Westside Real Estate Scene October 18, 2021

By Dolores Quintana

Superstar actor Leonardo DiCaprio owns multiple properties in Malibu, but has recently put his property at Carbon Beach on the market. DiCaprio has purchased a new home for $13.8 million in the exclusive and under the radar enclave of the Blue Whale Estates which has only five homes. It is a gated community that is also home to singer Neil Diamond and Elizabeth Kolawa, the CEO of Parsoft as reported by Dirt. 

First Baptist Church of Venice Awarded Historic Designation

Patch reports that The First Baptist Church of Venice has been awarded a historic designation. The Los Angeles City Council voted on Sept. 29 to grant the petition to designate the church as a cultural landmark. LA City Councilmember Mike Bonin’s Twitter account praised the action saying, “The former First Baptist Church of Venice is a cultural-historic monument.” “It’s a long-overdue step to honor Black history in the historic Oakwood neighborhood of Venice.” To learn more about the church CLICK HERE. 

Sony Studios Repurposing Culver City Scenic Arts Building

Sony Studios will be repurposing the Scenic Arts Building, which is located on the Sony lot near the Overland entrance to the studio as reported by Urbanize Los Angeles. The building was built in 1938 and has fallen into disuse. A small support building nearby will be demolished and a larger and more modern four story building will be repurposed in its place. RIOS is designing the update of the building for Sony and this will be the first update of the buildings in the Sony campus since 2016. 

Five Story Apartment Planned for Heart of Westwood

There is a new proposed development for Westwood as reported by Urbanize Los Angeles. The proposed building would replace the two story commercial building at 1951 Westwood Boulevard. It would contain 29 new family units in a five story building with 23 parking spaces in an underground parking area. Kamran Tavakoli has applied to the City for the TOC or Transit Oriented Communities incentive. As a condition of the TOC incentive, three of the units would be reserved for extremely low income residents. California Development and Design Inc. is the architect of the project 

Framing Complete for Broadway and Cloverfield Development

In Santa Monica, framing is complete for a new development of mixed use apartment buildings at the corner of Broadway and Cloverfield Avenue as reported by Urbanize. The project is being developed by La Terra Development which is among a number of developments that the company is working on all over Los Angeles County. The building is being designed by Tighe Architecture and will be a three story structure with 49 new apartments and 2,700 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor as a mixed use building. The building will boast 128 parking spaces in a basement parking area.