hollywood billionaire

Chapter 443 Why Can’t I Spend All the Money? (Part )

"This is different."

Jordan Bromley could recall this kind of key information instantly without having to look for clues in his notes.

"Essex Asset Management, reportedly just bought two adjacent apartment communities in the San Fernando Valley for $1.85 million. 2010 Riverside Boulevard, built in 12000, and 2014 Riverside Boulevard, built in 12729. So they are eager to find a suitable buyer for Jefferson at Hollywood in exchange for sufficient liquidity."

"Buying real estate in North Hollywood and selling real estate in the core area of ​​Hollywood...why?" Han Yi was puzzled. He frowned and glanced at the information. "Isn't Jefferson at Hollywood also a new apartment that was just completed in 2010?"

"Because they are more optimistic about the development potential of North Hollywood, which is not surprising, Yi. You have lived in Los Angeles for so many years, you should know that the valley is a more suitable place for the middle class to live than along Hollywood Boulevard."

“It’s cheaper, safer, and not too far from the core—the 101 takes you directly to downtown, and the 405 takes you to Santa Monica and West Hollywood, all within a reasonable driving distance. Of course, the benefit of living in the valley is that you can easily get to other parts of the San Fernando Valley, especially Universal Studios, Toluca Lake, Sherman Oaks, and even Burbank, but I personally think Burbank is boring as hell.”

"I understand that Studio City, Van Nuys, and Northridge are all very livable places." Han Yi cautiously agreed with Jordan Bromley's point of view, "But this cannot change the fact that Jefferson at Hollywood is in the core area of ​​the city. Think about it, it is next to the permanent venue of the Academy Awards, a place that attracts 3800 million tourists every year... 3800 million!"

"But no middle-class family wants to live next to a tourist attraction, right?" Jordan gave another powerful argument. "Yes, the Kodak Theater and the Walk of Fame are indeed the most famous labels in Los Angeles, but they only bring endless troubles to the residents living around them. Every holiday and even weekend, it is crowded. During the day, there are scammers dressed as movie characters and asking people to take photos with them for $20. At night, the streets are full of homeless people... No one is willing to pay twice the rent of North Hollywood just to let their children grow up in that environment."

"But the middle class with children should not be the customer group of Jefferson at Hollywood!" Han Yi raised his arm and his tone at the same time. This kind of heated debate without gunpowder and focusing on the things themselves is his favorite topic of conversation. "Just like The Vermont where Grace lives now, such prosperous areas should attract high-income young people who demand quality of life and foreign investors who have romantic imaginations of the urban scenery of Los Angeles... This also includes international students from prestigious universities and their parents. If you tell those foreign parents, 'Hey, this is where the Oscars are held, and it is only 15 minutes away from UCLA,' then they will be happy to rent or buy an apartment here for their children."

"This is real."

Xu Yiru, who was eavesdropping on the side, bit her lower lip and blinked twice at Yuzhen and Maddie beside her.

"There are really not many families with children in the apartment where I live... There are probably not many married people. Most of them are international students at USC, and single white-collar workers working near Koreatown or along Wilshire Boulevard. Yi often comes to see me, so he knows the situation of The Vermont very well."

"Are you really trying to tell us that Yi often comes to your apartment to see you?" Zhao Youzhen snorted and didn't respond, while Madison just rolled her eyes and exposed Grace's little thoughts on the spot.

"Yeah...yeah."

Xiaoru agreed generously.

"He's mainly worried that I can't take care of myself, so he comes to give me some things and take me out for dinner whenever he has nothing to do. It's been like this for almost two years... Has he come to your place to look for you?"

"I've been on tour, why did he come to see me?" The aggressive little balloon instantly wilted. "Besides, I'm different. I'm a public figure. He can't just..."

The defeated Changdao girl kept on defending herself, but Xu Yiru didn't listen to a word. She pursed her lips, glanced at the expressionless Yuzhen with a faint smile, and turned her attention back to Han Yi.

"…It is certainly a good thing to attract international consumers, but the current Jefferson at Hollywood does not have such conditions at all. You have also seen these materials, texts, pictures… Although it is said to be 270 "luxury apartments", the internal structure, including various facilities, gyms, swimming pools, lobby, and other public areas, are essentially no different from other apartment communities. In Los Angeles, there are such houses everywhere. Look at this facade. If it were you, would you choose to spend more than $ a month to live in such a one-bedroom apartment? When you can find a comparable alternative in North Hollywood for half the price?"

"You're right. The current basic conditions are definitely not good enough. This product and this location are a mismatch." Han Yi is not a nitpicker. On the contrary, he is a person who is willing to accept advice in most cases. He is not afraid to have his own opinions, nor is he afraid to accept other people's opinions. "But in my opinion, this problem is easy to solve, because the environment around 1724 Highland Avenue can fully support a real high-end luxury apartment... Look, look at this map."

Han Yi spread out the exquisite information printed on coated paper, turned to the page of the location diagram, turned it over, and pointed out the golden spots of this area one by one in front of Jordan.

"First of all - we have repeated this many times - the Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds are right next to it. Maybe in real life, they will become a burden to the surrounding residents to a certain extent, but it is precisely this burden brought by the huge traffic that keeps the housing prices strong. As long as they are here, tourists and money will continue to flow in."

"In addition, there are supporting facilities here that make life more convenient. Hey, don't forget Oviation Hollywood, which is just across the street! It's an entire shopping mall that can be reached by crossing the zebra crossing. There are four-star hotels, an IMAX theater, and dozens of restaurants and clothing stores. How many apartment communities in Los Angeles can reach a large shopping mall without the need for a train?"

"Very few indeed," Jordan nodded and replied.

"Right? Okay, let's keep looking... To the north, there's a gas station and a small open-air shopping mall, both separated by just an alley. The Hollywood Methodist Church is right above this gas station. On Sundays, the surrounding area is at least not full of tourists. There are also law-abiding believers. Further up, there's the Holiday Inn Express, the Hilton Garden Inn... The Hollywood Bowl! The most famous public event venue in Los Angeles, only a three-minute drive from 1724 Highland Avenue."

"Then, to the right of the Hollywood Bowl is the Hollywood Reservoir, and to the left is Runyon Canyon Park connected to Mulholland Drive. It couldn't be more convenient for residents who like outdoor sports, especially hiking. To the east... the east is full of low-rise apartments of the same type, ensuring the liveliness and purity of the community. To the south is the most important Hollywood Boulevard. Not only is there the Guinness World Records Museum, the Pantages Theater, the AVALON nightclub, but also the famous Musicians Academy! Let me check the number of international students in this school... there are 254!"

"Think about it, these students who are willing to pay $270 to $ a year in tuition and additional living expenses to come to Los Angeles to study music, would they be tempted by a brand new, high-end apartment that can only walk to the school in five minutes? You have to know that there are only apartments in the entire community."

"Most importantly, doesn't Jefferson at Hollywood itself have nearly 9000 square feet of dining and retail space? If we do a good job of attracting these shops, bringing in a bank, a small supermarket, and two or three good chain restaurants and lifestyle service providers, we will be able to meet the daily needs of apartment tenants."

Having said that, Han Yi closed the document, clenched his left hand into a fist, and pressed it down slowly but firmly.

"So buy it, renovate the facade to be a luxury condo, as good as 1600 Vine, or better, try to reach the level of 8500 Burton. Then, change the interior layout and update the supporting facilities, which will be enough to make this place show its due value."

"And its real value is certainly much higher than the price Essex Asset Management has put on it now."

"That's the difference between people... Everyone has their own methodology for doing business." Jordan Bromley smiled noncommittally, "For you, the most important task at work, and what arouses your passion the most, is to inspire the greatest potential of people and things, but others may not be like you."

"Many of them don't want the best thing three to five years from now, they want something that works for them now."

"Essex Asset Management obviously has this mentality. Instead of spending tens of millions of dollars to take risks, it is better to cash out first, make some profits, and then invest in a project that better meets the needs of the current market. Think about it, in 2013, Essex bought Jefferson at Hollywood for $1.205 million, or an average of $44.6 per unit. If they can sell it to you for $1.5 million, their return on investment will be at least 25%, not counting the money they earned from rent in three years." "There is no way they can get $1.5 million from me." Han Yi directly threw out a final conclusion, "I won't pay such a high premium for a semi-finished product."

"I wouldn't recommend you to do that either. Based on the current maintenance and operation of this asset, we should reduce their profit margin from this sale to 10%, or even lower. You can also consult Antoine and other asset management experts on this matter. Their opinions should be consistent with mine."

"10% sounds fair... I'll discuss it with Antoine, but I think our first offer should be lower than the 10% premium. We shouldn't make it too low so that they think we don't have the sincerity to buy it, but we should leave some room for further negotiation."

"No problem. You can finalize the specific details of the offer with Antoine when the time comes, and I will contact him later." Jordan lowered his head again, recording the key information mentioned by Han Yi in his notebook, and continued, "I just gave an example... 1724 Highland Avenue has a total of 270 apartments, and the two Riverside Boulevard communities have a total of 408 apartments. The total number of apartments that can be rented out has increased by 50%, and the price is only $3500 million higher than the listing price here. This means that they can rent out more apartments at a lower price, reducing the risk of vacant houses."

"Almost all real estate market analysts are optimistic about North Hollywood's potential for appreciation in the next few years. It may not rise sharply, but it will definitely rise steadily. Essex only needs to hold on to these two communities steadily and wait until 2019 or 2020 to sell them again, and he will make another profit."

"Isn't it these beautiful data that these asset management companies are looking for? Whether a property itself meets the needs of the area and whether it has reached its maximum potential is not within their consideration at all."

"I understand. They must have their reasons for doing this. I also know that not everyone will be like me, and will take... uh, making it beautiful and pleasing to the eye as the basic criterion for every project." Han Yi raised his eyebrows and smiled, "But I am glad that people like me are only a minority... I am also glad that Essex is not one of the minority. This gives us the opportunity to own a piece of land in the most central area of ​​Hollywood, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Jordan narrowed his eyes slightly and responded with a smile of equal magnitude. "So... we should move forward with this project now, right?"

"Yes, I'll send an email to Antoine later, and we'll have a meeting next week to discuss the specific price."

"receive."

As the records in the notebook gradually increased, Jordan's handwriting began to become sloppy.

Jordan had a dinner party last night, so he left his laptop in the office of Manat Entertainment, thinking that he would pick it up tomorrow morning and come to Stradella Road, but who would have thought that the dinner party with old friends who were having a good chat turned into a drinking party. When he regained consciousness again, Jordan hurriedly got up from the sofa in the living room and looked at his watch. It was already 12:40.

So, this barrister, who was accustomed to keyboard input on a daily basis and didn't even need to use the keyboard because he had a legal assistant to take notes, suffered the pain of handwriting for the first time in a long time.

"Like the W Hotel in West Hollywood, I will further refine the acquisition conditions with the seller next week and then synchronize the latest progress with you."

"OK."

"We've got two done, great... Yi, after hearing about so many projects related to physical assets, should we..."

Jordan placed his right hand on the pile of documents on the far right of the tea table.

"A change of taste?"

"I think you should be very interested in the joint investment proposal for Supreme from the Carlyle Group, right?"

"actually……"

Before Han Yi could answer, their attention was drawn to a strange sound.

To be precise, there should be three voices.

Three gasps of surprise could not be suppressed and floated over from the porch.

"How about we continue this discussion at another time?"

Jordan glanced at the porch and then smiled away.

He didn't know how confidential Han Yi wanted to be about these projects, nor did he want to make decisions for the other party, so he used the most tactful way to remind Han Yi to make a decision.

"It looks like you've had some lovely visitors this afternoon."

"It's really cute, sneaky and furtive, like Casper."

Han Yi pursed his lips, smiled helplessly and sighed, then turned around completely, facing the "empty" porch, and spoke loudly.

"Come on, everyone."

"Since you've heard it, please help me with the consultation."

(End of this chapter)