 2016, where he served as the bank’s point person for Alibaba’s record $25 billion IPO. In 2006, he founded the private investment firm MissionPoint Capital Partners, which focuses on using capital to help solve environmental problems. He also serves on the board of the Indian mobile commerce company Paytm. Like Fisher, Schwartz joined the board as part of SoftBank’s $4.4 billion investment in WeWork.

John Zhao
Zhao, 56, is the chairman and CEO of Hony Capital, a major Chinese private equity company. In 2018, the firm helped lead a $500 million Series B investment in WeWork China, and Zhao released a statement praising the company as “a global connector bringing entrepreneurs, startups, and large enterprise companies from around the world together.” He is also a director at several other companies including Lenovo and China Glass Holdings.

amitaur Constructs founders Laurie and Frederick Samitaur Smith and the development site (credit: Getty Images and Google Earth)

A developer whose projects include the high-concept (W)rapper Tower is now proposing a 22-story office tower in West Adams.

Local firm Samitaur Constructs filed for the project this week through 5850 West Jefferson LLC. The site at 5860 W. Jefferson Boulevard is about 3 acres, with a large parking lot and a 49,000-square-foot creative office building that’s fully leased to shoemaker Nike.

Nike sued Samitaur last fall for failing to deliver the office space by its late 2017 deadline.

Samitaur’s recent filing calls for four stories of subterranean parking. The project is planned with 50,000 square feet of commercial space and needs city approval to exceed the local 61-foot height limit.

Samitaur also owns two properties directly north of the development site. One is a two-building office property leased by WeWork and Jukin Media. Farther north is the development site for Samitaur’s long-planned but still unbuilt architectural (W)rapper Tower.

Samitaur refinanced its local office portfolio, including the West Jefferson development site, in December with a $231.6 million mortgage with Square Mile Capital and Deutsche Bank.

The refinancing could provide Samitaur with the financial flexibility to move forward with the (W)rapper Tower and the 22-story project.

Samitaur hasn’t previously disclosed plans for the 22-story tower. The firm and Eric Owen Moss Architects, did not immediately return request for comment on the project.

Leslie Wexner and Erik Nordstrom (Credit: Getty Images)

Ahead of new tariffs on Chinese goods set to hit everything from tracksuits to ski gloves, second quarter earnings reports from big retailers have been a mixed bag. Affordable, big box and discount brands like Target fared relatively well, while sales from higher-end companies such as Victoria’s Secret and Nordstrom disappointed yet again.

Razor-thin profit margins call for creative tactics from the retail industry, and some are experimenting with partnerships and e-commerce fusions. Kohl’s, for example, is rolling out a new “Amazon returns” partnership, while Nordstrom is investing in e-commerce and apparel on-demand by expanding the “Pick Up in Store” option.

Here’s a run-down of how some key players fared, and what it means for retail landlords:

Victoria’s Secret

With the online retail takeover, new tariffs and a destructive news cycle, Victoria’s Secret has been having a difficult time. The lingerie brand’s net income was down seven percent in the second quarter after four straight quarters of decline. Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands told investors that it has $3.2 billion in lease obligations. Same-store sales were down 1 percent overall.

Victoria’s Secret was criticized after chief marketing officer Edwart Razek told Vogue in a 2018 interview that trans models should not be cast for the lingerie brand, famous for the array of supermodels it has featured over the years. After hiring openly trans model Valentina Sampaio earlier this month, L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner announced Razek is stepping down.

But that may be just the surface of Victoria’s Secret’s clash with the political and cultural zeitgeist. Wexner, an associate of the deceased sexual predator, hosted Epstein at his Ohio mansion, where a woman accused Epstein of assaulting her. Wexner also “turned over” a massive Manhattan mansion he bought for $13 million to Epstein — without an exchange of money.

While representatives for L Brands have denied that Epstein was ever employed by the brand, others report that the pedophile, popular with celebrity scientists and the political elite, served as a “talent scout” for the lingerie brand. L Brands’ well-documented connections to Epstein are unlikely foster consumer goodwill as Victoria’s Secret prepares for new tariffs.

L Brands announced in March that it would close 53 Victoria’s Secret stores across the country, about 4 percent of its total number of stores. Analysts have said the brand is particularly exposed to the decline of shopping malls in the U.S., and the second quarter results only further solidified those troubles.

Luxe layaway at Nordstrom

Nordstrom, which operates 381 stores in the U.S. and Canada and will soon open a flagship at Extell Development’s Central Park Tower, reported second quarter sales of $3.87 billion, down from $4.07 billion the same time last year. Still, that beat Wall Street’s estimates and sent the stock up 5 percent the day after its disclosure.

Nordstrom hopes to increase its foothold through its local market strategy — enticing consumers with amenities and services — and sees New York City as a key part of the initiative. Along with the flagship store, which will open in October, Nordstrom will add two “neighborhood hubs” in NYC in September, the largest market for online sales, according to the company’s second quarter filings. The stores will be located at 13 Seventh Avenue in Greenwich Village and 1273 Third Avenue.

Nordstrom may be looking to increase its “Buy Online and Pick Up in Store” sales in New York City, which tripled in the Los Angeles market in July. Nordstrom expects to see a significant increase in Manhattan sales this year and next.

Kohl’s, Target, TJ Maxx

Despite citing “increased traffic” from their novel idea to partner with Amazon to allow customers to return goods purchased from Amazon to any of their stores, Kohl’s continued to slip for the third consecutive quarter. Online shipping costs and deep discounts to clear out stale inventory were responsible for a 43 percent decline in share price since last year. In all, though Kohl’s beat Wall Street’s expectations at $1.55 adjusted earnings per share, net sales fell short at $4.17 billion ($4.22 billion was estimated).

Target, meanwhile, was steady Eddie once again. For stores that had been open for more than a year, the retailer reported 3.4 percent uptick in sales, with nearly half of that attributed to same-day fulfillment. Overall profits jumped 17 percent and it beat Wall Street’s estimate forecast across the board.

Target lists $36 billion in land and building assets, up from $34 billion last year. Over the last year, Target has been paring down the size of its large stores, which comprise most of its portfolio. But Target has expanded its smaller-sized stores, at 49,000 square feet and below, from 1.6 million to 2.3 million square feet. The retailer also seems to be weathering the e-commerce and tariff storm, although it may just be in the eye of the hurricane.

“Off-price” brand TJX, parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, did well in Europe and Australia, but had just a modest showing in the U.S., its top market, especially when compared to its excellent second quarter in 2018. Comparable-store sales growth rose just 2 percent in the U.S., with rising supply costs contributing to narrowing profits. Overall, TJX reported a six percent increase in sales during the second quarter, though it excludes e-commerce sites, another sign that while specialty and luxury retailers may falter, consumers are still buying everyday items.

TJX has $7.7 billion in long-term lease liabilities, according to its second quarter earnings report.

Victorino Noval, late Mark Hughes, and The Mountain

Now that the Mountain of Beverly Hills has gone from a $1 billion sky-high listing to a $100,000 bargain basement auction sale, speculation has begun over its future.

What will happen to the 157-acre property that sold back to its lender at foreclosure?

“It’s going to get shuffled, reshuffled, maybe re-envisioned and then sold,” said Ernie Carswell, a luxury real estate broker at Douglas Elliman.

On Tuesday, The Mountain sold back to its previous owner and lender, an entity linked to the Mark Hughes Trust. The estate of the Herbalife founder was owed around $200 million from the now previous owner, Secured Capital. The trust forfeited that amount by taking back possession of the property.

It’s unclear what the Hughes family intends to do with the property, but Carswell believes they won’t “start becoming developers,” but will  ultimately sell it. A lawyer representing the Hughes estate did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

L.A. brokers and industry pros have varying theories on its future, with some questioning whether anything will be built on the land anytime soon given the challenges involved with such a large piece of land and the uncertain economy.

Elliman luxury broker Josh Altman expects anyone that takes on the Mountain will have a seven- to eight-year “legacy project” on their hands.

In the late 1980s, when television icon Merv Griffin owned the property, the city ruled that up to six homes could be built on the spread. Building six “magnificent homes” on the property will likely set any developer back by nearly $500 million, Altman said. That’s still just half of what the original listing price.

“Unfortunately, we’re going to see this thing sitting for years to come until someone really wants to take on the project,” he said. “In the market we’re in right now, I think it will pay for the trust to hold it and not be rushed to sell it.”

Challenges abound for any future Mountain developer, and here’s another one.

Despite a bankruptcy court judge having approved the foreclosure auction — and despite the fact that it has taken place — Secured Capital intends to mount a legal fight to reclaim the property, according to the firm’s attorney, Ronald Richards. He said there will be two separate legal actions that challenge the $100,000 sale.

The circus-like atmosphere around the initial monster listing, along with Secured Capital’s tie to the family of convicted felon Victorino Noval and the firm’s legal battle over the property, has caused many in the industry to “not take [the listing] seriously,” said Steve Lewis, founder of Core Real Estate Group.

“It’s the greatest piece of land in the world, but what is it worth is the question,” said Lewis, whose has his own history with the Mountain. He listed the property way back when Griffin was selling it and it was called the Vineyard. The Hughes estate, he said, will likely “want to get rid of the thing.”

“Hopefully they’ll put a realistic number,” he said. “It should be self-evident now that $200 million was a number that no one wanted to step up and pay.”

One broker who has not shared his opinion on the topic is the original listing agent, star broker Aaron Kirman. Now with Compass, Kirman has not responded to requests for comment. But when the property hit the market in July 2018, Kirman told the Los Angeles Times he was confident The Mountain would sell to one of the “2,800 billionaires in the world.” He had already been in touch with five of them, he said, and had planned trips to London, Qatar, Russia and China to meet with others.

Stephen Shapiro, co-founder of Westside Estate Agency, said a likely scenario now is that the Hughes estate will sell off the Mountain as six separate lots, maybe for $30 million a piece. Still, Shapiro added, “it’s hard to sell lots right now.”

That’s evident in some of the ultra high-end land listings on the market in L.A. The estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen put 120 acres in Beverly Hills on the market for $150 million last July. It hasn’t sold. Neither has a 10.6-acre spread near the Hotel Bel Air, which was rezoned into three separate lots, which hit the market in January for $150 million.

Maybe the Mountain’s legacy, brokers said, lies in the dangers of extreme overpricing.

“For a long time, we’ve had cautionary tales about overpricing properties,” Lewis said. “This could end up as the textbook definition of it.”

From left: Dr. Dre, Vadim Shulman, Jon Voight and Reggie Bush withan aerial of Jon Voight’s home and a photo of Reggie Bush’s home (Credit: iStock)

This week, music mogul Dr. Dre sold his Woodland Hills home at a discount after a quick beat, and former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush listed his home in the Pacific Palisades for about $10 million. Ukranian tycoon Vadim Shulman also listed his home in Malibu, and for at least the third week in a row, an Oscar-winner has been active in Los Angeles, as actor Jon Voight put his Beverly Hills home on the market.

Hip-hop legend Dr. Dre quickly sold his home for a discount in Woodland Hills after it hit the market in July. The 16,200-square-foot home sold for $4.5 million — a 14-percent cut on the $5.3-million price tag. It includes eight bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a movie theater, indoor spa and a 150-gallon fish tank. Dre owned the mansion for 20 years after he purchased it for $2.35 million in 1999. [TRD]

Reggie Bush, who won the Heisman Trophy playing for the USC Trojans, is hoping to juke his way to a sale in the Pacific Palisades. The former NFL running back and his wife Lilit listed their 7,500-square-foot contemporary home for $10 million. They purchased the property for $7.8 million in 2014. It was rebuilt about six years ago, according to the Los Angeles Times. It includes five bedrooms, five-and-a-half bathrooms, a separate gym, a wine cellar, and a living room that converts into a theater. The property also includes an infinity pool and spa. [LAT]

Actor Jon Voight put his 3.3-acre property on Oak Pass Road in Beverly Hills on the market for $19.75 million. The Oscar-winner lived there for 25 years, and he is trying to sell the property at “land value,” according to the listing. The property also includes a pool. [Variety]

Vadim Shulman, head of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, listed his Malibu home for nearly twice what he paid for it in 2014. Located on “Billionaire’s Beach,” the oceanfront home is on the market for $44 million. Records show he purchased it for $25 million five years ago. It spans 9,500 square feet with six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a movie theater and a wine cellar. The property includes a two-lane lap pool, and the largest home spa ever permitted in Malibu. [TRD]

President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping at a press conference in Beijing in 2017

The multibillion-dollar trade war between the United States and China hit a boiling point this summer, with the real estate industry caught in the crosshairs.

In June — more than a year after firing his first salvo and levying tariffs on solar panels from China — President Donald Trump threatened the People’s Republic with another $350 billion in taxes on goods. Chinese President Xi Jinping quickly responded by jacking up tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods.

Much of the attention about the trade war, which is closing in on 400 days, has been on U.S. consumers getting hit with price increases on everything from washing machines to computers.

But the real estate industry is also feeling the effects. For developers, that will come largely in the form of pricier raw construction materials such as steel, cooling equipment and granite countertops. And that will make it trickier to plan and budget new projects.

“From a development perspective, you’re doing your deals two to four years out, so you want more predictability and less volatility,” developer Daren Hornig of Hornig Capital Partners told The Real Deal in May. “If we could just put this one behind us and get this trade deal resolved, that would make a lot of people globally very happy.”

Trump and Xi held high-profile talks at the G20 Summit in Japan in June. But there’s been little sign of progress since, and last month, China reportedly urged the Trump administration to “make up its mind” about reaching a trade deal.

Although Trump’s main target has been China, the White House has also imposed tariffs on goods from Canada, India, Mexico and the European Union — arguing that those trading partners (all historically U.S. allies) have taken advantage of U.S. policy and dumped cheap products on the market here while also undercutting domestic manufacturing. Each of those partners has retaliated with its own levies on U.S. goods.

Below is a rundown of some of the key trade stats and their impact on the industry.

5,745

The number of products from China the Trump administration has placed tariffs on, including everything from building materials and furniture to semiconductors and cellphones. That’s amounted to $250 billion in goods since last year. In return, China has taxed $110 billion worth of U.S. imports coming into its shores.

92%

The drop in Chinese U.S. investment in 2018’s first half, according to consulting firm Rhodium Group. While that decline began with China’s capital controls, trade war tensions helped “close the spigot,” per Forbes. U.S. home purchases by foreign buyers (the majority from China), meanwhile, tumbled 36 percent between April 2018 and March 2019, a recent NAR report noted.

25%

The increased foreign steel tariffs Trump implemented last year, up from 10 percent. The hike sent prices for rolled steel — used in some of New York’s latest supertalls, including One Vanderbilt and the Spiral — soaring to a decade-high of $920 a ton last July. But last month, prices were much lower at about $557 per ton, pushed down by domestic manufacturers ramping up production and new imports from Canada and Mexico.

$100M

A high-end estimate of how much the steel tariff would push up the price to build the shell and core of a 90-story building in Hudson Yards, according to the global consultancy Turner & Townsend. The U.K.-based firm estimates that 1.2 million tons of steel went into new buildings across the five boroughs over the past year.

#2

New York City’s rank on the list of most expensive cities in the world when it comes to construction. Average construction costs here (across six building types) were $368 per square foot in 2018 versus $417 in San Francisco, which ranked No. 1. Those costs jumped 3.5 percent in NYC last year and are projected to rise another 3 percent in 2019.

148

The number of times Donald Trump has tweeted the word “tariff” or “tariffs” since launching his presidential campaign in 2015, according to the Trump Twitter Archive. By comparison, he’s tweeted “wall” 460 times.

260,000

The amount of estimated jobs the trade war has cost the U.S. economy through June 2019, according to Moody’s Analytics chief economist, Mark Zandi. That amounts to more than a month’s worth of employment growth. Among the jobs lost, about 130,000 were in manufacturing, 80,000 were in transportation and distribution, and the remaining 50,000 were across several other industries.

600

The number of U.S. companies — including such mega retailers as Costco, Walmart and Target — that wrote to Trump in June urging him to end the trade war. Many have said that  price increases will be inevitable if it doesn’t end soon. Trump, of course, is relying on a strong economy to buoy him to reelection.

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up Los Angeles’ biggest real estate news. We update this page at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. PT. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

This page was last updated at 9 a.m. PT

Actor William Powell’s former home in Beverly Hills (credit: Realtor.com)

Beverly Hills villa with ties to Old Hollywood stars hits the market. On the market for $14 million, the 7,200-square-foot Spanish Revival-style home was built for film star William Powell in the 1920s. Television host Merv Griffin, actor George Hamilton and celebrity plastic surgeon Brian Novack have all owned the home in past years. [LAT]

Insurers have shed 350,000 home insurance policies in wildfire-prone areas. New state research — tracked more than 15 years of data — shows that more homes have been built in fire-prone areas. Insurance providers are also hiking premiums for at-risk properties. The data does not include non-renewals in some areas hard hit by wildfires last year, including Redding and Paradise. [LADN]

Monrovia retail center trades for $31 million. The sellers, Pasadena-based Telos Capital and Warner Pacific Properties, picked up the Aldi-anchored property in 2016. HomeGoods and T.J. Maxx are also tenants. [LABJ]

IWG wants to launch a new company that will challenge WeWork. The shared-office-space provider’s chief executive Mark Dixon is planning to spin off part of the company into a separate business that would be publicly traded in the U.S., and compete with WeWork. The plan is still in its early stages, but Dixon believes such a company could be worth about $3.7 billion, and the firm will only hire bankers if they do not have a role in the We Company’s IPO. [Sky News]

Related Chairman Stephen Ross (Credit: Getty Images)

Stephen Ross thinks a housing slowdown is coming. Ross made his comments during an interview with Yahoo Finance, saying that the real estate industry is “certainly not starting something fresh. You know, we’re at a point now where I think there will be a slowdown because it has to happen.” [Yahoo Finance]

Another factor in gentrification? Trendy grocery stores, a new report says. There is a fairly strong correlation between home prices and the location of grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, Yahoo News reported, citing a study from Zillow and ATTOM Data Solutions. People selling a home near a Trader Joe’s saw a 51 percent average return on investment, while those selling a home near a Whole Foods saw an increase of 41 percent. Houses near the two chains start to appreciate faster once the stores move in and do so twice as quickly as an average home in the United States. [Yahoo News]

FROM THE CITY’S RECORDS:

Burbank-based Chandler Partners filed plans for a 30,000-square-foot, 33-unit mixed use apartment complex with four units reserved as affordable. Chandler requested density bonuses granted to affordable housing developments. [LADCP]

Insurers have dropped hundreds of thousands of policies in fire-prone areas. (Credit: Wikipedia)

In the last four years, wildfires have ripped through California, destroying thousands of homes in the process.

And since 2015, insurance companies have noticed, dropping around 350,000 policies in fire-prone areas, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

New figures from the state also found that total new and renewed insurance policies increased in fire risk areas, but it did not say whether costs for those policies have gone up, according to the report.

The data doesn’t include numbers from two areas hit last year by the devastating Camp Fire: Redding and Paradise. That means nonrenewals may be higher next year.
The Camp Fire was the deadliest wildfire in state history, killing 85 people. The now-bankrupt PG&E agreed in June to pay $1 billion in compensation after it was determined the utility’s equipment sparked the blaze.

The state did not say how many people who lost insurance were able to find coverage with other insurers, but there is evidence that some buyers can only find policies with high-risk insurers.

Enrollment is up in the state’s FAIR Plan insurance program, which is expensive and usually a last resort for buyers. Surplus insurers are also seeing more business in fire-prone areas.

State regulators said that lawmakers should act to preserve the insurance market.

“This data should be a wakeup call for state and local policymakers that without action to reduce the risk from extreme wildfires and preserve the insurance market, we could see communities unraveling,” state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said. [LADN] — Dennis Lynch 

Clockwise from left: John D. Rockefeller, Izzy Englander, Steven Mnuchin, David Koch, Jacqueline Bouvier, and William Zeckendorf (Credit: Getty Images and StreetEasy)

Before paying $40 million for an Upper East Side townhouse last year, David Koch was among a handful of billionaires living at 740 Park Avenue.

Koch’s death at age 79, reported Friday, won’t necessarily trigger the sale of the sprawling co-op, which he transferred to a trust in 2016. But the purchase of the townhouse last year signaled that the industrialist and his wife, Julia, were moving on from the storied Park Avenue building.

But even as the market falters — a shift that’s hit co-ops particularly hard — brokers said buildings like 740 Park will never lose their luster.

“It’s still one of the most prestigious addresses in Manhattan with ceiling heights and grandeur-of-scale unmatched elsewhere,” said one high-end broker.

A string of recent sales bear that out, though even billionaires aren’t willing to overpay, even for the right address. In July, developer William Zeckendorf sold his 17th floor co-op for $29.5 million to Leni and Peter May, whose Trian Partners own Snapple and Arby’s. Zeckendorf paid $27 million for the two-bedroom in 2011.

Another era

Built in 1929, the Rosario Candela-designed building has just 31 units that have been home to some of the country’s most powerful families — and some of its wealthiest. It’s been said that its deep-pocketed buyers need to be worth at least $100 million to get past the board, where financing is a no-no.

“For 75 years, it’s been home to the most lusted-after addresses in the world,” according to the author Michael Gross, whose book on the apartment house dubs it the world’s “richest building.”

The “limestone fortress” was once home to John D. Rockefeller Jr. and a young Jacqueline Bouvier. Current residents include Ronald Lauder, the Blackstone Group’s Stephen Schwartzman, Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain and hedge fund manager J. Ezra Merkin. In 2014, hedge funder Israel Englander paid a record $71.2 million for the penthouse.

Still, the building’s cachet hasn’t shielded residents from their share of headaches in the past few years.

First there was a string of burglaries, resulting in the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry. (Some suspected an inside job, given how much security residents like Koch had.) Then in 2016, a fire broke out in a duplex unit owned by Ezra Merkin, a Bernie Madoff affiliate. Water and smoke damage forced some residents to vacate — including Koch and his family, who sheltered at a nearby hotel while their apartment was repaired. Not long after, pieces of the Art Deco building’s limestone façade came crashing to the ground, necessitating extensive repairs.

Luxury slowdown

Despite their tremendously wealthy residents, Manhattan co-ops have been stung by the shifting market. Over the past few years, more buyers chose condominiums over co-ops, which still impose stringent requirements (including no financing) on owners.

At 740 Park, which has just 31 units, there are currently two units for sale.

John Thain is asking $34.5 million for his penthouse, which first hit the market in April 2018 asking $39.5 million. And Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s duplex is asking $29.5 million, down from $32.5 million in September 2018.

“We’re in a very price sensitive market; that affects that building, as well,” said Hall Willkie, president of Brown Harris Stevens. He said even buyers with deep pockets don’t want to overpay. “People who have money have money for a reason,” he said.

For Koch, New York City’s second-richest resident behind former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the building was not his first New York City home, nor was it his last.

The Kansas-born billionaire, best known for backing conservative politics, paid approximately $17 million for a duplex at 740 Park in 2004, records show. Koch transferred his co-op at 740 Park to a trust, the DHK Real Estate Trust, in 2016.

Brokerage sources speculated that there may be construction at the 36-foot wide townhouse on East 76th Street he and his wife bought last year. Sources said his estate may look to sell the co-op after the mansion is complete.

Some of the most frequent brokers at 740 Park are Sotheby’s International Real Estate’s Serena Boardman; BHS’ John Burger and Compass’ Kyle Blackmon.

Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and (center) Oceanwide CEO Thomas Feng pictured with a photo of Oceanwide Plaza under construction and a rendering of the project (Credit: Getty Images, Google Maps)

Looming over Staples Center and directly across South Figueroa Street stand three glass skyscrapers. They are part of a $1 billion mixed-use megaproject from Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings Company that promises hundreds of condominiums, a five-star hotel and a massive retail complex.

Though the towers topped out in April 2018, the project is far from complete. Cranes are still bolted to all three buildings, the multistory mall is a concrete skeleton and the block-long site is still a construction site.

Oceanwide Plaza, as it is called, has been suspended since late January when Oceanwide abruptly halted work without warning. A rumbling of activity has periodically been reported at the development, and last week crews were spotted doing minor construction.

When work began in 2015, Oceanwide was part of the free-flowing Chinese capital that poured into large-scale Los Angeles real estate projects. Other China-based firms had similar massive projects, like Greenland USA’s Metropolis, CCCG Overseas Real Estate’s Grand Avenue and Dalian Wanda Group’s One Beverly Hills.

But as the Chinese government began tightening its belt on foreign investment, that flow of cash turned to a trickle. Overall, Chinese investment in Los Angeles fell from a peak in 2016 of $1.5 billion to $211.8 million in 2018, according to Real Capital Analytics. Last year, Dalian Wanda sold its stake in the long-planned One Beverly project.

After Oceanwide suspended construction on its three-tower development, the company’s only statement was that it was recapitalizing the project. Work would resume a couple of weeks later, company officials said, and the project would be done by 2020.

Fast forward to today, and the enormous construction site remains largely empty, a mass of steel, concrete and uncertainty.

The Trump administration’s escalating trade war with China led to higher tariffs and created an unstable economic environment for companies like Oceanwide, industry pros say. Rising construction costs and a U.S. economy that could be headed into recession has only added to the uncertainty.

Chinese developers will likely face a “much higher pressure” on their foreign investments as the country’s currency, the renminbi, depreciates and the Chinese government continues to increase capital controls, said economist William Yu. “I don’t think it’s possible to find a way to move the money out of China right now,” said Yu, who focuses on the L.A. economy and forecasting at UCLA’s Anderson School of Government. That could require Chinese companies like Oceanwide to find alternate sources of financing.

Anthony Rinaldi, CEO of construction firm Rinaldi Group, said Oceanwide’s long project delay could spell potential doom for a development of that size and scope.

“Once you get to a point that a project is eight months behind, that project is dangerously if not fatally affected at this point,” he said. Rinaldi attributed that to higher construction and labor costs, plus the tariffs that “are affecting material prices.”

Oceanwide Plaza’s three towers are projected to house 504 condo units and a 184-key luxury Park Hyatt hotel. In addition to the two 40-story buildings and one 49-story tower, there will be a 166,000-square-foot mall. The Mark Company was tasked with selling the condo units and Kennedy Wilson was tapped to lease its retail component. Representatives from the two firms did not return requests for comment.

The project isn’t the only one that Oceanwide has delayed. In May, it stopped work at the massive Oceanwide Center in San Francisco as it looked for additional financing for what would be that city’s second tallest tower. The project calls for 265 residential units, a 169-key Waldorf Astoria and 1 million square feet of office space. It had been targeted for a 2022 opening.

Mounting debt
While the Chinese developer appears to have funded Oceanwide Plaza itself, the DTLA project is now saddled with debt. Oceanwide did not return repeated calls for comment.

As of the spring, subcontractors said Oceanwide owed them nearly $100 million for work performed at the downtown construction site. Those firms filed a total of nine mechanic liens, which are placed against a property as compensation for unpaid work. Webcor Construction, a subcontractor of multinational giant Lendlease, filed the biggest claim of nearly $53 million.

Oceanwide has also had to contend with an ongoing FBI investigation into potential crimes involving elected city officials and development. Last year, federal authorities sought records related to Oceanwide’s development activity. The investigation appears to center around L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar, who the FBI is investigating over a series of contributions developers made to him, his wife and affiliated causes.

Despite the problems, industry pros who have been following the Oceanwide saga say all is not lost. One of the ways to jumpstart the project, they said, would be to bring in a partner. That, however, would not be an easy task.

The substantial liens mean Oceanwide would first have to pay past due contractor bills. Contractors can also sue to foreclose if the owner continues to refuse payment.

Adding to the uncertain economic environment is that lenders are more cautious about underwriting major projects, said Eric Sussman, a real estate investor.

“Any amount of uncertainty in markets is going to have an economic impact, but we’re talking about [seven-month] delay now,” he said. “It sounds like there may be broader issues.”

Stephen Cheung, executive vice president of the L.A. County Economic Development Corporation, said it’s going to be a “huge challenge” for Chinese firms that operate in the U.S. to effectively leverage their resources and get a good rate on financing.

“Our fear is that if these Chinese investors who have been here since the mid-2000s are not able to complete their projects, that’s going to send a bad signal that Chinese companies can’t make it here,” Cheung said. He is hoping the Oceanwide Plaza project moves forward quickly. “But if not, it will become an eyesore,” he added.

Others, however, remain optimistic.

“It’s a significantly scaled project, which is three-quarters of the way done — that’s too much value to leave on the table,” said Nick Griffin, executive director of the Downtown Center Business Improvement District. “When there’s value on the table, people tend to take it.”

Jan Koum, Ron Meyer and the Malibu house (Credit: Getty Images, Westside Estate Agency, iStock)

It has been a busy summer for massive Los Angeles mansion sales. In July, the Spelling Manor in Beverly Hills sold for a record-breaking $125 million.

And now, NBC Universal executive Ron Meyer unloaded his oceanfront Malibu compound for $100 million, according to Dirt. The buyer is believed to be Jan Koum, co-founder of the messaging service Whatsapp, according to the report. The deal has not closed yet.

Meyer, who is the company’s vice chairman, had been shopping the home privately for about a year, but officially listed the 14,000-square-foot estate for $125 million in January.

That price would have matched the record-breaking Spelling Manor, whose sale made it the most expensive home to have sold in Los Angeles County.

Meyer’s estate features a main home with five bedrooms and six bathrooms, private access to a secluded beach, a large pool and a tennis court. There’s also a spa, and two guest houses.

The property, designed by architect Charles Gwathmey, was the subject of a dispute between Meyer and his former business partner, Disney Michael Ovitz, co-founder of Creative Artists Agency and a past president of Walt Disney Company. Meyer ultimately kept the property — which he purchased from Ovitz for about $5 million — and built the mansion in the late 1990s.

Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency represented both sides of the most recent deal.

Koum and his co-founder, Brian Acton, became billionaires overnight when they sold Whatsapp to Facebook for $19.3 billion in 2014. Kaum has an estimated net worth of north of $10 billion, according to Forbes.

Meyer’s $100 million sale ranks among the biggest deals in the state. Last year, Peter Morton broke a record sold his Carbon Beach estate for $110 million — then a record — to natural gas billionaire Michael Smith.

But the luxury L.A. market has slowed in recent months. Still, the priciest listing remains the massive Chartwell Estate in Bel Air. It the late media mogul Jerry Perenchio’s crown jewel, and has been on the market for $195 million. [Dirt] — Natalie Hoberman

Clockwise from top left: 1171 Chantilly Road, 1677 North Doheny Drive, 2601 Summitridge Drive, 1200 Laurel Way and 750 Sarbonne Road

The top five homes that hit the market last week in Los Angeles County include one in the exclusive Bird Streets neighborhood. Listed at just under $30 million, the home is back on the market after a 32 percent price chop.

Combined, the five listings total $99.6 million.

The properties include another pricey one that’s back on the market: Actress-turned-location scout Ronnie Mellen’s Beverly Hills Post Office. She is seeking $25 million for the small home.

The data and information was pulled from the Multiple Listings Service and Redfin.

1677 N. Doheny Drive | Bird Streets | $29.8 million
The home was first listed for $44 million in 2017. The 32 percent price cut now would pencil the deal out at that price to $2,525 per square foot. The home is located on a 35,464 square foot lot. The 11,780-square-foot home was last purchased for $6.65 million in 2012, and has since been rebuilt. The home was custom-designed by a French family, which acquired the home through an entity registered to Jean-Jacques Allouche. It includes eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a den and library, a theater, and a spa. The property includes a guest house, pool and a 10-car motor court. Tomer Fridman and Sally Forster Jones with Compass have the listing.

2601 Summitridge Drive | Beverly Hills Post Office | $25 million
Mellen’s home has hit the market again for a skyhigh $16,700 per square foot. Located on 3 acres, the home was listed earlier this year for the same price. It includes two bedrooms and two bathrooms with under 1,500 square feet of space. The large property likely accounts for the equally substantial price tag. It is one of nine homes in the Summitridge gated community. The property comes with 24-hour guard protection and a 4,000-pound rock imported from Hawaii. Ginger Glass with Compass has the listing.

1200 Laurel Way | Beverly Hills | $19.9 million
This 13,000-square-foot contemporary residence is now under construction on more than a half-acre lot. The property was designed by architect Paul McClean and interior designer Waldo Fernandez. Craig Williams Construction is building it. The home is expected to be complete next December 2020. It will include six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, and views of both the city and the ocean. The property also includes a pool, fire pit lounge and an automobile gallery. It is owned by Sheldon Mintzberg, CEO at Canada-based Marine Investment Group. The property last sold for $9 million in 2015. Mauricio Umansky and Amir Jawaherian with The Agency have the listing.

750 Sarbonne Road | Bel Air | $14 million
North of UCLA and Sunset Boulevard, a nearly 40-year-old property has hit the market. The home 5,952 square feet and includes six bedrooms, six-and-a-half bathrooms, a game room with a bar, a sauna and a gym. The deal listing pencils out to about $2,351 per square foot. The home spans more than half an acre and includes a pool and pool house. It is owned by Chantelle Burnison. Jade Mills with Coldwell Banker has the listing.

1171 Chantilly Road | Bel Air | $11 million
The 10,670-square-foot Medeiterranean Villa was built in 2004, and includes six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a theater, surveillance security and a wine room. It measures out to about $1,030 per square foot. The owner is Shahin Abrishamchian, president of National Adult Day Health Care Inc. The property also includes a pool, a spa, and water walls. David Kramer with Hilton & Hyland and Akhtar Barlava with Coldwell Banker have the listing.

Camber Creek’s Jake Fingert, Jeff Berman, and Casey Berman (Credit: LinkedIn)

Camber Creek, a venture capital firm focused on real estate tech, is targeting $120 million for its largest fund to date.

Launched in 2011, Camber Creek has raised $50 million to date — including an initial $20 million fund and a $30 million second fund in 2017. The company filed paperwork for its latest capital raise with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month.

It’s invested significantly in real estate technology, backing more than 20 companies, including Latch, VTS, 42Floors (which was acquired by Knotel), Nestio and Vornado spin-off Why Hotel.

Camber Creek is based in New York and Maryland, and its investor base includes real estate owners and managers, who collectively own 150 million square feet of commercial real estate nationwide. Camber Creek’s general partners include cousins Casey and Jeffrey Berman, whose family firm Berman Enterprises owns and manages 11 million square feet of real estate, as well as Jake Fingert, a former policy advisor to President Obama.

Representatives for Camber Creek did not comment, citing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule against doing so.

Camber Creek is one of many firms re-upping their bets on proptech. New York-based MetaProp, a VC fund and incubator, is raising $100 million for a new fund, The Real Deal reported in May.
And last month, Fifth Wall closed a $503 million fund focused on real estate tech — the largest of its kind to date.  Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Brick & Mortar Ventures, founded by Bechtel scion Darren Bechtel, launched a $100 million fund focused exclusively on construction tech.
And, of course, SoftBank is planning a second $100 billion Vision Fund.

Overall investment in real estate tech startups topped $12.9 billion during the first half of 2019, up from a record $12.7 billion in all of 2017.

Just last week, two WeWork rivals announced new funding rounds. Knotel announced a $400 million round led by Wafra, the investment arm of the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Kuwait, bumping its valuation to north of $1.3 billion. A day later, Industrious said it had raised $80 million.

Michael Sorochinsky, Steven Fifield, Mike Parrell, and Next on Sixth

Multifamily giant Equity Residential is investing big in booming Koreatown and adding to its portfolio of Los Angeles properties.

The Sam Zell-led firm paid $189 million for the 398-unit Next on Sixth apartment building at 620 S. Virgil Avenue, according to Los Angeles County property records. The seller, Santa Monica-based Century West Partners, completed the development last year.

The 362,580-square-foot property was one of the largest projects to open in the L.A. area last year. Rents for studio units come in around $2,000 per month, according to the property’s website.

Century West was founded by Chicago-based developer Steven Fifield of Fifield Companies and Los Angeles-based Cypress Equity Investments’ CEO Michel Sorochinsky. The firm picked up the Next on Sixth development site in 2014 for $21 million and received permits for the seven-story building the following year.

Century West and Fifield are currently pursuing similar projects elsewhere in the L.A. area. In April, Fifield took out an $81.7 million construction loan for the second phase of a $150 million multifamily project in Venice. The Catherine Santa Monica residential development will have 282 units and 25,000 square feet of retail space.

The joint venture is also looking to build a 310-unit development in Monrovia, where the Metro Gold Line’s Monrovia Station opened in 2016.

Equity Residential, a real estate investment trust, saw a leadership change last year. Longtime CEO David Neithercut retired and was replaced by Mark Parrell. Zell is chairman of the company and its parent company Equity Group Investments.

The firm owns dozens of properties in the L.A. area and is one of the largest multifamily landlords in the country, but recently its been Zell’s off-color and vulgar comments that have put it in headlines, not its deals. Last summer, Zell came under fire for vulgar comments made about women.

Transwestern CEO Carleton Riser and the Inland Empire property

The Inland Empire’s industrial clout keeps getting more powerful.

Transwestern Development Company has acquired a 22-acre site in Eastvale, where it will construct two buildings, comprising 338,00 square feet, it announced.

Work on the property, which Transwestern says is one of the last land parcels in the area, will begin in December and is expected to be complete next summer.

The larger building will total 267,650 square feet and the smaller one 70,700 square feet. Texas-based Transwestern’s project was designed by HPA. The general contractor is Fullmer Construction, and CBRE is the leasing team.

The site is in the Inland Empire West submarket, an area that has led the nation in large warehouse leases and has a current vacancy rate of 1.9 percent. That’s substantially lower than the national average of 4.4 percent, according to Transwestern.

Demand for logistics and distribution centers has expanded as e-commerce has grown and has propelled the Inland Empire to the top location for warehouse real estate.

Earlier this month, ASB Real Estate Investments bought the 1 million-square-foot Columbia Business Park distribution facility for $124 million from Washington Capital Management and Trammell Crow. Dedeaux Properties also purchased 1 million square feet of industrial space in the Inland Empire this month.

Earlier this year, Exeter Property Group paid $97.8 million for a 806,300-square-foot property in the Inland Empire.

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up Los Angeles’ biggest real estate news. We update this page at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. PT. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

This page was last updated at 9 a.m. PT

With redesign, La Brea Tarpits’ kitschy charm may go the way of the dinosaur. L.A. County officials are considering three competing designs for the Hancock Park attraction. All would see significant redesigns of the grounds and new structures. Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s proposal entails moving the iconic fiberglass mammoth that has been in the tar pits for decades into a gallery. [LAT]

Ex-church official in Huntington Beach charged with siphoning money from sale of church property. Charles Thomas Sebesta allegedly stole $11 million from the bank accounts of Fifth Church of Christ following the 2008 sale of church property. Investigators allege he used $2 million to buy a home for himself and sometimes impersonated an unnamed “prominent real estate executive” to cover up his fraud. [KTLA]

Transwestern acquires 22-acre Inland Empire site for big industrial development. The Texas-based developer plans to build two warehouses with a total of around 340,000 square feet of space. The Inland Empire has an industrial vacancy rate of 1.9 percent. Demand is being driven by what has remained a tight L.A. County industrial market. [TRD]

Michael Sorochinsky, Steven Fifield, Mike Parrell, and Next on Sixth

Equity Residential buys Koreatown resi complex for $189 million. The seller, Century West Partners, completed the 398-unit Next on Sixth apartment complex last year. It was one of the priciest projects of the year. [TRD]

Famed “Dynasty” mansion has a new owner. The Pasadena estate, known for its starring role in the “Dynasty” television show, sold for $15.6 million. That’s about 44 percent less than its original asking price of $28 million back in 2017. Dubbed the Arden Villa, it was built in 1913. [LAT]

One of WeWork’s key backers is also a landlord to the company. Rhone Group co-founder Steven Langman was an early investor and oversees executive pay and succession at the co-working firm. Langman also runs a funds that leases properties to the company, raising conflict-of-interest concerns similar to those that founder Adam Neumann has faced in the past. [WSJ]

The hotel branding boom could get messy in a downturn. Market demands have pushed hotel management companies to launch more and more brands over the past several years, but given the complexities of the hotel industry, discontinuing a brand in a recession can easily result in a legal and logistical mess, analysts say. [NYT]

Chinese real estate portal Juwai has struck partnerships with several top North American firms. The partners include Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Surterre Properties, and Engel & Völkers Americas. The website (whose name means “live overseas”) claims 2.8 million listings from 91 countries and more than 3.3 million monthly Chinese-speaking users. [Inman]

FROM THE CITY’S RECORDS:

A developer wants to build a 50-unit apartment building at 1047 S. Fedora Street in Pico-Union. The TOC project would be six stories and five units would be set aside for “extremely low-income” renters. [LADCP]

Four of Los Angeles’ top 5 home sales last week

The five priciest home sales in Los Angeles County last week totaled $30.3 million, a slight uptick from the week before.

The top deals of the week — four are located in the Westside — closed for between $4.7 million and $9.8 million. The oldest property was a home on the Sunset Strip built in 1910, and the newest was one in Beverly Hills Post Office completed last year. A Swiss diplomat’s home in Hancock Park was also among the top sales.

Data and information has been pulled from the Multiple Listings Service and Redfin.

1 The Century | Unit TH A | Westwood | $9.8M
Actor Matthew Perry recently listed his penthouse at this condo tower for $35 million. Last week, however, this was the one that sold. The five-bedroom unit spans over 6,000 square feet across three levels at the base of the tower. The unit includes a wraparound terrace with a fireplace, a massive chef’s kitchen, private home theater, along with other amentities like automated shades and drapery system.

424 S. Windsor Boulevard | Hancock Park | $6M
This 6,000-square-foot home in central L.A. was the former official residence of the Consul General of Switzerland. Built in 1921, the Spanish Revival-style home has four main bedrooms, including a master suite with a balcony and fireplace, as well as two bedrooms for staff. The interiors have hardwood floors and original moldings, terracotta and ironwork.

548 Dryad Road | Santa Monica Canyon | $5M
The smallest home among the top sales is a three-bedroom, four-bathroom property in the Santa Monica Canyon, a neighborhood within the city of L.A. The 1960s-era home has bare wood beams, a master bedroom with its own fireplace and balcony and a walled backyard.

1151 N. Doheny Drive | Hollywood | $4.8M
Just north of the Sunset Strip, this 3,600-square-foot home includes four bedrooms and dates to 1910. It sold for $1,337 per square foot. The Mediterranean-style main home has hardwood floors, a large living room, and a breakfast room. There’s also a guest unit above a detached garage.

1845 Coldwater Canyon Drive | Beverly Hills Post Office | $4.7M
Rounding out the top sales is a 4,800-square-foot Modern home completed last year. The house sits behind a gated front court and has an open floor plan with retractable walls and high ceilings. The basement includes a game room with a wet bar and screening room. The backyard includes a pool, an outdoor kitchen, and fire pit.