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A Los Angeles megamansion once expected to list for $500 million has gone into receivership after the owner defaulted on more than $165 million in loans and debt, according to court filings. The 105,000-square-foot Bel Air estate, known as “The One,” was placed into receivership by the Los Angeles County Superior Court and is expected to be relisted at a lower price in the coming months, according to people familiar with the property. — CNBC
In July, the Los Angeles County Superior Court named Ted Lanes of Lanes Management as receiver, who is now tasked with preparing "The One" for sale and selling it to recoup debts owed to lenders. The megamansion is expected to be listed on the market in the coming months once Lanes secures the... View full entry
New York City has surpassed San Francisco as the most expensive apartment rental market in the country. According to August rental data from Zumper, an apartment listing company, San Francisco has fallen behind New York in median one-bedroom rent, with New York at $2,810 and San Francisco at... View full entry
A protracted standoff between the landlords at One World Trade Center and the parent company of Condé Nast appears to have finally reached a conclusion … for now.
Advance Publications executives Steven and Donald Newhouse have agreed to pay almost $10 million in back rent owed to co-developers the Durst Organization and the Port Authority, the New York Post reported.
— The Real Deal
Condé Nast had apparently been looking to break its lease with the Durst Organization that was set to run through 2039. The 112-year-old media company was originally a headline tenant of the building, which has had trouble filling its more than 3.5 million square feet of office space since... View full entry
Anyone who has visited or lived in Montreal has seen an impressive variety of external staircases that decorate the homes of the Canadian city’s historic neighborhoods. Beyond the range of architectural styles that adorn the facades and interiors of this local type, the Plex is mostly defined by... View full entry
The one-and-a-half story house on 1210 E. First St. has been added to the state’s list of landmarks because it “is directly connected to specific activities or events which had a lasting impact on the community or region,” according to the Washington Heritage Register. — The Olympian
The Cobain house will now avoid the fate of Jimi Hendrix' childhood home two hours away in Seattle. Cobain made Aberdeen, WA a bit of a household name for 90s pop culture followers. The town has since named a park in his honor after declining to do so for an area bridge the future... View full entry
Last month, New York State passed the Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA), laying the groundwork for hotels and other commercial buildings to be converted into affordable housing. Nevertheless, a recent article by NBC News gives a laundry list of reasons why among commercial buildings... View full entry
The University of Southern California (USC) School of Architecture is putting the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Freeman House up for sale. Built in 1924 and named after the clients Samuel and Harriet Freeman, the Freeman House is one of four Wright homes in Los Angeles to include distinct concrete... View full entry
Native Americans have been systematically dispossessed of their ancestral lands for more than a century, thanks to federal land management policies. But a spate of new real estate projects highlights efforts to reclaim that territory, as tribes invest in land development in an effort to diversify their revenue base and support their members. — The Seattle Times
Only a handful of tribes have pursued ventures involving commercial property outside of gambling and many still reside in poverty-stricken reservations in the U.S. and Canada. A group from the Squamish Nation is behind Canada's largest development in Vancouver while others have made... View full entry
A settlement has been reached in the strange case of a homeowner who fought her California town to keep a famous Flintstones motif installed. The curious legal dispute has kept the Bay Area suburb in the headlines for the past two and a half years. Florence Fang will receive $125,000 from the... View full entry
Architect, educator, artist, and public housing advocate Victor Body-Lawson has spent much of his career working towards community-driven designs that focus on integrating design, arts, and architectural education for more equitable urban solutions. Body-Lawson's work spans New York, other... View full entry
Commercial real estate may have been hit hard this past year due to spikes in remote working and the emergence of "post-COVID ghost towns." However, has the opportunity for converting empty offices and hotels turned into a feeding ground for developers? Must the solution always result in some form... View full entry
With NFT technology enjoying a sizeable media presence at the moment, it was only a matter of time until noteworthy pieces of architecture would be added to the blockchain: a 9,000-square-foot residence in Larchmont, New York, originally designed in 1958 by local firm Finn and Ginter and expanded... View full entry
Amazon continues to makes headlines with its labor issues, workers' rights, and headquarters expansion. However, that hasn't stopped the multi-billion-dollar company from growing, for better or for worse. A recent news report from NBC News shared Amazon's moves towards purchasing empty shopping... View full entry
In keeping with Robert Hughes's dictum that architecture is "the art you live in," a remarkable Ai Weiwei-designed house dubbed "living art" by some is reported to have sold this week to an unnamed buyer for the jaw-dropping price of $4.9 Million. Tsai Residence, with guest house... View full entry
For decades, ordinary residents have been pushed out of cities like London and New York to make room for offices and luxury apartments. But the pandemic has massively reduced demand for these same locations — turning city centers into ghost towns, full of shiny new buildings that no one needs. — Jacobin Magazine
Writing for Jacobin, Glyn Robbins dissects the pandemic's lasting effect on cities around the world where new luxury developments — too often favored over affordable housing solutions for the broader local community — are now faced with a sudden drop in demand. Related on Archinect... View full entry
