Profiles of local brokers and other dealmakers in commercial real estate still making a go of it despite the down market:
STEVE SOBOROFF
, 61
Chairman and Chief Executive
Playa Vista, Playa Vista
An adviser to Richard Riordan during his term as mayor of Los Angeles, Soboroff joined the Playa Vista development team in 2001 after his own unsuccessful run for mayor. He’s been far more successful at the 1,100-acre master-planned Westside community, where construction goes on and residents continue to arrive despite the recession.
Biggest Challenge: Getting banks to make secure loans to willing Playa Vista homebuyers. (It) takes new residents longer to get their loans completed. Banks now look at the buyers’ income from salary as a very important factor versus the security of the real estate.
Chief Frustration: The government has put so much money into the banking system, and the banks have used the money to bolster their capital ratings versus lending it out.
Signs of Progress: Incredible new parks have opened (at Playa Vista). A small market has opened. A farmers’ market on Saturdays is incredibly popular. A K-5 elementary school was approved by the school board (and) an urgent care center opened. The No. 1 NBA draft pick, Blake Griffin, lives in Playa Vista.
Still to Be Done: We are completing the entitlement package for the remaining 90 acres of the original 1,100 Howard Hughes airport acreage and then that will be sold.
Sage Advice: Historically, in tough times, better to work smart hours than long hours.
Recession’s Silver Lining: There has been a healthy re-evaluation of what we really need and how much it is worth.
Stress Release: Family: five kids, one wife, five dogs. Drive: Tesla Roadster. Read: Kindle owner. I collect typewriters that were owned by famous people Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, Tennessee Williams, John Lennon, Jim Murray and George Bernard Shaw. Hike, golf and sleep!
SONNY ASTANI
, 55
President
Astani Enterprises Inc., Beverly Hills
The longtime apartment developer swung for the fences with his most ambitious project Concerto, a planned 629-unit condominium complex in two downtown high-rises and one loft building. He has struggled to keep the project afloat, but unlike other developers has not abandoned his effort; construction is wrapping up on one tower and the lofts.
Biggest Challenge: Trying to finish and sell a $300 million multiphase, high-rise mixed-use project in downtown L.A. all while expecting that my construction lender may be taken over by the FDIC any Friday at 6 p.m.
Notable Deals: I was very fortunate to have refinanced a half-dozen of our larger apartment buildings with Freddie Mac before the meltdown occurred.
Secret of Success: We are a small, flexible and lean operator. We are one of a few groups in L.A. that is an owner, developer, builder and manager of multifamily properties and condominiums.
Sage Advice: I usually talk to my wife, she knows everything.
Stress Release: I have practiced martial arts, tai chi and yoga for the past 20 years. But I have recently taken up wrestling and ocean swimming, which is an indication of my state of mind: “survival.”
Recession’s Silver Lining: People in general are more reasonable and easier to work with, the exception being my kids and my bank.
End of Downturn: Sadly it will come to an end when we have become so accustomed to it that we stop asking the question.
Recent Splurge: (On) trainers and shrinks. I have given up spontaneous and impulsive shopping.
