Notes from the market.
Practical writing on Downtown Los Angeles commercial property and Napa Valley land, from a firm that has transacted in both through several market cycles.
Real estate market data and research
Napa County Real Estate, Fall 2026
What is selling, what is not, and why Sonoma is holding: price per foot down 10% from the 2024 peak, 6.9 months of inventory, and one in three listings coming off unsold.
Southern California Cap Rates by City, Q3 2026
What buildings actually sold at, from 9,335 closed sales: office, retail, industrial and apartment cap rates for LA, Orange County, the Inland Empire, Ventura and San Diego, city by city.
Why Commercial Buildings in Los Angeles Are Getting Harder to Insure
Rates are falling nationally and rising here. FAIR Plan policies in LA County nearly doubled in three years, financed sales fell six points, and Downtown values are down 8 to 13 percent.
Escalations and Options Are Not the Same Thing
Escalation is income you own; a renewal option is a decision the tenant owns. What to check in CPI language, and why options are not term.
The $5.4 Million Wall: What Measure ULA Did to Los Angeles Commercial Sales
27 city buildings sold just under the tax threshold; two sold just over it. A study of 2,890 CoStar sales against a no-transfer-tax comparison group.
Measure ULA in 2026: What Sellers Actually Pay, and the Two Dead Zones
4% over $5.4M on the whole price, 5.5% at $10.9M — plus the two ranges where a higher sale price nets the seller less.
Five Ways a Retail Deal Dies in Escrow
Refusal rights, estoppels, title and survey, the lender's read on lease term, and environmental history — all knowable in week one, and the first-week sequence that surfaces them.
How to Read a Shopping Center Rent Roll: Eight Numbers That Set the Price
The cap rate is the output. Rent-weighted lease term, income concentration, recovery ratio, rollover, re-leasing reserves and escalation structure are the inputs — the order K2 works in.
Buying a Smart & Final or Sprouts: What the Cap Rate Doesn’t Tell You
152 Smart & Final locations in Southern California; four for sale. Cap rate timing, options vs. term, non-reporting grocers, and the lease provisions that kill net lease deals.
What’s Selling in Downtown LA, and For How Much
DTLA sellers ask a median $313/SF. Buyers pay $196. District-by-district data on 95 buildings for sale and 47 sales closed in the last twelve months.
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Rent or Own in the Fashion District: The Math on 10,000 Square Feet
What an operator paying $18,000 a month for 10,000 square feet can actually own instead — cash to close, monthly cost, and the 51% rule that lets you buy bigger and lease the balance.
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Two Costs Downtown LA Property Owners and Buyers Can’t Afford to Ignore
Seismic retrofit compliance and Measure ULA’s transfer tax belong in every Downtown LA valuation — not just the rent roll and cap rate.
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The 45-day clock: what 1031 buyers actually need to plan for
The identification window is won or lost before your property sells. Here’s how to prepare so the clock works for you, not against you.
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Why Napa Valley land holds its value
Napa is a scarcity market by design — and that design is exactly what protects long-term land values.
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Investing in land with water rights — and financing the build
Water is the constraint that decides whether a parcel can be developed at all. What to verify before you buy, and how the build gets financed.
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The Napa development blueprint: the math behind an 18-month build
How development financing lets the bank carry the costs while you create the value — the numbers behind an 18-month build.
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Where Los Angeles property values are climbing fastest
The LA market is strong as a whole, but appreciation is not evenly spread. Where the gains are concentrating — and why.
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