Month: March 2021

Sheraton Pasadena and the Queen Mary (iStock) A hospitality-focused real estate investment trust is looking to auction off some of its corporate holdings as part of its bankruptcy filing, including a 66-year lease on the Queen Mary cruise ship and several hotels. The ocean liner, converted into a hotel, is docked in Long Beach. Singapore-based…

(Getty, iStock/Illustration by Alexis Manrodt for The Real Deal) It was a sad day last March when the Happiest Place on Earth had to close because of Covid. But Disneyland is now targeting a late April reopening, according to the Los Angeles Times. Disney Company executives announced the news at Tuesday’s shareholder meeting. Disneyland in…

(iStock / Photo illustration by The Real Deal) Homebuying season is nearly here and the demand for mortgages is accelerating. An index tracking the applications to purchase homes increased 7 percent, seasonally adjusted, last week compared to the prior week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. MBA’s weekly metric, known as the purchase index, presages…

Rex CEO Jack Ryan and Zillow CEO Rich Barton. (Jack Ryan via LinkedIn, Rich Barton via Zillow Group) A startup brokerage hit Zillow Group with an antitrust lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging the listing giant stifles competition and ultimately leaves consumers paying stuck with high commission fees. Rex — Real Estate Exchange, a VC-backed brokerage based…

Melissa Rivers and her Santa Monica home (Getty, Zillow) Television host Melissa Rivers sold her Santa Monica mansion for $15.5 million, a property she spent two years designing. Rivers bought the 7,050-square-foot home in early 2016 for $11 million and undertook a comprehensive renovation, according to Dirt, which reported the off-market sale. The buyers are…

Collage of the pre-approved ADU designs (LA Department of Building and Safety) Los Angeles officials launched a program intended to speed up approval time for the construction of accessory dwelling units — also called granny flats — in its latest bid to address the housing crisis. The announcement highlighted 20 pre-approved ADU designs, according to…

Nile Niami and Don Hankey with The One (Getty, Society Group PR) Nile Niami is done with “The One” but his financial troubles are mounting. Saddled with debt, the spec mansion developer is facing foreclosure on the recently-completed 100,000-square-foot Bel Air property, according to the Los Angeles Times. Niami borrowed $82.5 million from Hankey Capital…

Donald Trump (Getty/Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal) Donald Trump is in New York City this week to check in on his family’s real estate business, according to a new report. The former president has shown interest in working more with the Trump Organization, which is a major reason for his New York…

Housing sale-to-list price ratio nears 100% in February. (Unsplash) The housing market is becoming even more competitive. The sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes sell to their asking price, was 99.6 percent during the four-week period ending Feb. 28. That’s 1.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year, Inman reported, citing…

VTS CEO Nick Romito and Rise Buildings CEO Prasan Kale (VTS, Rise Buildings) As companies consider how they can safely bring employees back to offices, mobile apps that can monitor worker movements — and thus ensure they’re abiding by Covid-19 safety protocols — are growing in popularity. One such app, Rise Buildings, is set to…