HOLLYWOOD: Something (probably a rehab) is afoot at the Cinegrill sign on the Roosevelt Hotel. A tipster takes this photo and writes: "Looks like they're taking it down to the metal." [Curbed Inbox]
MID-WILSHIRE: What's up with the imposing/cool Scottish Rite Masonic Temple on Wilshire Blvd.? An emailer asks: "any idea what is going on with the masonic temple on Wilshire near the Wilshire Ebell? There was a for sale sign on it forever but now it's gone. would love to see what's inside." Wouldn't we all. The inactive Loopnet listing says the building has "a 2,000 seat live stage theater with mezzanine, various, meeting rooms, and offices, a large ballroom on the top floor, three elevators, and one service elevator." It was designed by Millard Sheets, who designed the Home Savings bank buildings (now mostly Chases). According to the LA Business Journal, the Scottish Rite Cathedral Association put the building up for sale in late 2010 asking $13.5 million. [Curbed Inbox]
Last fall, seismic experts hired by Metro reported that a subway tunnel could safely be built under Beverly Hills High School (allowing a station in central Century City), so the Beverly Hills city council commissioned a study of that study, and have now, unsurprisingly, found them flawed, reports the Beverly Hills Patch. The Beverly Hills evaluation by Exponent Failure Analysis "casts doubt on [Metro's] Parson [Brinkerhoff] study and its methods. Exponent found that the Parson study employs a 'simplistic' methodology of studies and that post-construction operational safety issues were never considered in stating that tunneling under BHHS would be safe." Coincidence or not, Beverly Hills has railed against the Purple Line extension running under Beverly Hills High School, arguing for different route that would put a station at Santa Monica Blvd. and Ave. of the Stars (which is near an earthquake fault, according to Metro). Meanwhile, the very-anti-tunneling Beverly Hills Unified School District is doing their own evaluation. Though preliminary findings made it seem like those findings may reinforce the Metro report, a comment on the Patch story from BHUSD's board of education president implies the reverse.
Beverly Hills High School
241 Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills, CA
USA
34.0626
-118.411
A fresh new parking policy is on the way in one of the city's older (but recently hip) neighborhoods--earlier this week, the Los Angeles City Council approved a pilot project that will create a special parking credit system along Glendale Boulevard in Atwater Village. The pilot program, only the second of its kind in LA (after a program on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock), will create the Atwater Village Pedestrian Oriented District, which will allow businesses from the LA River to the border with Glendale to satisfy "parking requirements by obtaining parking credits...in lieu of complying with the Code's parking requirements," according to the language of the ordinance. In other words: less parking required. The program is meant to preserve the neighborhood's building frontages, most of which are positioned tight to the street, rather than in LA's more common stripmall configuration. Mott Smith, founder of developer/consultant Civic Enterprises Associates, tells Curbed: "The program doesn't create parking; it uses available parking to spur economic development," adding that because the cost of building parking is so prohibitive, businesses will now have an easier time launching on this corridor. He sasy the program is similar to the one that led to the revitalization of Old Town Pasadena.
Where Angelenos are looking to move
Trulia's released its latest Metro Movers Report, which looks at where people live now and where they're searching for houses--it covers October 1 through December 31, 2011 (the last edition showed Angelenos were itching to get to Riverside). Besides finding that everyone seems to want to move to Florida, this time around they looked at where locals want to move within their own cities. Here are the top five zip codes that Angelenos are checking out in Los Angeles:
-- 91436, Encino
-- 90036, Fairfax/Mid-Wilshire/Hancock Park
-- 90066, Mar Vista
-- 90064, West LA/Cheviot Hills/Rancho Park
-- 91604, Studio City
Since 2003, editors at Architectural Digest have chosen a designer for the Academy Awards green room at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland (see past years' designs, with work from Stephen Shadley, Dorothy Draper & Co., and Roy Christopher, in the slideshow). Curbed National reports that this year's interior designer is Waldo Fernandez--he's worked on homes for Elizabeth Taylor and Brad Pitt, as well as interiors for the Beverly Hilton and the Soho House in West Hollywood. Fernandez, who studied architecture and design at UCLA, says he was inspired by thirties and forties Hollywood, specifically "the Billy Haines-decorated Beverly Hills home of director George Cukor." More on Fernandez here.
· Waldo Fernandez Designs This Year's Oscar Greenroom [Curbed National]
· Waldo's Designs [AD]
Kodak Theatre
6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
USA
34.102
-118.34
For those of you with one eye on the periphery, the Santa Clarita Valley Signal reports movement on the Tejon Ranch project in southern Kern County, one of the most controversial development plans in the state. Public comment is open on two draft documents that address environmental impacts, especially relating to 27 plant and animal species in the area (most notably, the California Condor). The documents--a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement and the Draft Tehachapi Uplands Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan--are available for public review and comment until May 3, 2012. The Tejon Ranch's biggest component is the Centennial town project, which would include "more than 23,000 condominiums, apartments, and single-family homes, along with commercial developments."
Would you like this handsome limited edition "[Jason] Schwartzman Celebrates [John] Baldessari" poster, made to go along with Schwartzman and Baldessari's Pacific Standard Time video? You can't get it anywhere else and it would go nicely with Schwartzman's cousin Nicolas Cage's old place in the Biscuit Lofts (which we assume you are planning to buy). All you have to do to get your hands on the poster and lots of fascinating news on LA real estate and neighborhoods is sign up for the Curbed LA newsletter. Further info on winning will appear in the newsletter soon. And stay tuned, we've also got "Anthony Kiedis Celebrates Ed Ruscha" and "Ice Cube Celebrates the Eames" posters to get rid of.
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Welcome to Episode 201 of HGTV's Selling LA. Each Thursday night we join local brokers and their clients as they try to sell or buy high-end properties in a tough market. This week we're following Valerie Fitzgerald and the amazingly lovely Marisa Zanuck. Let's begin.
At the beginning of this week's episode, Valerie Fitzgerald of the eponymously named real estate agency meets with client Christine Holifield, the president and CEO of Van Nuys-based Elite Aviation. Christine explains that she is ready to unload the monster of a house she purchased with Valerie's help ten years ago. She's been leasing out the house for the past six months while living in her other home, but now she wants to sell the 18,000 square foot house in order to free herself of one of her mortgages. See, the rich really are just like us. Christine also informs Valerie that she needs to sell the house quickly--specifically within six months. We assume that is when the tenants are scheduled to leave.
534 Barnaby Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90077
USA
34.079
-118.454
Actor/director/escort Vincent Gallo is quite the Downtown real estate investor. He picked up the infamous penthouse in the Arts District's Biscuit Lofts for $2.34 million in late 2009; a tipster tells us he paid cash and that it's just one in "a vast real estate portfolio" he owns in the area (including at least one other unit in the Biscuits). Nicolas Cage rented the bananas four-story penthouse in 2008 and we're told he's the only one who's ever lived in it (we also hear he asked Gallo if he could lease it again, but Gallo decided to sell instead).
Biscuit Lofts
1850 Industrial St., Los Angeles, CA
USA
34.0355
-118.233
They've got a legion of imitators, but no one's got the formula for flea market chic staging down better than Better Shelter's Steve Jones. (Hi, Hermes blanket!) The flipmeister's latest offering is located on College View Avenue a few blocks south of Yosemite Drive in Eagle Rock. A significantly larger property than their usual wee bungalows, the 1920s Tudor features five bedrooms, three baths, a formal dining room, den/library, two woodburning fireplaces, hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, Carrera marble countertops, dual zone heating and air conditioning, a tankless hot water heater, and a two-car garage. Purchased for $420,000 in September, the 2,632 square foot residence hit the market today with an asking price of $799,000 and a sale status of "pending," though backup offers are still being accepted.
· 4774 COLLEGE VIEW Ave [Redfin]
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