WESTERN EXPANSION: HOLLYWOOD, HERE WE COMEWe’ve gone Hollywood here at Douglas Elliman. This past winter we opened our fi rst
West Coast offi ce, in Beverly Hills, soon to be followed by offi ces in Santa Monica and
downtown Los Angeles. We’ve put together a superior management team of industry
veterans with local expertise to serve one of the most exciting and active real estate
markets in the country.We’re exceptionally happy that our fi rst major venture in Los Angeles will be
groundbreaking for the city. Douglas Elliman will market and develop Metropolis Los
Angeles, a $1 billion mixed-use complex in downtown L.A. It will be the largest of its
kind on the West Coast, fi nanced by Greenland USA, a real estate conglomerate from
China that’s betting big on L.A. The project includes three towers with a 38-story residential
skyscraper with over 1,400 condominiums; a 19-story four-star hotel; and an
offi ce tower, shops, and an event space for concerts and trade shows. Metropolis Los
Angeles is expected to reshape the downtown skyline and become the anchor for new
residential neighborhoods in the downtown business area that used to be deserted at
night. We’re proud to begin our association with the city in such a meaningful way.
Los Angeles is an exciting, thriving real estate market. After having been one of the
metropolitan areas hardest hit by the recession, it’s made double-digit gains in home
values over the last year. While some homebuyers are still struggling to adjust to
higher prices and mortgage rates, dozens of L.A. zip codes have matched their 2008
peaks. Home prices in part have been driven up by the dearth of inventory of homes
for sale, and values are predicted to continue to rise nearly 7 percent this coming year,
above the expected national average. The demand for luxury properties in Los Angeles
is unabated, particularly in the Golden Triangle, the area that includes affl uent communities
like Brentwood, Holmby Hills, Bel-Air, and the Hollywood Hills.
Although Los Angeles is a sprawling city with some 18 million people, in many
ways it’s surprisingly similar in character to New York and its neighborhoods. There
are beach houses in both Malibu and Montauk. There are high-end condos in
Manhattan and on Wilshire in Westwood. Soho, New York’s chic shopping mecca, is
not so terribly different than SaMo (Santa Monica). New York’s Chelsea is simply
WeHo (West Hollywood) without the palm trees.
The decision to open offi ces on the West Coast was easy for us. Our goal has always
been to go where our clients want to live, and to expand our services to an increasingly
global customer. According to the National Association of Realtors, the top three cities
searched by international real estate consumers were Los Angeles, Miami, and New
York, where we each now have offi ces. International clients are estimated to have purchased
$68.2 billion of residential property in the United States in 2013, and Douglas
Elliman has forged a strategic international partnership with London-based Knight
Frank Residential—the world’s largest privately owned property consultancy, which
markets its properties in 43 countries across six continents.
Another reason why we’re opening offi ces on the West Coast is because of our
pledge to support our clients through their entire real estate experience, no matter
where they may travel. To us, it’s not just about selling a house. Whether it’s Beverly
Hills or Sands Point, we want our customers to have a singular experience. We offer
big-picture support to our clients from start to fi nish, buyer to seller, with the expertise
only a company like Elliman can offer you, including mortgage, fi nancing, relocation,
and property management. Our brokers can even direct you to schools or help
you fi nd a local dentist when you move to a new neighborhood.
One great value Douglas Elliman brings with it to Los Angeles are our quarterly
marketing reports, which we’ll start to publish there shortly. Our market report series,
produced in conjunction with Miller Samuel, a leading independent appraisal fi rm, is
recognized as the industry standard in providing the state of the residential real estate
market for consumers, the media, and business professionals. The report includes an
extensive suite of tools to help readers objectively identify and measure market trends
and provide historical context to current information, which will be a fi rst for any
realty company on the West Coast.
The next time you’re in Los Angeles, stop by our offi ce and say hello. In addition to
our new home in Beverly Hills, Elliman has 22 offi ces in New York City, 27 on Long
Island, nine in the Hamptons, six in Westchester County, and 10 in South Florida.
* The Douglas Elliman Report is recognized as the
industry standard in reporting on the state of the residential real
estate market. The report includes an extensive suite of tools that help
readers objectively identify and measure market trends, and provides
comprehensive analysis and historical context for current trends and
data. For more information, visit
Elliman.com.
Dottie Herman is the president of
Douglas Elliman Real Estate, with offices across New York City, Long Island,
the Hamptons, and South Florida.
