A Politically Incorrect Blog About Living in Woodland Hills, California

5223 Winnetka Ave Will Make You ROTFL And Say WTF!

Oh man, normally I wouldn’t even bother to re-post a real estate related story off of Curbed LA.  But, you’ve absolutely got to see the interior of the house at 5223 Winnetka Ave in Woodland Hills.  See all the pictures on Curbed LA’s site. It will be worth a good laugh or two on this rainy Friday.  And just think, for a mere $6.5 million it could be yours!   This asking price is absurd because the location of the house is very mundane and they guy paid $2.25 million for it in ‘07 and we all know where the market has gone since then.  But hey, maybe gilded leopard statues get you amazing bang for your buck!

Curbed LA writes:

When we spied the exterior of this eight-bedroom, seven-and-half bath we consulted with an expert to try to figure out what exactly was going on, architecturally-speaking. Neoclassical Revival columns and balustrades, she thought. Mediterranean roof. French-inspired quoins flanking the entrance. The mashed-up exterior didn’t even hint at the wonders to be found inside. But here’s our dirty little secret. We sort of love it. It’s a fine line between something truly hideous and something that is actually secretly spectacular. What’s the difference? Like the Supreme Court definition of pornography, we can’t explain it. We only know it when we see it. With a “palace” this majestic, we can only imagine the dungeon that lies beneath. According to the listing, the house was “designed by top industry designers and transformed into a true royal mediteranean palace with no expense spared.” The designers also had “a meticulous approach to fine details that created the emotional and rich ambience this palace exudes.” The owner, who was profiled in the NY Times a decade ago for quitting yeshiva to become a tech millionaire at the age of 18, is also hoping to make a hefty profit on this investment. Purchased in 2007 for $2.25 million, today’s asking price is $6.5 million or $801 per square foot. That’s almost triple neighborhood comps.

Visit Curbed LA to see all of the images.

Popularity: 14%

Today’s Vacant Lot Is Yesterday’s History – Explore Google or Jump A Wall To Touch It

Early this morning I set out to take a simple photograph of a vacant lot to accompany my post about 20600 Ventura Blvd being sold.  Easy enough, in theory.  From Ventura Blvd it is actually difficult to take a picture of the property because it is on an elevated plateau.  In fact, it is on two elevated plateus, one about 20 feet above street level, and another 50+ feet above street level.  So, in an attempt to get a better view I invited myself onto the property of an adjacent condominum complex, jumped a wall (okay, a half-wall), and took the last two pictures of the above gallery.  Interestingly enough, from this vantage point you can see that the property is indeed larger than it seems to be from Ventura Blvd.

In the process of beginning to make this post I wanted to confirm that the address of this property was in fact 20600 Ventura Blvd, so I punched that address into a Google search and was surprised at what I found.  Before the facility formerly on this property was an assembly hall for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, it was a valuable and storied piece of San Fernando Valley history and culture – The Valley Music Theater.

An undated online petition from, in my estimate, 2005 or 2006 reads:

I am reaching out to all of you. I am in the midst of trying to keep and bring back a landmark to the valley. I am talking about the Jehovah Witness Temple on Ventura Blvd. Well before they bought it, it used to be a theater and concert venue in the valley during the 60’s. It had performers such as Ray Charles, the Doors, Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, Ike & Tina Turner, Peter, Paul & Mary, BB King, Lou Rawls, Three Dog Night, Jim Croce & the Spiral Staircase, among others. Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Carson, Don Rickles & Woody Allen also performed in the futuristic domed structure.

Well it was sold to developers years back when the Jehovahs outgrew it and now they want to turn it into another set of Apt/ town homes. Now I am all about growth in the valley but this is one piece of land that would be a waste to turn into more housing. I’m in the process of trying to file a petition to make it a woodland hills landmark and halt any demolition they plan to do it. I have spoken to the President of the Woodland Hills Home Owners Assoc. and I have reached out to the local assemblyman as well. I am most likely going to need petitions from other San Fernando Valley residents, so I am going to start that here and now. With me being the first signature. Please go ahead and include your name down the list. If you know other people not on myspace that want to be included in this, please get them involved as well. There is serious and do need people who believe in this or would like to have a concert venue brought back to the valley so us “valley kids” don’t always have to go to the city. Its time the bands/theater/comedy comes to us. Please keep reposting this!!!

I found this enlightening and captivating.  So, this building had a former life. And a noteworthy one, at that! Searching for Valley Music Theater reveals this blurb from AmericansSuburb.com (an amazing, yet dormant site):

The theater at 20600 Ventura Boulevard was supposed to be the first local performing arts hall with serious ambitions. Designed as theater in the round, it was built by pouring a concrete dome over a dirt mound, then excavating away the soil. Bob Hope and other local celebrities backed the venture, which opened July 6, 1964, with a gala premiere of The Sound of Music. When legit theater didn’t catch on, rock music was tried. On February 22, 1967, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the Doors put on a memorable show. Boxing matches were tried, but in 1980 the theater became a Jehovah’s Witness assembly hall. In 2004 the church sold to a developer who hopes to build condos and retail on the site.

I also came across an article from this summer in the Daily News about the developer who razed the theater in 2007 but defaulted on the loan before executing their grand vision for the property.  They write:

“They (JPI) put a very large loan on (the site), graded it and ran out of money,” said a Valley real estate executive familiar with the project who did not want to be identified.

JPI also wanted to modify its original plan to cut costs but ran into opposition from neighborhood groups.

However, any residential project would have to include a retail component and a shuttle that runs from early morning to early evening, Murley said.

“They wanted to do a very cheap facade that just didn’t fit in,” said Gordon Murley, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization. “They started grading, then covered it with plastic and that’s it.”

The current entitlements will transfer to any new owners, he said.

It should be noted, that the quote above exhibits the first mention of Gordon Murley on this blog.  A man who, I have been duly informed, is perhaps the most powerful man behind-the-scenes (and not-so-behind-the-scenes) in Woodland Hills politics.  It has also been explained to me that he generally seeks to limit development in Woodland Hills, specifically and especially along Ventura Blvd.

I guess my marginal bit of commentary with regards to the demolition of the facility is that the whole thing was conducted as a business deal, when in fact there possibly should be been more involvement from the community in recognizing that, while the structure itself was no doubt completely obsolete and had long since been retired from its original use a community theater, there was indeed some historical and community significance to both the theater and the use of the land on which it stands.

Sadly, any notion of using the land for the benefit of our community gave way to the economic motivations of real estate developers, who in hindsight had eyes bigger than their stomachs.  What I also half wonder is if there aren’t some ‘powers that be’ who are both happy that there is neither a theater or community enriching facility at the site, nor any other development (with realistic prospects and/or known timetable) slated for the site in the near future.

If you have anything to add or any insight that you can provide to me, please leave a comment on this post or e-mail me at contact@hillsofwoodland.com.

I leave you with a gallery of photos of the theater as it stood in these undated photos most likely from the year or two before it was demolished.  Photo source: abandonedbutnotforgotten.com

Popularity: 11%

Former Jehovah’s Witnesses Assembly Hall Parcel Changes Hands For Third Time In Four Years

I came across this fascinating press release today about the sale of the 8 acre parcel of land that was the former site of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Assembly Hall (still visible in the Google Maps satellite image).  This site is across from Keyes Woodland Hills Nissan and adjacent to the Avalon Woodland Hills apartment complex.

In 2007 the property was sold for $48 million with the lofty (and insanely unrealistic) goal of building 355 condos with 18,000 square feet of retail space.  How is that even possible?  Maybe the laws of physics cease to exist on this property.  While the Jehovah’s Witnesses (presumably they were the 2007 sellers) made out like bandits in the deal, in the market downturn the buyer, JPI development, undoubtedly ‘lost their ass’ and defaulted on the property.  You can rest assured that your federal tax dollars went to clean up that mess, one way or another.

Now, another company has purchased the property for a still outrageous $25 million dollars with the hopes of developing it with less lofty goals.  To me, this property is worthless unless the deed comes along with a permit to bulldoze Avalon Woodland Hills.

Here’s the press release:

The Lee & Associates Multi-Housing Investments Group, a member of the Lee & Associates group of companies, has transacted the purchase of a prominent Woodland Hills property of approximately eight acres sold by Bank of America.

This is the third time in four years that the property, on the former site of Jehovah’s Witnesses Assembly Hall at 20600 Ventura Boulevard, has changed hands. Craig Stevens and John Battle, principals of Lee & Associates and members of the multihousing group, brokered each of the three sales. The other agents for the latest transaction are Lee principal Jim Fisher and associate Mike Smith.

“I never would have imagined when I sold this site the first time that this would still be an empty parcel of land,” said Stevens, who, along with the rest of the multihousing team, represented the buyer in this latest transaction. “In 2006 it seemed like we would never keep up with the apartment and condo housing demand, and this project, with its great location and elevations offering panoramic views of the Warner Center and the San Fernando Valley, promised to be among the very best of the projects in development.”

Additional details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The property was acquired for $25 million in 2006 by the Troxler Group and Lehman Bros.  The Troxler Group guided the property through the development process

and completed plans to build 355 entitled condominium units with 18,000 square feet of retail.   In 2007 the Troxler Group sold the property to JPI Development for $48 million, but before JPI could realize its plans, the real estate market turned downward, credit markets froze and the property fell into default.

The property was again listed for sale and attracted multiple offers over the last four months as the market began to revive. A group out of Orange County emerged as the buyer.

The developer will re-entitle the parcel, and it is too soon to tell how many units the group will decide to build, but it is likely that the final project will be less than the density first envisioned for the property.

“The latest sale price reflects a new economic reality in the marketplace,” Stevens said. “With banks requiring much more equity than they did in the past, bigger projects are not always better.”

In the past, developers were able to obtain financing based upon rental growth trends and the strong housing demand. But today, rental growth assumptions are lower, and developers must allow for rental concessions and a longer time frame to lease up units.

“The whole underwriting process has changed significantly,” said Stevens.

How much do you want to bet that the property will be flipped again in a year for another staggering loss?

Popularity: 8%

Incorrectly Named Enclave at Warner Center Apartment Complex Nearing Completion

GlobeSt.com writes:

IRVINE, CA-Western National Properties, an affiliate of Irvine-based Western National Group, is nearing completion on construction of its 195-unit Enclave at Warner Center apartment complex, one of the relatively few new ground-up luxury apartment projects under construction in Southern California today. Rex F. DeLong, president of Western National Properties, tells GlobeSt.com that the company expects to have the building at 6710 Variel Ave. in Woodland Hills available for first move-ins in December.

I’d like to take this opportunity to rant about something.  The area that this complex is in (bounded by De Soto, Vanowen, Canoga, and Victory) is not, in my opinion, or on any formal or informal map I’ve ever seen, known as Warner Center.  To me, Warner Center ends at Victory.  But, what you have is a few apartment complexes going in north of Victory trying to latch onto the ‘Warner Center’ name to attract a higher caliber of renter, and thus charge higher rents.  According to the US Postal Service, this area is Woodland Hills, however there are some maps that map it as Canoga Park, and mail to this area goes through the 91303 Canoga Park post office on Sherman Way. (See LA Times Woodland Hills Map | Canoga Park Map)

Archstone Warner Center is guilty of using this misnomer, as will be Enclave Warner Center.  The Avalon complex next to Enclave seems to be aware of the situation and went with the more cautious Avalon Warner Place name.  Unsuspecting prospective tenants visiting these complexes will be shocked at the terrible maintenance condition of the streets in this neighborhood (as per standard disrespect that Canoga Park receives from the city of LA).  Variel, Kittridge, and Eton in this little area look like streets in Baghdad.

Essentially my bone of contention here is that these apartment communities market these properties as something they simply are not – located in Warner Center, and arguably not even in Woodland Hills.

Popularity: 7%

The Arbors Apartment Community Gets Flipped For $17 Million Loss?

Man, it’s a slow news week so far in Woodland Hills.  Must be all this gloomy weather?  So, I’ll cover this mind numbingly boring real estate transaction.

A joint venture between an affiliate of the San Francisco-based Swig Co. and an institutional real estate investment fund managed by Capmark Investments LP has acquired the 250-unit Arbors at Warner Center multifamily residential community located in the Warner Center area of Woodland Hills.

The property was purchased for approximately $33 million dollars — about $132,000 per unit.

Now, what sort of makes it interesting is that back in mid-2006 an Orange County company purchased the property for $50 million.

An Orange County real estate investment firm has paid more than $50 million for the Arbors at Warner Center, a 12-building apartment complex, and will invest several millions more in an extensive renovation, officials said Tuesday. The price paid by Real Estate Partners Inc. to Gateway Arbors LLC works out to about $200,000 per unit.

Now, I can’t exactly tell if it was Real Estate Partners that sold the property in this most recent transaction, but it certainly stands to reason. Maybe the new buyers got a sweet deal, but I’m guessing the seller got hosed thoroughly on this one. $17 million hit has to sting!

Popularity: 3%