UCLA Real Estate Wire

The Hollywood Reporter: "The L.A. Hood Where Snapchat Millionaires Will Snap Up Houses Post-IPO"

"[Snap is] the 800-pound gorilla in the room," says Paul Habibi, a real estate developer who also teaches finance and real estate at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management. "I don't think there are IPOs that rival the size of this one anywhere other than Silicon Valley."

[THR: 12/20/16]

Los Angeles Business Journal: "Sold On Future"

"Scott Benson's Big Block Media Holdings, a 50-person entertainment firm in Santa Monica, was getting squeezed for space. But rather than renew and expand its 8,000-square-foot lease, Benson, its chief executive, took another path: He guided the company to the $4.5 million purchase of a 10,000-square-foot building at the Elevon development in El Segundo..."

"'One of the great advantages of owning is that your mortgage is tax deductible," said Tim Kawahara, executive director of UCLA's Ziman Center for Real Estate..."

[LABJ 8/17/15]

The Architect's Newspaper: "Into the Current"

"News that Gehry Partners is at work on a new master plan of the Los Angeles River took Angelenos by surprise late last week. While some had heard rumors for weeks, others were caught off guard by the somewhat strange combination. As the few details of the arrangement between Gehry and his team, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, and the nonprofit L.A. River Revitalization Corp. came in, fresh questions arouse: Why such a “cone of silence” around the partnership (as one well-known local landscape architect put it)? And how might this new plan impact hard-won funding and approvals from the Army Corps of Engineers for Alternative 20? And of course: How could the mayor compare the famed architect to legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted? AN reached out to local designers and developers for comment...

"Paul Habibi, Faculty at the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, Habibi penned the report LA’s Next Frontier: Capturing Opportunities for New Housing, Economic Growth, and Sustainable Development in LA River Communities, which was commissioned by the Los Angeles Business Council Institute. The report links revitalization efforts with building sustainable and equitable communities.

'“There has been a lot of anxiety about the announcement because it seems like a top-down approach. This was not your traditional RFP where constituencies get to weigh in. The LA River, however, is already a patchwork of different initiatives. This just adds to the tapestry of many players. The thing that makes it so interesting is the thing that makes it so hard to coordinate. The river is 51 miles long; it snakes through different neighborhoods and council areas. There’s not a lot of homogeneity on plans, initiatives, and government agencies. In terms of development and architecture, my gut sense it that this is additive. Regardless of the process, if you look at it holistically, Gehry’s involvement has a gravitational pull to other developers.”'

[AN 8/12/15]

LA Times Op-Ed: "Easing LA's Housing Crunch"

"Los Angeles is stuck in a housing crisis with little hope for an easy escape. The standard definition of “affordable” is shelter that costs no more than 30% of a household's gross income; anything higher cuts severely into other types of consumption. Using that metric, to afford the median-priced home, the median household would require a staggering 52% raise, to $96,000 a year from $63,000. A more modest 14% raise would enable that family to rent the median-priced apartment. With housing costs rising faster than incomes, we are likely to retain our title as the least affordable city in the United States for years to come..."

[LA Times Opinion/Op-Ed 8/10/15]

The Three Best Ways to Boost Affordable Housing in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is trapped in a deep housing hole with little hope for an easy resolution. To afford the purchase of the median priced home, the median household would require a staggering 53% raise, from $63,000 to $96,000 per year. If that sounds too lofty, a more modest 14% raise would enable that family to rent the median priced apartment. With housing costs rising faster than incomes, we are likely to defend our title as least affordable city in the United States.

In the August 2015 UCLA Economic Letter, UCLA Ziman Center and UCLA Anderson Lecturer Paul Habibi examines LA's housing affordability crisis and offers the top three ways to ease the crunch. Read more...

LA’s Next Frontier: Capturing Opportunities for New Housing, Economic Growth, and Sustainable Development in LA River Communities

In the April 2015 UCLA Economic Letter, UCLA Ziman Center and UCLA Anderson Lecturer Paul Habibi discusses how to realize healthy, sustainable development along the Los Angeles River.  Read more...

Bisnow: "$1M Grant For Ziman Center Establishes New Program"

"The grant from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation has created a new program in real estate, finance and urban economics. UCLA Ziman Center director Stuart Gabriel (right with Richard Ziman, founding chairman of Rexford Industrial) says the gift will help prepare yet another generation of leaders to address real estate issues. The Gilbert Program will produce and disseminate publishable research, in addition to conferences and other programs in real estate and urban economics."

[Bisnow 2/10/15]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "For Kroenke, Buying Land Just First Hurdle To LA Stadium"

"Whether he ultimately builds a stadium there, uses it to wring more concessions out of St.
Louis, flips it to a new buyer, or develops it on his own, Kroenke can’t really lose, said Stuart
Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA. Inglewood may still be down
on its heels, but it’s relatively close to affluent, desirable areas in a sprawling region that is
becoming more focused on its center. Taking the long view, Gabriel said, owning 60 acres of
that sort of land is never a bad investment..."

[St. Louis Post-Dispatch 2/2/14]

The LA Times: "Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac May Be Too Profitable To Shut Down"

"Federal officials swooped in to rescue mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2008 with the largest of all the financial crisis bailouts — a combined $187.5 billion — because they were considered too big to fail. "The government doesn't feel any rush to shut down" Fannie and Freddie, said Stuart Gabriel, director of UCLA's Ziman Center for Real Estate. "They are profitable today, and they do provide the vital function of providing liquidity to the marketplace."..."

[LA Times 1/2/14]

89.3 KPCC: "Q&A: What The $13 Billion JPMorgan Settlement Means To Southern California"

"California will be a big beneficiary of the Justice Department's record breaking settlementof $13 billion with JPMorgan Chase & Co., announced on Tuesday. The penalty came after state and federal agencies raised allegations against the lender's practices in mortgage-backed securities. Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA, said he thinks state agencies may reach out to individuals who are in danger of foreclosure and offer some mortgage modification, such as interest rate relief..."

[89.3 KPCC 11/20/13]