Karate Kid's Empty Field in Reseda to be Developed into 16 SFH's

Karate Kid's Empty Field in Reseda to be Developed into 16 SFH's

Wednesday, March 30, 2016 / 2 Comments

Image courtesy Bing Maps

Image courtesy Google Maps

Remember that time in Karate Kid when "Daniel-son" played by Ralph Macchio was at the high school Halloween dance and to get revenge on the bully kids led by "Johnny Lawrence," "Daniel-son" quietly placed a garden hose above Lawrence's head while he was sitting on the toilet getting him soaking wet when he cranked the faucet on. Afterwards, "Daniel-son" ran as fast as he could back home towards an empty field where he was about one step from scaling the fence to the South Seas apartment to make it home. At that point, Lawrence and his cronies caught up with "Daniel-son" and beat the crap out of him before "Mr.Miyagi" saved the day and then proceeded to beat the crap out of Lawrence and his gang. 

Well, that location which has long remained an empty field since at least the making of this movie back in 1984 will soon be developed.  I am actually quite late on this story as a public hearing was held back on September 15, 2015 to build 16 single family home with a minimum of 2 covered parking spaces (see below). I am assuming this project will be fully approved but as of today, I have not seen any development activity. 

The project will take place at 19141 - 19215 Saticoy Street and 19140 - 19200 Lull Street in beautiful Reseda. The property is broken down into 6 parcels which consist of:

1. 19215 Saticoy St; 22,643 sqft vacant lot owned by Bagstad Group One LP based in Seal Beach. 
2. No Address (Parcel ID# 2104012026): 21,673 sqft vacant lot owned by WH Saticoy 16 LLC which acquired the property on December 26, 2014 for $1,680,000 from the Jakobovits Living Trust and Grossman Living Trust which also includes parcels #3 - #6 (more on the buying and selling parties below).  
3. 19201 Saticoy St: 21,652 sqft vacant lot owned and acquired by the same entity as in #2. 
4. 19155 Saticoy St: 21,662 sqft vacant lot owned and acquired by the same entity as in #2. 
5. 19149 Saticoy St: 21,663 sqft vacant lot owned and acquired by the same entity as in #2.
6. 19141 Saticoy St: 21,667 sqft vacant lot owned and acquired by the same entity as in #2.

The LLC links back to Williams Homes based in Santa Clarita. Another surprise during my research is that the previous owners of this land were the Harry Grossman and Jakobovits Trust who also owned that other massive open land on Winnetka and Parthenia that was sold to and is currently being developed by.....wait for it....Williams Homes that was discussed on this blog. 

On a historical note, it looks like there was at least one home on this propertywhere parcels #4, 5, and 6 are located. Dont know the history here but the property remained until 2005. Parcels #1, #2, and #3 appeared to always be empty.

And on a related note, the South Seas Apartments sold last year for $4,250,000 on June 5, 2015 which was also discussed on this blog. Lastly, you can read about the filming locations for this awesome movie here.

And the actual movie clip from that location:

You can view more SFV Architecture and R.E. here. 

Karate Kid Empty Field

Another Mixed-Use Project Planned for Warner Center Behind Fry's Electronic's

Another Mixed-Use Project Planned for Warner Center Behind Fry's Electronic's

Saturday, March 26, 2016 / No Comments

Image courtesy Bing Maps

Image courtesy Google Maps

The always first to know folks at Urbanize.LA first blogged about this project on January 13, 2016 which calls for the construction of a five-story, 328,000 sqft building containing about 275 residential units in the first phase. The second phase would consist of a 12-story, 180 ft tower with 80,000 sqft of commerical space. Also included are 480 parking spaces with 401 spaces for residents and 79 spaces for office tenants. This project will be located at 6041 - 6045 Variel Ave just behind Fry's Electronics and the Panavision Offices near Oxnard St. 

This project was initially presented to the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council back on January 7, 2016 with plans for filing to the City's Planning department in February. I have not seen or heard anything since so I am assuming that this project is too going through iterations. One thing to keep in mind is that this project is inline with the Warner Center 2035 Plan so it will most likely get approved. The timeline for the project and the developer are unknown at this time. However, the number of mixed-use projects in this area is staggering and by 2035, this area will truly be unrecognizable. 

The current property measures 53,320 sqft on a total lot size of 130,781 sqft built in 1973 which is owned by Selective 6041 Variel LLC. The LLC purchased this property from Toluca Moorpark LTD on May 9, 2007 for $11,575,000. 

You can view more SFV Architecture and R.E. here. 

Warner Center Mixed-Use Development Project

Luxury Apts. Planned for Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse Formerly Tower Records in Warner Center

Luxury Apts. Planned for Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse Formerly Tower Records in Warner Center

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Image courtesy Google Maps

Image courtesy Bing Maps

I am about a month late reporting this one but the SFVBJ revealed back on Feb 18, 2016 that California Home Builders of Canoga Park purchased the property at 6263 Topanga Canyon Blvd (currently the home of Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse) for $27,880,000 on February 9, 2016 from PCQ Woodland Hills Topanga LLC which links back to El Segundo's Paragon Commercial Group. 

There are no specific details about the apartments aside for the planning of 300 units and common areas including a pool, barbeque pits, a rooftop lounge, and co-working office space. The new apartment building is in a prime location with walking distance to the new Village, the Topanga Plaza, the Orange Line, and other nearby shopping centers. 

The property also has addresses of 6325 and 6323 Topanga Canyon Blvd and 22010 Victory Blvd. I believe the property records include the office building next door but I dont believe this was part of this transaction. The building measures 28,433 sqft on a total lot size of 118,927 sqft built in 1966. 

Long time residents will remember this location as being the home of The Good Guys! (an electronics store before Best Buy) where I purchased many audio equipment and later became a Tower Records where I also purchased many records. I posted the only pics I could find below of these former sites including one postcard I own. 

Tower Records can be seen on the left. Image courtesy Superpages.com

You can see back of postcard here. 

Some may recognize the name California Home Builders who are active developers in the area who are currently building 90 homes at the former Rocketdyne Fitness Center at Roscoe and Fallbrook (which I blogged about here), 200 apartments at the former Panavision Office on De Soto, and a number of smaller projects throughout the SFV which can be seen here. 

You can view more SFV Architecture and R.E. here.

14 Small Lot Home Planned for NoHo's Art District

14 Small Lot Home Planned for NoHo's Art District

Friday, March 25, 2016 / No Comments

Above image courtesy Bing Maps

11027 Morrison St

11035, 11037, or 11037.5 Morrison St

11035, 11037, or 11037.5 Morrison St

11035, 11037, or 11037.5 Morrison St. Above images courtesy Google Maps

This latest development proposal is located at 11027 - 11037.5 Morrison Ave in North Hollywood in between Lankershim Blvd and Vineland Ave within prime walking distance to the Red Line and NoHo Arts District. The proposal is the construction of 14 small lot homes with an attached 2 car garage and a laughable three guest parking spaces. I apologize for posting this late as the hearing was held on March 15, 2016. My guess is that everything was approved. 

11027 Morrison St is a 7,509 vacant lot. 11035 Morrison St (including  addresses 11037 and 11037.5) is a 2 Bed/1 Bath on 894 sqft on a total lot size of 8,912 sqft built in 1939.  There are multiple buildings on this property not included in the above details. All buildings and trees will be demolished. Both properties were acquired by Noho Morrison LLC on September 11, 2015 for $1.4 million. 

You can view more SFV Architecture and Real Estate here.

14 Small Lot Home Development

12 Unit Apartment Building Planned for Canoga Park's Owensmouth Ave

12 Unit Apartment Building Planned for Canoga Park's Owensmouth Ave

Thursday, March 24, 2016 / No Comments

Image courtesy Bing Maps

Image courtesy Google Maps

This latest development proposal is located at 6936 Owensmouth Ave in Canoga Park near CP high school, LA River Headwaters, and Vanowen St. The proposal is a 3 level 12 unit apartment building with 24 automobile parking spaces in a subterranean level and 14 bicycle parking spaces. 

One single family home exists on the property which will be demolished. That home measures 3 Beds/2 Baths on 1,070 sqft on a total lot size of 8,000 sqft built in 1952.  The property was acquired by Owensmouth Properties LLC on August 18, 2010 for $250K. The LLC links back to Shahriar and Souzan Rostami of Calabasas. 

You can view more SFV Architecture and Real Estate here.

12 Unit Apartment Building on Owensmouth

28 SFH's Planned Near Marilyn Monroe's Demolished Valley Village Home

28 SFH's Planned Near Marilyn Monroe's Demolished Valley Village Home

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Image courtesy Bing Maps

Image courtesy Google Maps

I talked about this before when this project surfaced back on August 28, 2015 so this might be old news for some. But for others, this project is getting some serious legs as a hearing (see below) is scheduled for  March 29, 2016.

The project will demolish the following buildings in order to construct 28 single family homes  and 63 parking spaces with very little details on the size of the homes. 

1. 12302 Weddington St. Built in 1931 on 10,540 sqft lot with 4 beds/2 baths on 2,182 sqft (2 units). Last sold by Christopher Barrett to UB Valley Village LLC on May 15, 2015 for $1,125,000.
2. 12301 Weddington St. (also known as 5303 Hermitage & 5305 Hermitage). Built in 1934 on 15,930 sqft lot with 2 Beds/1 Bath on 1,738 sqft. Currently owned by the Edwards Living Trust. 
3. 5261 Hermitage Ave (also known as 5263 Hermitage Ave). Built in 1935 on 7,804 sqft lot with 5 Beds/5 Baths on 5,103 sqft (3 units). Last sold by Barry and Dinah Gres to UB Valley Village LLC on May 15, 2015. (This property may or may not be included with this project; not entirely sure).

Currently there is a fight underway to stop this development being led by Jennifer Getz who filed a lawsuit on February 25, 2016 on the 12301 Weddington St property. Jennifer was also active in trying to save the Marilyn Monroe property across the street which was days away from being evaluated for historical designation before the owner decided to demolish over the weekend. There is also the activist website, http://www.savevalleyvillage.com/home. It will be interesting to see what happens with this fight as it could possibly set new precedents for SFV development. 

You can view more SFV Architecture and Real Estate here.

28 SFH Planned for Valley Village

10 SFH Planned for North Hills Near the "Onion" Building and 405 Freeway

10 SFH Planned for North Hills Near the "Onion" Building and 405 Freeway

Wednesday, March 23, 2016 / No Comments

Image courtesy Bing Maps

15717 Tupper St. Image courtesy Google Maps

15727 Tupper St. Image courtesy Google Maps

This latest development proposal is located at 15727 & 15717 Tupper St in North Hills near the VA Hospital, the Sepulveda Unitarian Universalist Society which is well known for the "Onion" shaped building, and the 405 Freeway. The proposal is a 10 unit single family home subdivision with 20 parking spaces but very little else on the details. 

The property at 15727 is a 54,250 sqft lot with a 1,689 sqft home measuring 2 beds/2 baths while the property at 15717 is a 62,376 sqft lot with a 3 bed/2 bath 2,240 sqft home built in 1955. The combined property area is 2.6 acres. To put things into perspective, this plan is more than double the size of the previous plan mentioned today in Van Nuys for 9 homes. Coincidentally, that project is also next to the 405 like this one which makes it less desirable. 

These two properties were sold at different times with 15727 acquired on November 14, 2014 for $825,000 from  the Marilyn Fields trust by the Tupper Estates LLC. The property at 15717 was acquired by Smadar Herskowitz on November 5, 2003 for $622,000 and was later transferred to the Tupper Estates LLC on March 19, 2015.

The Tupper Estates LLC links back to the Dot Graphics printing company in Chatsworth which is run by Brian Whiteman who is best known for appearing on CNBC's Shark Tank and creating the Groovebook photo app that was partnered with Kevin O'Leary. Later on this concept was purchased by Shutterfly for $14.5 million making it the first idea on Shark Tank to be acquired by a public company. 

You can view more SFV Architecture and Real Estate here.

10 SFH Planned for North Hills

9 Single Family Homes Planned for Van Nuys Near 405 Freeway

9 Single Family Homes Planned for Van Nuys Near 405 Freeway

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Image courtesy Bing Maps

Image courtesy Google Maps

This latest development proposal is located at 7051 & 7061 Firmament Ave in Van Nuys near Sherman Way which literally backs up to the 405 Freeway. The proposal is a 9 unit single family home subdivision with 18 parking spaces but very little else on the details. 

The property at 7051 is a 22,991 sqft vacant lot while the property at 7061 is a 21,810 sqft lot with a 2 bed/1 bath 855 sqft home built in 1950. The combined property area is 1 acre which makes you wonder how are they going to fit 9 homes here and who wants to live next to the 405. 

At any rate, these two properties were sold on December 31, 2013 for $900,000 combined from Thomas Rainville to Firmament Village LLC. Thomas Rainville operates a Rain Gutter cleaning operation based in Sun Valley and also owns other properties in the SFV. Firmament Village LLC links back to Aaron Mensch of Granada Hills who is a real estate agent and also owns many properties in the SFV. 

I always like to look at the historical side of these properties that managed to remain empty for so long from my favorite website, historicalaerials.com (images shown below). It appears that I am wrong and a property used to exist on the vacant site going all the way up to 2005. Not sure what happened here but maybe a fire, termites, or something else took the fate of this location. And going back to 1947 before the 405 Freeway was built shows a wide open Van Nuys. 

You can view more SFV Architecture and Real Estate here. 

9 SFH Development in Van Nuys

My 2nd Presentation to the Canoga-Owensmouth Historical Society

My 2nd Presentation to the Canoga-Owensmouth Historical Society

Friday, March 18, 2016 / No Comments

On March 9, 2016, I delivered my second presentation to the Canoga-Owensmouth Historical Society titled Reflectin on Canoga Park's Past through the Los Angeles Public Library's Photo Collection. 

The presentation consists of my efforts to scan through the Library's photo collection pertaining to Canoga Park only and selecting images from the Valley Times Collection and others that demonstrate the growth and development of Canoga Park for the past 100 years or so. The presentation does not include the verbal portion so some of it might be hard to understand as it just the visual portion. 

If you like the pictures, the Library is scanning and uploading on a constant basis but only through the help of others. So if you would like to make a donation, you can do so at http://www.valleytimes.org/

This is my second presentation with the first delivered in October 2015 detailing posts I wrote about Canoga Park on my blog. You can view that presentation here. 

Hope you enjoy it. The presentation is shown below but depending on where you receive this post, your viewer might not support Scribd and you might need to visit the blog page to view it.

You can view more SFV History here.  

Canoga-Owensmouth Historical Society Presentation

Celeb R.E.: Eazy-E's Former Playhouse Hits the Market in Calabasas

Celeb R.E.: Eazy-E's Former Playhouse Hits the Market in Calabasas

Tuesday, March 8, 2016 / 3 Comments

Eazy-E image courtesy Wikipedia/Edward Paul Reyes. Listing images courtesy Keller Williams

What a better time to capitalize on the success of 2015's blockbuster film, Straight Outta Compton, then to list Eazy-E's Calabasas home known as the Playhouse where all kinds of activity took place. Imagine if these walls could talk or maybe not. The party house can be purchased for $2,550,000 which hit the market on March 6, 2016. However, the realtor didnt mention it probably because it was never a well known location but my awesome research skills tracked down this location. 

The home is located in the Mountain View Estates which is also home to many celebrities. Surprisingly or not, Jerry Heller (NWA Manager) lives two doors down and Dr. Dre continues to own a home that is one block west which were all purchased in 1991 on the heels of the NWA success. 

The home measures 5 Beds/6 Baths on 6,250 sqft on a total lot size of 15,502 sqft built in 1990. The listing description states:

Breathtaking view home located in the prestigious guard gated community of Mountain View Estates. This spectacular estate commands unobstructed views of rolling hills and open space, as well as being luxurious, warm, and uniquely charming. Enter through exquisite wrought iron double doors that feature soaring ceilings and marble flooring. This 6,250 home sits on 0.36 acre of beautiful scenery with a pool, spa, waterfall, built in fire pit, BBQ, and bar - wonderful for entertaining outdoors during the day or in the evening. Hardwood flooring throughout second floor. 5 bedrooms (4 up, 1 down), 5.5 bathrooms. Bright and spacious chefs dream kitchen with a huge island, office nook, walk in pantry, and Viking and Sub Zero appliances. Family room boasts a full entertainer’s bar and dramatic fireplace. The luxurious master suite includes an oversized deck overlooking canyon views. Formal dining room and formal family room equipped with yet another fireplace and large picture windows looking out to the beautiful backyard. A must see!!

Eazy-E purchased this home back on January 8, 1991 for $1,175,000 which was lost to foreclosure on December 27, 1995 for $810,000 after his death on March 26 of that year. The home was sold again in 1996, 2002, 2003, 2004, and finally in 2007 for $2,290,000 to a non-famous couple that operate a welding repair shop in Northridge. 

Back in 2013, TMZ incorrectly stated that Eazy's wife, Tomica Woods-Wright, lost the Calabasas home to foreclosure but that was a different home and not the infamous playhouse which TMZ quickly retracted. That home as well as other homes owned by Eazy-E can be read here. 

Interested in more West Coast Gangsta Rap, you can also read about Tupac Shakur's home, Dr.Dre's homes, Ice Cube's homes, and Suge Knight's home in the SFV in addition to an article about Death Row's Can-Am Recorders in Tarzana and the influence of the West SFV in part A and B. 

You can view more SFV Celeb R.E. here.