Santa Monica Property Blog

HOW GREEN RENNOVATIONS PAY OFF

 Green remodeling can pay off — not only in lowered utility bills, but also in buyer appeal when the property is sold.

Green Seal Certified

Here are some green things to consider:

~ Energy-efficient products. Choose Energy Star appliances, double-paned windows, low-flush toilets, and compact fluorescent light bulbs.

~ Spray foam insulation. Seal the home with insulation that doesn’t let the heat or cooled air leak out.

~ Sustainable wood flooring. Select flooring certified by Forest Stewardship Council, which protects forests by managing the amount of wood harvested annually.

~ Locally made products. Buy products made less than 250 miles away to reduce transportation costs. Granite, for instance, is generally imported from afar.

~ Nontoxic paint. Use paint that is low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — chemicals that evaporate into the atmosphere. Look for Green Seal certified brands.

Source:

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2007123106?OpenDocument

IS THE LOCAL MULTIUNIT MARKET STILL A SAFE INVESTMENT?

IS THE LOCAL MULTIUNIT MARKET STILL A SAFE INVESTMENT?

 by Jodi Summers

The Los Angeles apartment building market has always been considered to be a safe area of investment because of the constantly growing segment of Los Angelinos just cannot afford to buy a house. And…studies are showing that it is still a good place to shelter money in a scary economy.

The official dictum from the most recent Marcus & Millichap study notes “Apartment market fundamentals in Los Angeles are expected to soften mildly through year-end 2008, though vacancy will still be one of the lowest rates in the nation.”

“It’s true, my vacancies are up,” confirms Mike, a Santa Monica multiunit property owner.

The study reports on rental trends and investment activity in the third quarter of this year. The study does reveal that a weakening job base has produced “a notable uptick in vacancy over the past year” in 26 of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area’s 37 class A submarkets. Despite these vacancy upticks, “Healthy demand and solid rent growth will fuel investor interest in the quarters ahead,” Marcus & Millichap forecasts, although it expects that “deal flow will remain measured as tightened lending criteria continue to shrink the pool of active buyers.”

The latest U.S. Labor Market Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that in the U.S., total nonfarm employment fell by -159,000 jobs in September.  This was worse than the August drop-off of -73,000 jobs and the biggest monthly decline since March 2003.

The report says sales have slowed by 37% on a year-over-year basis, attributed to a drop-off in 1031-exchange activity and “a more diminished role from leverage-dependent investors,”. Apartment properties have traded at cap rates averaging in the mid- to high-5% spectrum over the past year and are expected to stay in that range through the remainder of 2008.

If the Democrats get into office, and the capital gains tax rises to the proposed 28% - multiunit demand should again increase.

Another trend is that apartment owners are asking for smaller rent increases, with asking rents expected to rise 4.4% to $1,489 by year-end 2008, while effective rents will gain 4.3% to $1,440. To the contrary, RealFacts research notes that Los Angeles area rents average of $1,661, but RealFacts focuses more on institutional-grade assets.

The RealFacts figures rank Los Angeles as the fifth-highest rental market in the country. Its $1,661 average rent compares with an average of $2,272 in the Greater New York area, the highest in the nation, followed by Bridgeport-Stamford at $2,179, Greater Boston at 1,905 and San Jose, CA at $1,708.

“I live in Santa Monica, it would be great if the City would, just once, allow us to raise rents to a price equal to the cost of living increase,” concludes Mike. “In 2008 they let us raise rent a whopping 3.7% while my expenses on the unit went up more like 5.8%.”

That’s the Mark Obrinsky, vice president of research and chief economist for the National Multi Housing Council is of the feeling that, “The excess supply of for-sale single-family and condominium residences continues to weigh heavily on the multifamily sector, and a correction isn’t expected until at least 2010.”

Contributing information  from:

 http://www.globest.com/news/1275_1275/losangeles/174779-1.html

http://laedc.org/eedge/archive/2008/ee081006.html#1

http://www.strongwell.com/news/images/2007_12.jpg

http://flickr.com/photos/48600074651@N01/192579719

http://www.globest.com/news/1268_1268/insider/174611-1.html?sector=multifamily

http://www.you-are-here.com/sunset/sierra_tower.html

http://www.archstoneapartments.com/Apartments/California/Los_Angeles/Archstone_Santa_Monica_on_Main/

http://www.apartments.com/partner/avsummary.aspx?page=avsummary&property=102343.122&p=AptHL&prvpg=8&partner=AptHL&prvpg=8&ahlp=182863&prvpg=8&index=0&type=photo#photosmedia

DANCING PRESIDENTS

As a holiday delight, please enjoy these disco dancing presidents courtesy of www.elfyourself.com

Click on

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/9L025guZb3dngeLSREh0

and prepare yourself for some holiday cheer.

QUONSET HUTS + WWII IN SANTA MONICA

In a quest to update you on Santa Monica’s landmarks, allow up to tantelize you with Santa Monica Landmark 80. – The Quonset hut @ 829 Broadway.

QUONSET HUTS + WWII IN SANTA MONICA

World War II had special significance in Santa Monica, but the City forgot to landmark the Douglas plant at SM Airport, and thus using deductive reasoning, they decided to landmark Quonset hut @ 829 Broadway.

Long time locals will remember the hut as having been an odds and ends and surplus store.

The subject property at 829 Broadway was evaluated against two applicable associated historic contexts: The history of military architecture and technology; and the architectural history of the early-postwar (1945-1950) in the United States.

Local historians note that World War II affected Santa Monica more than most places, as the Federal Government (for national security reasons) leased the Airport from the City to provide protection for Douglas Aircraft - then a major defense contractor located in Sunset Park. The government also participated in the expansion of the facility to accommodate the ever-growing production of military aircraft by Douglas Aircraft -> it was during this time that the Airport grew in size to its present 227 acres, employing 40,000 individuals.

The History of the Quonset Hut

The design of the Quonset hut emerged from the design of the WW I British Nissen hut. The Nissen design involved a more complicated system of corrugated metal panels both inside and out and depended solely on the air space between the two for its thermal barrier. The government determined that the Nissen hut was too problematic to ship and put up quickly and easily. 

The first Quonset Hut design was completed within 60 days by a team headed by Bauhaus-influenced Dutch engineer Peter Dejongh. T-Rib Quonsets instantly provided U.S. troops with a greater level of comfort than could be provided by tents with wooden platforms typically used at that time. There were typically two versions of the Quonset, the T-rib and Redesign.  The Santa Monica Quonset is of the Redesign variety.

Wikipedia describes the Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized iron having a semicircular cross section. The design was based on the Nissen hut developed by the British during World War I. The name comes from their site of first manufacture, Quonset Point, at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville Rhode Island.

The original design was a 16 by 36 ft structure framed with steel members with an 8 ft radius. The sides were corrugated steel sheets. The two ends were covered with plywood, which had doors and windows. The interior was insulated and had pressed wood lining and a wood floor. The building could be placed on concrete, on pilings, or directly on the ground with a wood floor.

The  standard size of 20 by 48 ft hut could be shipped in a 450-cubic-foot crate. Once the United States entered World War II in 1941, the Quonset hut was used as a mobile temporary building . The flexible interior space was open, allowing for use as barracks, latrines, offices, medical and dental offices, isolation wards, housing, and bakeries.

Between 150,000-170,000 Quonset huts were manufactured during World War II. After the war, the U.S. military sold the surplus Quonset huts to the public for $1,000 each. Huts were put to a variety of uses including housing for veterans and their families, churches and repair shops. 

The Modern Quonset huts helped the nation transition from wartime to the postwar-era by offering an affordable, adaptable, “building-in-a-box” that allowed people to construct a home or business with minimal cost and effort. Locally, a 112-acre area of Griffith Park that had been used as an air strip during the war set up Quonset huts were used as temporary housing for returning veterans who could not find other housing. Eventually 750 huts were brought to “Roger Young Village,” and over 5,000 people lived in the Quonset community until it was disassembled in 1954.

There are currently no Quonset Huts listed on the National Register, though there are many local landmarks, including The Royal Theater, 22nd Street S., St. Petersburg, Florida, 1948; one of three African-American movie houses in St. Petersburg during the Jim Crow era. The only Quonset huts ever listed on the National Register were destroyed by a tornado in the 1990s.

The subject west Quonset hut appears to be the last World War II-era Quonset hut in the City of Santa Monica that retains its integrity. This is a unique property for the City to landmark, as the Landmarks Commission usually evaluates buildings or other structures that were built as part of Santa Monica’s historical fabric.  But what about a structure that was fabricated somewhere else and got placed here? The Quonset Hut’s historical importance comes from its relationship to events that had no special relationship to Santa Monica.   Quonset huts reflect a period, a style, and a method of construction, but should they be kept in a neighborhood where land prices can average in excess of $10,000,000 per acre?

Find out about all of Santa Monica’s landmarks @ www.SantaMonicaLandmarks.com.

http://www.nissens.co.uk/default.htm

http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/columns/FrankGruber/FG-2007/12_2007/12_10_2007_Landmarking_Another_History.htm

http://www01.smgov.net/airport/n_airport_h.aspx

http://www.microworks.net/PACIFIC/aviation/r4d_gooneybird.htm

http://www.preservela.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=206&Itemid=37&addcomment=1#mcform

http://www.nationaltrust.org/magazine/archives/arch_story/111403.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quonset_hut

http://www.quonsethuts.org/index.htm

http://stpete.org/RoyalTheater.htm

http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/ryvgolf.jpg

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt0t1nc8nh/?brand=calisphere

http://www.recentpast.org/types/quonset/quonaud/index.html

Art Auction on eBay to Benefit Pier’s Twilight Dance Series

Art Auction on eBay to Benefit Pier’s Twilight Dance Series

An Art Auction benefiting the Pier’s summer Twilight Dance Series is on eBay now through December 19.

One of the Twilight Dance Series sponsors, Naked Juice, commissioned local artists to create paintings at each of the ten concerts. Now the paintings are available for bid on eBay.

To view the paintings, please click on the link:

http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=Naked+Juice+Painting+Auction&_sacat=0&_fromfs

For more information, please visit www.santamonicapier.org  or call 310.458.8901.

Survey: The World’s Next Great Cities

Survey: The World’s Next Great Cities

 by Jodi Summers

Cities that were not so long ago little more than big fishing villages are rising to global commercial prominence.

Here are the top 10 emerging cities:

1. Shanghai, China
2. Beijing, China
3. Budapest Hungary
4. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
5. Santiago, Chile
6. Guangzhou, China
7. Mexico City, Mexico
8. Warsaw, Poland
9. Bangkok Thailand
10. Shenzhen, China

Source: Forbes, Matt Woolsey (10/23/08)

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2008102804?OpenDocument

Chrysalis Offers Free End of Year Recycling

December 2008

Dear Colleague:

Did you know that Chrysalis is a City of Los Angeles Recycling Provider? AND, if your office is moving, or purging a large volume of old paper and files, we will provide FREE CONTAINERS AND PICKUP for this end of the year cleanup.

Some items we will collect and recycle, include:

• Outdated marketing materials like brochures, newsletters, annual reports, and catalogs
• Duplicate documents, old files and outdated reading materials
• Outdated letterhead, business cards and envelopes
• Obsolete blueprints and architectural plans
• Expired forms and time-sensitive documentation

Chrysalis can also provide some additional labor to remove the paper from your office - you don’t need to do the work!

For more information about Chrysalis Recycling, call me at 310- 401-9382, email stoffr@changelives.org or visit ChrysalisEnterprises.com.

Please feel free to forward to anyone who may be interested.

Thanks,
Rick Stoff
Director of Business Partnerships
Chrysalis Enterprises / Changing Lives Through Jobs
Ph:310-401-9382
Fax: 310-392-0514
stoffr@changelives.org

Chrysalis Enterprises, a division of Chrysalis, offers quality maintenance, staffing and recycling services to businesses and goverment agencies throughout Los Angeles while providing a path out of poverty to thousands of men and women each year.

HEAT MAPS GIVES YOU FORECLOSURE STATISTICS

HEAT MAPS GIVES YOU FORECLOSURE STATISTICS

 by Jodi Summers

There are some incredibly creative people out there designing web applications. This week’s favorite is HotPads’ “Election Foreclosure Maps” that displays foreclosure rates for congressional districts. These “heat” maps use color coding to show which districts have the highest rate of foreclosures (dark red) vs. the lowest number of foreclosures (light blue).

Here’s what Los Angeles looks like…

According to the site, the average foreclosure rate is 0.47 percent in Democratic districts and 0.51 percent in Republican districts, and the median foreclosure rate is 0.15 percent in Democratic and Republican districts.

The congressional districts with the highest rate of foreclosures are represented by:

• Dennis Cardoza, D-Stockton, Calif. (4.59 percent)

• Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, Calif. (4.51 percent)

• Jon Porter, R-Henderson, Nev., (4.45 percent)

The congressional districts with the lowest rate of foreclosures are represented by:

• Peter Welch, D-Burlington, Vt. (0.001 percent)

• Jerry Moran, R-Hays, Kan., (0.002 percent)

• Gene Taylor, D-Gulfport, Miss. (0.003 percent)

Foreclosure data company RealtyTrac supplies foreclosure information to Hotpads.com.

Heat Mpas can be found @ this cumbersome link http://hotpads.com/search/election-2008#lat=38.61687046392973&lon=-115.13671875&zoom=12&bottomZoom=17&previewId=election-2008&previewType=area&detailsOpen=true&template=political&listingTypes=

foreclosure&includeVaguePricing=false&pricingFrequency=once&loan=30,0.059,0&areaLabels=

Congressional&areaBorders=heatMapForeclosurePerHousehold

Infor courtesy of http://www.inman.com/news/2008/10/7/heat-maps-reveal-politics-foreclosure

SM IS OUT TO CLEAN UP TRASH

The Neighborhood Resource Officers will be working with the Solid Waste Department to clean up public areas (alleys, beaches, parks) where unwanted items such as furniture, tree trimmings and other trash tend to accumulate.  The NRO unit has given Solid Waste several locations throughout the city but if you are a aware of an area that needs attention, please let them know ASAP.  The clean up days will be in the month of December, with the Pico and Sunset Park Neighborhoods tentatively scheduled for December 23^rd (Tuesday).

Artis Williams

Neighborhood Resource Officer, Beat 7

Santa Monica  Police Department

333 Olympic Dr.

Santa Monica, CA 90401

(424) 200-0687 (cell)

(310) 458-2201 ext. 4137 (office)

Artis.Williams@SMGOV.NET

INVESTING IN THE DOWNTOWN – THE TO-DO LIST

INVESTING IN THE DOWNTOWN – THE TO-DO LIST

The conclusions drawn from the recently released 2009 Emerging Trends in Real Estate report by the Urban Land Institute and PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP are not pretty.

“Total expected returns on private equity real estate investments will likely drop into negative territory for the first time in nearly two decades as the market hits bottom next year,” the report suggests.

We slowly being to recover in 2010. The trough and recovery is predicted to be more U-shaped than V-shaped.

The report’s advice to investors and property owners to make it through the slow period:

·  Go green. Cutting energy and other operating cost is likely to be a growing priority for both landlords and tenants.

·  Buy or hold multifamily; hold office. Hold hotels, buy residential building lots, but be prepared to hold.

·  Purchase distressed condos in urban areas near transit.

·  Focus on neighborhood retail centers with strong grocery anchors and chain drugstores.

Info courtesy of:

http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?id=41A9DE2D4E098EDEFBB56A05FBBB79A3