The total value of the top 50 highest assessed properties in L.A. County dropped 4.6 percent in 2017, according to the Business Journal’s list this week – but that’s not any indicator of a dip in the real estate market.
The entire decline of $1.57 billion –which took the total for the list down to $32 billion – was accounted for by an anomaly in the reported value of the J. Paul Getty Center.
The assessed value of the renowned art museum and research center at 1200 Getty Center Drive in Malibu was down by $2 billion to $2.19 billion this year, according to the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor.
The difference on the Getty Center property was the result of a decision to assess the value of its land and buildings separately from other “unsecured” property, such as the artwork, equipment and furniture, said Robert Kalonian, spokesman for the Assessor’s Office.
All told, Getty Center did appreciate slightly, if counting the unsecured property, for a total of $4.308 billion in 2017, Kalonian said.
And the land and building on their own retained its perennial standing in the No. 1 spot on the list.
The value of several oil refineries saw wide swings from year to year. Chevron Corp.’s refinery at 324 W. El Segundo Blvd. in El Segundo ranked No. 2 on the list, with a value of $2.186 billion. The figure represents a 22 percent jump for the refinery’s value, up from $1.79 billion the year previously.
The property with the biggest gain in value in this year’s list was the PBF Energy Torrance Refinery at fifth place.
The property, at $1.107 billion in 2017, saw a 77 percent leap in value from last year’s listing at $624 million.
Ed Velez, a supervising appraiser at the Assessor’s Office, said the value of the refinery, which had been owned by ExxonMobil prior to PBF Energy’s 2016 acquisition of the property, had been down because of an explosion at the facility in 2015. The property value rose again after repairs and it was made operable again last year, Velez said.
“That affected the value, but they repaired it since then, Velez said.
Two more oil refineries came in at sixth and seventh place with the Valero Corp.’s refinery, at 2402 E. Anaheim St. in Wilmington, dropping 9.07 percent to a value of $932 million. That was followed by the Tesoro Corp.’s Carson refinery, at 1801 E. Sepulveda Blvd. in Carson, dropping 10.06 percent to $885 million for seventh place.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, at 8700 Beverly Blvd., was third on this year’s list with a value of $1.829 billion, up 18.31 percent from its 2016 value of $1.546 billion.
The Universal Studios entertainment production studios at 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City was fourth on this year’s list at $1.15 billion, down 22.89 percent from last year’s value of $1.5 billion.
Rounding out the top ten were two more hospitals. Providence St. John’s Health Center at 2121 Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica came in at 8th place with a 2017 value of $797 million, representing an 8.14 percent rise in value from the previous year.
That was followed by City National Plaza, a property with two office buildings in downtown Los Angeles at 515 S. Flower St. City National Plaza, which at 9th place was valued this year at $784 million for a 2.08 percent rise in value from last year.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles at 4650 Sunset Blvd. ranked 10th with a value of $733 million in 2017, up 1.81 percent from last year.
L.A. County’s total assessed property for 2017, according to the Assessor’s Office, was a record $1.474 trillion, or a 6.04 percent net increase over 2016, according to a release in July from the office.
“The 2017 Assessment Roll provides a comprehensive view of the strength of the Los Angeles real estate market,” Assessor Jeff Prang said in a statement. “The Roll reveals that in the last year, every city in Los Angeles County recorded an increase compared to 2016. I am pleased to report the 6.04 percent increase for assessed property values in Los Angeles County represents the seventh consecutive year of growth.”
