Ritchie Bros. set to auction off land in the Hollywood Hills
Source: National Post, by Grant Surridge
September 12, 2007
What subprime mortgage mess? That's what one Canadian company is asking as it prepares to auction off a prime chunk of land in Hollywood Hills.
Vancouver-based Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers is holding an unreserved auction on November 17 in the Beverly Hills Hotel to offload 12 acres of land in Hollywood's Laurel Canyon, a property that features stunning views and a chance to live amongst the stars.
"It's really the last parcel of this size available in the Hollywood Hills," said Kim Schulz, spokesperson for Ritchie Bros. "I've walked the property. It's amazing... the houses [in the area] are worth millions."
Ritchie Bros. believes the slumping real estate market is unlikely to affect demand for such a high-end piece of real estate, said Ms. Schulz.
A California engineering firm hired by the property's owners proposes building a monster 30,000 square-foot home on the property. That, or dividing the lot up into nine separate lots.
"It's just such a unique property that it will attract people who are willing to dig deep," said Ms. Schulz.
But while the relatively high incomes in the area mean Hollywood Hills has not been affected by the subprime mortgage debacle, developers could still be reluctant to undertake large-scale development project in a soft market, realtor Ray Schuldenfrei said on the phone from Los Angeles.
Houses of the size proposed by the engineering firm are not often found in the Laurel Canyon, he said, more likely to be located in the Sunset Strip area or Bel Air.
"Thirty-thousand square foot houses in Laurel Canyon right now probably are white elephants," said Mr. Schuldenfrei. On nearby Mulholland Drive a series of three undeveloped lots recently sold for US$2-million each, he said, but they were on flat land and carried a prestigious address.
Arizona resident Ross Denny purchased the land a year ago with a group of partners in what he described as a "botched bankruptcy." Incorrect information distributed to the public led to only three bidders showing up for an auction to purchase the property, he said.
He is confident the eventual buyer will not be swayed by the averse conditions in the wider housing market, and said he is not resorting to an auction because of difficulty unloading the property through other methods.
"Typically it's a last option, but in today's market place if you get the right people in the audience it's going to be the best way to get the property into someone's hands."
