L.A. loses another ED1 lawsuit, San Pedro Fish Market stays put, and more

Those who noticed a black plume of smoke above Downtown Los Angeles may be disappointed to learn that the source was the historic Morrison Hotel, located at the northeast corner of Pico Boulevard and Hope Street.

A structure fire gutted the 110-year-old building, leaving in doubt plans from property owner AIDS Healthcare Foundation to convert the historic building back into SRO apartments. The building was previously slated to serve as the centerpiece of a mixed-use project which would have brought high-rise hotel and condominium towers to adjacent sites, although that proposal has been discarded in favor of a more modest all-residential development.

Here's what we're reading this week:

LA tenants are facing rent hikes of up to 6%; city officials recommend lower caps "City officials have been considering major changes to the rent control limits that apply to three-quarters of L.A. apartments. In recent months, outside economists and the city’s own housing officials have determined that some aspects of the city’s decades-old rent control formula should be changed to more fairly balance the needs of tenants and landlords." (LAist)

After decades on the San Pedro waterfront, famous fish market signs lease for decades more "Owners of the San Pedro Fish Market and Restaurant, a top-grossing restaurant that once sprawled across a wooden pier in the Port of Los Angeles, have signed a 49-year lease to rebuild at their historic waterfront home." (LA Times)

LA loses third effort to block affordable housing in some neighborhoods "Like a handful of other ED1 projects, city officials put the application on ice because these apartments were proposed in an area zoned for single-family homes. Bass later amended the program to ban ED1 projects in the 72% of L.A. residential land reserved for single-family houses. But a housing advocacy group called YIMBY Law sued for developers’ right to proceed based on the original rules, which did not ban projects in single-family areas." (LAist)

East End Bets On Studios "The company debuted its first ever ground-up studio project in Glendale earlier this year and has three other local studio campuses underway in efforts to expand its footprint and accommodate modern sets." (LA Business Journal)

Tishman Speyer Sells Beverly Hills Office for $90M "At $675 a square foot, the sale price is more than double what Tishman paid for the property in 2005" (Commercial Observer)

Los Angeles is still recovering from the pandemic. Property pros say 'mansion tax' isn’t helping. "While a number of cities across the country remain in recovery mode from lower real estate demand caused by the pandemic and higher interest rates, the transfer tax is keeping Los Angeles from making a quicker rebound, real estate professionals say." (CoStar)

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