Transit-oriented North Hollywood residential complex is for sale

NoHo 14, a transit-oriented condominium complex created in North Hollywood during the last real estate boom, is on the market.

The 14-story residential and retail complex at 5440 N. Tujunga Ave. is being sold by Beverly Hills investment fund Kennedy Wilson and two institutional partners, according to real estate broker Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap.

Completed in 2008 after the housing market sank, the building’s 180 units are now for lease as apartments. No price has been set, but property experts familiar with the San Fernando Valley market estimate it could garner as much as $80 million.

The building is near stops on the Red Line subway and the Orange Line bus rapid transit network, said broker Ron Harris, who has the listing with Greg Harris.

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Former Burbank condo project sold as apartments

More borrowers gain permanent mortgage relief in August

 Photo: The NoHo 14 residential tower in North Hollywood. Credit: Institutional Property Advisors

Port of Long Beach to acquire Long Beach World Trade Center

The Long Beach World Trade Center, a signature high-rise office building on the city’s skyline, is set to be acquired for $130 million by the Port of Long Beach.

The port’s Board of Harbor Commissioners has tentatively agreed to purchase the 27-story building on Ocean Boulevard. It is in the due-diligence phase of a deal expected to close Oct. 30.

The sale would be one of the largest in Los Angeles County this year, said real estate broker Bill Townsend of Inco Commercial, who is an advisor to the port.

“It’s a rare opportunity to purchase a Class A office building at a bottom-of-market price,” Townsend said.

The seller, Legacy Partners, paid nearly $150 million for the property in 2007, when commercial real estate values were last peaking.

It is “imperative” that the port relocate its headquarters, the board said in a statement. The current six-story headquarters was built in 1959 and is obsolete, overcrowded and seismically unsafe for the port’s 600 employees, it said.

The World Trade Center, completed in 1989, has nearly 575,000 square feet of space and is about 70% leased. The port would receive rental income from tenants such as law firms and the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

The center includes a two-story retail plaza that connects to the adjacent Hilton Hotel.

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-- Roger Vincent

Photo: Long Beach World Trade Center. Credit: Legacy Partners

 

Retail roundup: JCPenney, retail association for students, trends

-- It may become harder to control those impulse purchases at JCPenney. The department store chain is rolling out special grab-and-go areas in their stores called "Wrapt," which will be dedicated to holiday gifts, according to the Associated Press. The items range from $3 chocolate candy to $40 mini speakers that can plug into iPads or iPods. A JCPenney executive said the company wanted to give time-strapped customers easier access to quick, impulsive gifts. The in-store shops roll out at 1,100 stores Oct. 24.

-- The National Retail Federation is launching a student association aimed at giving college students the chance to learn about the industry and network with retail professionals. The association will enable retailers to post internships, mentor students and collaborate with top colleges and universities on research projects. Fifteen colleges -- including the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in L.A., the University of Arizona and the University of Wisconsin at Madison -- have signed on to participate. 

"Retail executives realize that in order to be competitive we need the brightest young talent, and we're making a conscious effort to entice the very best students," said Kip Tindell, chairman of the National Retail Federation Foundation and chief executive of the Container Store. The association will "offer students opportunities and face time with executives and recruiters that have been impossible until now."

-- Market research firm NPD Group surveyed adults for three weeks in September and asked them: "What would the kids you know say is the hottest new things these days? It might be a celebrity, movie TV show, toy, game, hobby, sport, website, brand or retail store." In the No. 1 spot? Justin Bieber. He was followed by the Cars franchise and the Xbox 360. 

-- Andrea Chang

Photo: A JCPenney store in New York. Credit: Associated Press

Downtown Los Angeles hotel Kyoto Grand sold

The Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens in downtown Los Angeles has been acquired by UBS Realty Investors and is expected to be reflagged as a DoubleTree hotel.

The 21-story tower with 434 rooms at Los Angeles and First streets was sold by 3D Investments of Los Angeles, said real estate broker John Strauss of Jones Lang LaSalle. He declined to disclose details including the price, but industry newsletter Real Estate Alert said UBS paid $45 million.

Hotel business in the area has improved since the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels opened last year at LA Live, Strauss said. “Downtown has become one of the most dynamic submarkets in the greater L.A. basin.”

The Kyoto Grand, completed in 1977 and formerly known as the New Otani Hotel & Garden, has been a cultural anchor of Little Tokyo for decades and a destination for Japanese tourists.

Expected to take over management of the hotel is Newport Beach-based Rim Hospitalities, manager of the Marriott Los Angeles and the Sheraton Los Angeles, both also in downtown.

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-- Roger Vincent

Photo: Upstairs garden at the Kyoto Grand. Credit: Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens

Podcast: Steve Jobs, Unemployment and Patriotic Spending

The death of Steve Jobs has set off a global outpouring of tributes rarely seen for a business figure. What made him so special?

John Markoff and Steve Lohr, two veteran reporters, covered him for many years, and both knew him well. In the new Weekend Business podcast, they describe him as singularly passionate and focused, a leader who demanded dedication from those around him and would not tolerate mediocrity. He thought of himself as a “technology leader,” says Mr. Markoff, who wrote Mr. Jobs’s obituary for The Times. While Mr. Jobs was not a computer programmer or a designer in the formal sense, he was superb in guiding others and in imagining and shaping projects, Mr. Lohr says, elaborating on arguments he makes in a column in Sunday Business.

The unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent in September, according to the Labor Department report on Friday, with too few jobs produced to budge that rate, as Motoko Rich says in a separate conversation in the podcast. The Economic Cycle Research Institute is forecasting a new recession, the focus of my Strategies column in Sunday Business, but Ms. Rich says that the latest jobs report suggests that while the economy is weak, it’s not contracting at the moment.

Richard Thaler, the University of Chicago economist, says fear and anxiety have caused many corporations and individuals to hold back on spending. He advocates “self-interested patriotism,” that is, carefully planned spending on labor-intensive projects by businesses and people who can afford to do so. Mr. Thaler elaborates on this approach in the Economic View column in Sunday Business.

And David Gillen and David Segal discuss the filming of food commercials, the subject of Mr. Segal’s cover article in Sunday Business.

You can find specific segments of the podcast at these junctures: Steve Lohr and John Markoff on Steve Jobs (31:12); news headlines and Motoko Rich on unemployment (20:57); David Segal on food commercials (14:57); Richard Thaler (6:54); the week ahead (1:20).

You can download the program by subscribing from The New York Times’s podcast page or directly from iTunes.

Universal Studios Hollywood gets made up for Halloween

 

John Murdy, the creative director for Universal Studios Hollywood, says he will continue to push the boundaries of gore and horror for this year's annual Halloween Horror Nights.

Click here to read about how Latino myths and legends such as La Llorona have come to life at theme parks in Southern California and Florida, ghost tours in San Antonio and in mask retail outlets across the country.

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Video by Times video journalist Jeff Amlotte

 

Consumer credit dives $9.5 billion in August

Americans trying to shake off their debt caused the worst drop in consumer credit in more than a year.

The unpredictable economy had people shunning credit cards and paying off cars and student loans, according to a report Friday from the Federal Reserve. Consumer credit swung down $9.5 billion in August, the first decline since September 2010 and the worst since April 2010.

The month before, credit levels saw an $11.9-billion increase.

Revolving credit, associated mostly with credit cards, tumbled for the second month in a row, down $2.2 billion. Non-revolving credit, linked to borrowing for school and auto purchases, slipped $7.3 billion.

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Credit-card delinquencies tumble

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-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: MasterCard credit cards. Credit: Jonathan Bainbridge / Reuters.