Every day, The Real Deal rounds up Los Angeles’ biggest real estate news. We update this page at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. PT. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com
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With redesign, La Brea Tarpits’ kitschy charm may go the way of the dinosaur. L.A. County officials are considering three competing designs for the Hancock Park attraction. All would see significant redesigns of the grounds and new structures. Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s proposal entails moving the iconic fiberglass mammoth that has been in the tar pits for decades into a gallery. [LAT]
Ex-church official in Huntington Beach charged with siphoning money from sale of church property. Charles Thomas Sebesta allegedly stole $11 million from the bank accounts of Fifth Church of Christ following the 2008 sale of church property. Investigators allege he used $2 million to buy a home for himself and sometimes impersonated an unnamed “prominent real estate executive” to cover up his fraud. [KTLA]
Transwestern acquires 22-acre Inland Empire site for big industrial development. The Texas-based developer plans to build two warehouses with a total of around 340,000 square feet of space. The Inland Empire has an industrial vacancy rate of 1.9 percent. Demand is being driven by what has remained a tight L.A. County industrial market. [TRD]
Michael Sorochinsky, Steven Fifield, Mike Parrell, and Next on Sixth
Equity Residential buys Koreatown resi complex for $189 million. The seller, Century West Partners, completed the 398-unit Next on Sixth apartment complex last year. It was one of the priciest projects of the year. [TRD]
Famed “Dynasty” mansion has a new owner. The Pasadena estate, known for its starring role in the “Dynasty” television show, sold for $15.6 million. That’s about 44 percent less than its original asking price of $28 million back in 2017. Dubbed the Arden Villa, it was built in 1913. [LAT]
One of WeWork’s key backers is also a landlord to the company. Rhone Group co-founder Steven Langman was an early investor and oversees executive pay and succession at the co-working firm. Langman also runs a funds that leases properties to the company, raising conflict-of-interest concerns similar to those that founder Adam Neumann has faced in the past. [WSJ]
The hotel branding boom could get messy in a downturn. Market demands have pushed hotel management companies to launch more and more brands over the past several years, but given the complexities of the hotel industry, discontinuing a brand in a recession can easily result in a legal and logistical mess, analysts say. [NYT]
Chinese real estate portal Juwai has struck partnerships with several top North American firms. The partners include Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Surterre Properties, and Engel & Völkers Americas. The website (whose name means “live overseas”) claims 2.8 million listings from 91 countries and more than 3.3 million monthly Chinese-speaking users. [Inman]
FROM THE CITY’S RECORDS:
A developer wants to build a 50-unit apartment building at 1047 S. Fedora Street in Pico-Union. The TOC project would be six stories and five units would be set aside for “extremely low-income” renters. [LADCP]