Curbed LA: All Posts by AlisonLove where you live2006-10-12T15:01:44-07:00https://la.curbed.com/authors/alison3026029/rss2006-10-12T15:01:44-07:002006-10-12T15:01:44-07:00Loft Bimbo Goes Bicoastal
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<p> While in NYC this past weekend visiting the 'rents, I spotted this familiar blonde in the real estate pages of the NY Times. The toothsome cutie is also the poster girl for the <a href="http://www.hbg.com/standard_pacific_homes/redwood_lofts.aspx">Redwood Lofts</a> now selling in the Marina Loft District in SoCo (South of Costco). In fact, it's not just the same model, it's the same photo: the black pants, the wifebeater, the tasteful, tousled hair, the odd, heart-shaped chair and the exposed brick walls are now being used to shill <a href="http://www.700grove.com">"huge, beautiful condominiums at a great price!"</a> albeit in Jersey City ("on Hoboken's border"). </p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/10/12/10601462/loft-bimbo-goesAlison2006-07-18T10:23:23-07:002006-07-18T10:23:23-07:00Posh in Palmdale
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<p>Want a McMansion for half a milllion? Try Palmdale. A front-page story in the L.A. Times reports on the swanky model homes and burgeoning granite-countertop crop in Antelope Valley in West Lancaster. Lancaster is L.A.'s fastest growing city. Neighboring Palmdale is also booming. A handful of developers are plunking down huge communities--and selling their tricked-out homes for a fraction of the prices they fetch in tonier areas. The catch? Ninety minute commutes to L.A. and strains on local services like schools and police. Oh, and we should mention that there was a high of 102 in Lancaster yesterday. <br>· <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-me-antelope18jul18,0,66703.story?coll=la-home-business">Antelope Valley Is Upscale Bound</a> [LA Times]</p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/7/18/10604042/posh-in-palmdalAlison2006-06-19T14:38:52-07:002006-06-19T14:38:52-07:00Top Models
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<p>Last weekend, even though we are scared of freeway driving, we took a trip to Santa Clarita to see the latest wrinkle in model homes (Full disclosure: "we" noodged a ride from our friend the LA Times op-ed columnist--but she gets reimbursed for miles!). Anyway, Home Life is a program developed by the PR firm Roddan Paolucci Roddan for Centex Homes. Not content to scatter around glass bowls of seashells and displays of permanent botancials (that's fake flowers to you), the impressarios behind Home Life put working actors into model homes to play a family. How low on the food chain do L.A. actors have to be to take this type of gig? Suffice it to say, Santa Clarita is way, way off-Broadway. <br>· <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/realestate/18nati.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">Model Homes for Model Families</a> [NY Times]<br>· <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-daum17jun17,1,4182841.column?coll=la-util-op-ed&ctrack=1&cset=true">Models Hawking Model Homes</a> [LA Times]</p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/6/19/10604894/top-models-1Alison2006-06-07T11:28:06-07:002006-06-07T11:28:06-07:00Would You Like a Condo with that Cocktail?
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<p>This Sunday, June 11, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., you can get a close-up look at the striking <strong>Michael Folonis, AIA-designed condos</strong> at 235 Ocean Park in Santa Monica at a splashy open house/cocktail party hosted by deasypenner & partners. Apparently at least one of the three attached townhomes is still on the market. Perhaps <strong>a few glasses of Chardonnay</strong> will entice some smitten looky-loo to become a real buyer. The units have 2 bedrooms, 2.75 baths, sleek kitchens and two-car garages and are priced at around $1.5 million each. While we're planning to attend in regulation cocktail attire, we suggest leaving the three-inch high wedges at home because these units are tall and skinny with lots of stairs. Look at it this way: you'll easily burn off the calories of those drinks and munchies. </p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/6/7/10605306/would-you-likeAlison2006-05-18T14:22:22-07:002006-05-18T14:22:22-07:00Koreatown Rising
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<p>Last night was the invite-only unveiling of The Mercury, the 1963 modernist 23-story office tower, formerly the Getty Oil headquarters, that is now being transformed by Forest City Development into 238 "loft condos." This is after an attempt to market the property as a luxury rental a couple of years ago went belly-up. The developers are touting the dramatic views and the building's architectural pedigree. Hipsters may warm to its HMS Bounty- and Wiltern LG Theater-adjacent location. There's also a Metro stop right there and a Ralphs supermarket (take that, Downtown Ralphs-anticipators!). </p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/5/18/10605902/koreatown-risinAlison2006-05-01T09:53:55-07:002006-05-01T09:53:55-07:00Don't Quit Your Day Job
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<p>If you've always imagined that your real estate agent would rather be playing the Troubador than sitting an open house, come out to Echo Park restaurant Taix (1911 W. Sunset Blvd, 213-484-1265) this Saturday, May 6, when a quartet of Keller Williams agents and part-time rockers will take the stage. <strong>"The Agents"</strong> are Los Feliz-based Caroline Luat (AKA Pinky Jonze) on guitars and lead vocals, Bruce Seid on guitars/vocals, <a href="http://www.lavintagehomes.com">Brian Moore</a> on bass and Irvine-based Damion Lords on drums/vocals. Our condolences to the four dudes at William Morris and UTA just getting their set list ironed out, but "The Agents" sounds so much better than "The Brokers" or even "The Realtors." </p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/5/1/10606510/dont-quit-your-1Alison2006-04-13T10:15:15-07:002006-04-13T10:15:15-07:00Bubble? What Bubble?
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<p>A front-page <b>LA Times</b> piece brings more bad news to those who are waiting out what they hope is a <b>real estate bubble</b> and more smug self-satisfaction for those of us with mortgages: don't expect that bubble to burst any time soon, as prices are continuing to rise. With even grody two-bedroom condos in Playa del Rey now costing half a million dollars, that overpriced fixer-upper in Echo Park with no foundation that you passed up two, three or four years ago starts to look like a colossal missed opportunity. A UCLA economist offers some balm for those who haven't managed to jump into the market, arguing that we are due for some <b>flattening</b> by year's end. <br>· <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homes13apr13,0,237943.story?coll=la-home-business">Housing Prices in L.A. Aren't Letting Up</a> [LA Times]</p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/4/13/10607078/bubble-what-bubAlison2006-03-28T11:24:18-08:002006-03-28T11:24:18-08:00Bug Colony
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<p>No, the circus has not come to Ocean Park. And there have been no Christo sightings in the Main Street Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. These stylish tarps, courtesy of the Western Exterminating Company, enshrouded Sea Colony III yesterday, arguably the swankiest condominiums South of Pico. An entry-level, unspectacular unit (typically featuring Grandma-era decor and a view of the interior of the complex) sells for around $895K, while the primo ocean-view units sell for upwards of $1.5 mil. While the building's on-site, 24-hour security guard can keep the looky-loos and takeout delivery guys at bay, he is no match for termites. </p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/3/28/10607632/bug-colony-2Alison2006-03-15T08:17:48-08:002006-03-15T08:17:48-08:00Developers Big on "City West"
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<p>The LA Times today reports on <b>City West</b>, the area on the other side of 110 Freeway from Downtown. If you can't picture the location, it's near the "Italianate" (well, that's one way of saying it) Medici apartment complex right near the freeway entrance. Vacant office towers, dodgy hotels and surface parking lots are being converted into spiffy rentals like the Flats, located in a converted Holiday Inn. Developers also plan to convert the 37-story 1100 Wilshire office tower into lofts. <b>Los Angeles Center Studios</b>, located in the former Unocal building, is adding heat to the area. <br><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-citywest15mar15,0,5856921.story?coll=la-home-headlines">City West Catches Up With the Vision</a><a times href=""></a></p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/3/15/10608040/developers-big-1Alison2006-02-23T12:33:32-08:002006-02-23T12:33:32-08:00Dueling Lloyd Wrights in Los Feliz
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<p>In a rare real estate harmonic convergence, two <b>Lloyd Wright</b> (son of you-know-who, architecture mavens) properties in Los Feliz hit the market this week. One is the 1928 <b>Samuels-Navarro House</b> in the Los Feliz Oaks. It's three beds, three baths and $3,100,000. The broker is <strike>Brian Linder, AIA, of Keller-Williams (formerly of Mossler & Doe, see below)</strike> Samantha Cooper, Sotheby's International Realty. Looky-loos can check it out on Sunday, Feb. 26, from 1-4 at 2255 Verde Oak Drive. You'll need to make an appointment to see the 1926 <b>Sowden House</b> on Franklin Avenue in Los Feliz, notable for its Mayan-inspired facade. Price is also upon request, but there are seven bedrooms and six bathrooms, so blended families are welcome! It's listed with Billy Rose and Blair Chang of Mossler & Doe. <br>· <a href="http://www.tvoa.net">Samuels-Navarro House</a> [TVOA]<br>· <a href="http://www.architectureforsale.com/address_search.php?property_ID=567">Sowden House</a> [Architecture for Sale]</p>
https://la.curbed.com/2006/2/23/10608648/dueling-lloyd-wAlison