Long Beach City Council Seeks Rent Control

What madness is this I hear?  The Long Beach City Council is about to attempt to burden the good people of the City of Long Beach with Rent Control?  Sorry, I have to ask.................Are you out of your minds? 

The Long Beach City Council meeting is Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 5:00 PM at City Hall.   City Hall is located at 333 W. Ocean Blvd in Downtown Long Beach. Directions and transportation options to City Hall.  Be there or never complain about losing your rights! 

The City of Long Beach City Council Agenda - See #22

Yep, you heard that right, rent control.  They plan on introducing this recipe for disaster on us by changing the current laws regarding condominium conversions and are proposing relocation benefits and a policy option of lifetime leases for existing tenants.  Well folks, I have to ask some questions...................

• What developer in their right mind would take on a project here in Long Beach with the prospect of unknown costs and unknown profits or losses looming over their heads? 

• What buyer would purchase in a condo conversion if there were tenants expecting to be serviced and not contributing to the collective? 

• What tenant would take a paltry move out fee if they could stay on as guaranteed "lifetime tenants"  with likely controlled increases in their rents.  They know that over the years their rent will become minimal as their income increases, they would have to be nuts to give up these units.  Ask any New Yorker who has a rent controlled or rent stablized apartment, hell they keep them in the family, they never give them up!

• Are they also planning on restricting rental increases to these "lifetime tenants" if this bill passes?

• What condo buyer would be willing to pay exorbitant HOA dues to account for the rental units as time goes by and the rents are no longer enough to cover expenses? 

• Will renters show the same care for the building that owners do?

• What is this a predecessor of?  Can full out Rent Control be far behind if we allow this to occur?  I think not!

It is damn near impossible to buy or sell income properties in Long Beach right now as it is.  The current rent structures do not support the purchase prices.  Go ahead, throw rent control into the mix and see what you get.  Do you currently own income property in Long Beach?  If you do you had better be at this meeting to voice your objections to even the remotest possibility of rent control being introduced into our environment.  The income property market in Long Beach is very weak right now.  As it is now, it will take years for rental income to rise to levels high enough to sustain the prices many paid for these units over the last five or more years.   Were you thinking about converting your apartment building at some point in the future, forget it if this bill passes, you probably won't even be able to sell it. 

I remember what happened to Santa Monica when they had rent control.  Owners were stuck with buildings they could not sell and could not afford to maintain.  The buildings began to literally fall apart.  Inflation never stops and rent increases, under rent control, do not keep up with inflation.  Once rent controls were lifted (many years after it should have happened) money poured into the area and it was regenerated.  Rent control eventually turns neighborhoods into slums.  Inflation never stops and rent increases do not keep up with inflation. 

Many Long Beach homeowners are currently staring down the face of short sales and foreclosures; most of these homeowners will be entering the rental market here.  Depending on who you listen to the current rental vacancy rate in Long Beach is somewhere between 4 and 5%.  With these homeowners entering the rental market it is projected that the vacancy rate will drop to around 3.2%.  Quite frankly I suspect that we are going to drop closer to a 0% vacancy rate, but I could be wrong.  If 5% vacancy rate equates to about 4500 units and we have about 500 foreclosures a month (that is conservative), those vacancies will be full in less than one year.  I never had a really big problem with math, do you? 

The real problem here is that while the City of Long Beach was busy approving high rise luxury condominiums they didn't plan for future rentals that were affordable.  Long Beach is still basically a blue collar city and housing is needed for it's huge workforce. Maybe the city should take some of the massive amounts of land it has acquired over the last 10 or 15 years in and around the Downtown Long Beach area and allocate it to developing affordable rental housing.  Maybe they should do that really quickly, it sounds to me like we need some balance here. 

Did authorising the demise of rental units to allow for condo conversions, high rises luxury condominiums and loft space contribute to the alleged housing shortage?  Absolutely!  The City approved every one of these projects, was it just bad planning?  What happened to the affordable housing projects?  Swept under the rug for more expensive luxury housing? 

Hey City Council, this is the wrong answer to a real problem. 

Then again, this may all be a crock of you know what...............Planning and Building Director Suzanne Frick told the commission that there have been 2,174 conversions approved in recent years, but added by only 482 units have been converted.  If what Ms. Frick says is true and only  482 units have been converted, then what exactly is the problem?  This should not have caused an imbalance strong enough to even call for this bill.  Perhaps they are only counting the loss of rental units due to actual "condo conversions" and are not including the losses to build the high rise luxury condos and lofts?   I just love technicalities. 

Related Articles:

• The District Weekly - Apartment Renters' Rights
• The Press Telegram - Rent Controls
• The City of Long Beach City Council Agenda - See #22

Posted on December 10, 2007 21:30:22 by Laurie.Manny

Christmas Events in Long Beach California

LONG BEACH HOMES & REAL ESTATE 

Christmas Events in and around Long Beach California

Long Beach Tree Lighting

November 30, 2007 at 6 PM Mayor Bob Foster and Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal will flip the switch lighting Long Beachs Official Christmas Tree.  The tree is 30 feet tall.  No tree lighting would be complete without Santa Claus.  Santa will arrive in a 1940s woody beach cruiser and music will be provided by the Surfaris.  Located at 95 South Pine Avenue at Shoreline Drive in Downtown Long Beach. 

Belmont Shore Christmas Parade

December 1, 2007, 6 - 9PM 'Dog Days of Christmas' is this years theme.  Second Street in Belmont Shore will come alive when thousands converge upon it to view over 150 parade entries.  Most will spend the day in the Shore as it is very parking challenged for an event this large.  Be sure to get there early or take the Red Passport Bus into Belmont Shore.  This event is FREE. 

Snow in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach CA

December 2, 2007 10 AM - 4 PM.  Yes snow in Bixby Knolls, 30 tons of it to be exact, including a sled run, live music, food and vendor booths and of course Santa Claus.  On Atlantic Avenue between Carson Street and San Antonio Drive.  FREE 562-595-0081 www.bixbyknollsinfo.com

Queen Mary Tree Lighting

December 5, 2007 6:30 - 7:30 PM, the annual lighting of the Queen Mary Christmas Tree.  Free.  Located on the Queen Mary Sun Deck Stage, 1126 Queens Highway. 

54th Annual Daisy Lane Christmas Tree Lane Parade

December 8th at 5:00 PM.  Location: Daisy Avenue, between Pacific Coast Highway and Willow Street.  A tradition since 1953, this is a  2 day community event sponsored by the City of Long Beach.   

December 9th entertainment:

• International Childrens Choir (6:30-7 PM)
• Ballet Folklorico Group Izamna (7-8 PM)
• Apple Creek Cloggers (8-9 PM)
• Santa Claus (7-8 PM) at 20th Street and Daisy Avenue.
• Santa will return again on Dec. 14-16
• More Information:  562-427-5021

Long Beach Parade of 1000 Lights

in the Downtown Long Beach Shoreline Marina; Saturday, December 8 at 6:30 PM.  Best viewed from Shoreline Village or the Marina break-wall behind Shoreline Village, or from Shoreline Park around the Lighthouse.  Paid parking at Shoreline Village, The Aquarium of the Pacific, The Pike, or you can park in one of the many lots up on Pine Avenue, make a day of it and walk down to view the parade. 

Naples Christmas Boat Parade

Saturday, December 12th, this years theme is 'Through a Childs Eyes'.  Small boats start at 6:00 PM from the 2nd Street Bridge, large boats start at 6:30 M near the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club.  The small boats are best viewed from the local bridges or along side the canals.  The larger boats can be viewed from the 2nd Street Bridge or from the Alamitos Bay Marina, there you will also be able to view the boats that didnt fit in the canals.  Traffic is sure to be awful, you might want to make a day of it and get into the Belmont Shore/Naples area earlier in the day, have a late lunch or an early dinner in any one of the many wonderful restaurants; perhaps stroll the Naples Canals to admire the fabulous Christmas decorations and lights.  Parking at Mothers Beach lot on Appian Way, the Marine lots East of the Davis Bridge, at Marine Stadium.  Other lots can be found at 54th & Bayshore, 5537 The Toledo, or street parking if you get lucky. 562-253-1626 www.naplesca.org

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Posted on November 24, 2007 12:50:37 by Laurie.Manny

Long Beach Implements New Fire & Building Codes

Posted on November 22, 2007 19:14:14 by Laurie.Manny

Veterans Day Tribute

Posted on November 11, 2007 20:33:24 by Laurie.Manny

Long Beach Breakwater Stupidity

Stupid is as Stupid Does

Back in August I wrote a rather neutral piece on the Long Beach Breakwater Controversy.  Apparently Sink The Breakwater didn't appreciate the neutrality of the article because they chose to ignore it in their most recent article.  Instead they chose to chastise an Alamitos Beach Market Report that I wrote.   Ironically a link to the neutral article is front and center in my article, had they chosen to follow it.  The article also included an open invitation to the August 6th meeting at the Borders bookstore in Downtown Long Beach, you are very welcome for the free and unsolicited publicity.   Sink The Breakwater didn't even link back to the article which they so frivolously ridiculed and used pictures from my article - without permission, which is customary practice in the polite cyber world as the nice folks over at The District Weekly will tell you. 

The article that I wrote discussed the reason the breakwater was originally built back in 1949, the stance of some of our local politicians, the reasoning behind the removal of the breakwater, funding for a breakwater reconnaissance study and a plug for the Long Beach Surfrider meeting on 8/6/07.  Also missed was further mention of the Long Beach Breakwater issues that were mentioned in another article of mine; Long Beach Alamitos Peninsula-Property Encroachments and Market Report. 

I have a message for the folks over at Sink The Breakwater

The Long Beach Real Estate Home Blog site gets between 2000 and 3000 browser hits per day, it is widely read and sits at the top of the search engines for almost every conceivable search that has to do with Long Beach and Real Estate related subjects.  That is a huge lot of hits in case you don't know that.  Why would you want to irritate me?  Don't you think it would have been wise to explore this further before attempting to tear a market report, of all things, down and attempt to use it to your advantage? 

You title your post Selling the "Good Points" as if there is something wrong with that.  Don't you think Long Beach has "Good Points"?  If you don't think so, then exactly what the hell is it that you are trying to save?  Had you bothered to ask you would have discovered that I absolutely love the idea of removing at least a part of the breakwater and allowing the natural tides to clean out our bay. 

What the people at Sink the Breakwater are missing is that the Long Beach Homes sitting along the ocean are lived in and owned by real people who matter also.  When they start to consider that any decisions made must consider the people and the property as well as the ecological, economic and recreational benefits perhaps they may begin to make some headway into a happy middle ground that may just suit everybody involved.  Attempting to shove your ideas down peoples throats without consideration for their homes and businesses will never bode well. 

As far as the mention that there are 62 luxury condos for sale as of 9/29/2007, that is true, as my market report stated.  Although, that is not an overabundance of properties available in an area with such dense demographics.  The Long Beach Breakwater had no bearing on that market report, are you just grabbing at straws now?  That reeks of desperation.  You should be seeking allies, not irritating people. I could have been a very strong ally.  2000 to 3000 hits a day reaches a very large audience.  Oh well.....Stupid is as stupid does...

Posted on November 04, 2007 18:39:59 by Laurie.Manny