Assessed property valuations in Los Angeles County grew 6.3% last year to $1.6 trillion, led by the NFL stadium construction in Inglewood, the county assessor’s office reported July 15.
The annual assessment roll grew by $94 billion, marking the ninth consecutive year of growth. But the rate of growth slowed from 6.6% in 2017, reflecting a slight slowdown in construction and a more pronounced slowdown in the number of existing home sales, with properties sitting on the for-sale market for longer periods of time, according to Assessor Jeffrey Prang.
“Despite this slowdown in activity, the growth number is still respectable, and it’s because larger items are coming onto the roll,” Prang said.
The largest item of all was nearly $1.96 billion added for the construction of the Los Angeles Stadium & Entertainment District at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and Hollywood Park Land Co. The stadium will be home to both the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers National Football League teams.
Although construction of the stadium is not slated for completion until late next year, Prang said the bulk of the stadium’s value was placed on the 2019 assessment roll taken Jan. 1 because the impact is already being felt with higher property values in the surrounding area. The nearly $2 billion in valuation growth caused the assessed valuation for Inglewood to surge nearly 26% for 2019, making Inglewood by far the biggest gainer.
Other large projects added on to the assessment roll for 2019 include: $605 million for Miami-based developer Crescent Heights Inc.’s 10000 Santa Monica Blvd. residential tower, completed in early 2017; $310 million for completion of Indianapolis-based Maefield Development’s Sunset Millennium project in West Hollywood and $200 million in new value added to the Los Angeles Football Club/Banc of California Stadium project in Exposition Park.
Sales and construction of industrial and logistics warehouses were a major factor driving assessment valuation growth in several other cities including Bell, Paramount, Santa Fe Springs and Vernon, Prang said.
The 2019 assessment roll comprises 2.57 million real estate parcels and business assessments throughout Los Angeles County, including 1.88 million single-family homes, roughly 250,000 apartment complexes and another 250,000 commercial and industrial properties, as well as more than 200,000 business property assessments (including aircraft, boats, business fixtures and inventory).
Overall, property sales accounted for roughly half the growth in assessed valuation, or $48 billion, followed by the inflation adjustment mandated by Proposition 13 ($29 billion) and new construction, which added $11 billion.
The assessed valuation is crucial for local governments because it is the base from which taxes are calculated: Under Proposition 13, the tax rate for most parcels is 1% of the total assessed valuation with a cap of 2% growth per year. Properties are reassessed at market value when they change hands.
Parcels owned by charitable organizations and nonprofits are exempt from taxes and are not included in the assessment roll: The largest such parcel in L.A. County is the Getty Museum complex owned by the J. Paul Getty Trust and comprising both the Getty Center in Brentwood and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades.
Education, energy, engineering/construction and infrastructure reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @howardafine.
