Apartments

Apartment rents are falling across most of Southern California as unemployed tenants double up with friends or family and the affordability of foreclosed homes makes some renters into buyers, a new survey has found. The average rent in Los Angeles County fell almost 4% in 2008 as apartment occupancy rates dropped and new units came online.

Behold a scene of lust and betrayal between a young woman and another woman's fiancé, on top of a kitchen table. Make that on top of a birthday cake. On the betrayed woman's birthday. Oh, and the women are roommates. Then discover that it's not only excusable behavior but also actually a kinky act of kindness. And that's just the opening scene of "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23," ABC'ssubversive midseason addition to the quirky-girl comedy trend, which has its season finale Wednesday.

A historic downtown Los Angeles office and retail complex that was being converted to condominiums before the last recession has been purchased out of bankruptcy and will be turned into luxury apartments. Denver developer Simpson Housing bought the Brockman Building at 530 W. 7th St. from Bank of America, which took it back from another developer that had almost completed the condo conversion before the residential market went south starting in 2007. The Brockman Building earned a footnote in Hollywood lore nearly a century ago when silent film actor and director Harold Lloyd reportedly witnessed “human fly” Bill Struther climb the exterior of the 12-story tower as a stunt.

A historic — and some say haunted — Los Angeles hospital that has been closed for two decades is set to be converted into apartments for low-income seniors in a $40-million makeover. Linda Vista Community Hospital is an imposing relic from the days when railroads took care of their sick and injured employees in company facilities. Originally known as Santa Fe Coast Lines Hospital, it was built for employees of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in Boyle Heights, a blue-collar neighborhood east of the city's rail yards and home to many railroad workers.

No one wanted to move out of the little apartment building on North Spaulding Avenue. The rents were low, the neighborhood lively. Most days, actor and masseur Johnny Ray strolled up the street with his potbellied pig, Harley. Tibor Reis, 78, tipped his fedora in greeting as he headed, in a suit, to his Orthodox synagogue. Before leaving for work to answer phones, Tami Talebi mapped out macabre movies.

After an extended lull brought on by the economic downturn, commercial real estate developers are building again. Some of the activity involves the revival of projects that stopped during the recession, but many others are new from the ground up and mark the return of construction cranes to the Southern California skyline along with the injection of billions of dollars into the local economy. An intense demand for apartments is the biggest driver of development, as the improving economy supports the formation of new households.

It's a cold winter for apartment investors in Los Angeles County: Rents are down, prices have fallen and vacancies are way up. Deal velocity -- broker slang for sales volume -- is a thin stream compared with the overflowing activity of 2005 and '06, the most recent boom years. But to smaller investors like Johnny Caal, with cash in hand and a taste for risk, the weather is delightful. This is the best market I've seen since 1994," during the previous recession, said the Van Nuys-based investor, who owns six small rental complexes in L.A. County.

The last surviving original developer of Marina del Rey got a little emotional before turning a shovelful of dirt to mark the beginning of a new apartment complex that will replace the one he built in the early 1960s. Under an awning decked in red, white and blue, Jerry Epstein recalled last month how financiers were skeptical of the man-made marina in its early days, and only a "very substantial" loan from actor Kirk Douglas gave Epstein enough cash to build Del Rey Shores apartments on Via Marina.

A Navy jet has crashed into a residential area in Virginia Beach, Va. Two pilots are believed to have safely ejected from the F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, but there was no immediately word about possible on-the-ground fatalities. Two apartment buildings were on fire, according to CNN affiliate WTKR, which quoted eyewitnesses. Emergency crews from the military, Virginia State Police and Virginia Beach police are responding to the scene of the crash, according to Fox news. Photos : Navy jet crashes into apartments in Virginia Beach Black smoke was visible over the Birdneck Road area of Virginia Beach at 12:30 p.m. local time.

New York investment firm Phoenix Realty Group bought a Long Beach apartment complex last month for $34.5 million, the latest in a string of acquisitions targeting Southern California residential properties. Since December 2010, Phoenix Realty has spent $228 million to acquire and improve 11 apartment complexes in the region. Most of them were in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where company executives expect to see growing demand from renters even though the Inland Empire was hit hard in the economic downturn.

A man suspected of killing his girlfriend and their two young sons is in jail while authorities continue searching for the bodies after unsuccessfully combing an Orange County landfill Friday. Shazer Limas, 31, of Orange was booked on suspicion of murder in the deaths of Arlet Hernandez, 31, and their sons — a 2-year-old and a 3-month-old. Limas was arrested late Thursday after a long police chase and standoff that closed Interstate 5 in north San Diego County near the San Onofre nuclear plant, backing up traffic for miles in both directions.

Back when single-celled organisms ruled Earth, a gigantic black hole lurking quietly at the center of a distant galaxy dismantled and devoured a star. On Wednesday, astronomers reported that they watched the whole thing unfold over a period of 15 months starting in 2010, the first time such an event had been witnessed in great detail from start to finish. "The star got so close that it was ripped apart by the gravitational force of the black hole," said Johns Hopkins University astronomer Suvi Gezari, lead author of a paper about the observations that was published online by the journal Nature.

After an extended lull brought on by the economic downturn, commercial real estate developers are building again. Some of the activity involves the revival of projects that stopped during the recession, but many others are new from the ground up and mark the return of construction cranes to the Southern California skyline along with the injection of billions of dollars into the local economy. An intense demand for apartments is the biggest driver of development, as the improving economy supports the formation of new households.

Jamie Langenbrunner and David Perron scored in a 45-second span in the third period, and the St. Louis Blues woke up in time to put away the San Jose Sharks, 3-1, and wrap up the first-round Western Conference series in five games Saturday night. Joe Thornton scored in the final minute of the second period for San Jose, and the visiting Sharks were seemingly in control before the flurry that ended their season. Brian Elliott made 26 saves, and Andy McDonald ended all doubt with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

You might have noticed that the cranes are back.  Real estate editor Nancy Rivera Brooks explains that's because commercial real estate is making a comeback in Southern California as developers break ground for offices, warehouses and stores. But the star of the show is apartment construction, with several new projects on track that will deliver more than 6,000 units this year in Los Angeles County, experts say. There are several reasons for the rebound. Land is relatively cheap these days, and interest rates are near historic lows.

ELYRIA, Ohio - President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney engaged in a long-distance debate over the key issue in the election - the economy and how to improve it - as both campaigned through key swing states more than six months ahead of November's election. Heading to an Ohio town battered by plant closures, Obama reached out to working-class voters, making the case for robust federal programs to help them get a leg up - in this case job training - and emphasizing that he "wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

Apartment rents in the U.S. West and South dropped 1.5%, marking their third consecutive decline, as higher unemployment forced some renters to combine households. The average monthly rent dropped to $978 in the three months ended March 31 from $993 in the fourth quarter of 2008, data tracker RealFacts said in a survey of more than 12,500 apartment complexes. The average rent was $993 in the year-earlier quarter as well.

One person was killed and 17 others suffered minor injuries Saturday afternoon when an apartment fire of unknown origin forced the dramatic evacuation through thick smoke of about 80 disabled and elderly residents from a seven-story, 100-unit complex in Inglewood.

A historic downtown Los Angeles office and retail complex that was being converted to condominiums before the last recession has been purchased out of bankruptcy and will be turned into luxury apartments. Denver developer Simpson Housing bought the Brockman Building at 530 W. 7th St. from Bank of America, which took it back from another developer that had almost completed the condo conversion before the residential market went south starting in 2007. The Brockman Building earned a footnote in Hollywood lore nearly a century ago when silent film actor and director Harold Lloyd reportedly witnessed “human fly” Bill Struther climb the exterior of the 12-story tower as a stunt.

Jicheng Qian barely noticed the pungent mix of sweat and tanning oil. His focus was on one man, dressed in skimpy purple trunks. As 20 bodybuilders rushed past, Qian yelled at No. 585 to keep his shoulders up. Onstage, Caleb Sun adjusted the position of his abs and tightened his chest. Satisfied with the symmetry of his flexed body, Sun lifted his head and grinned. " A ya ! He's still sagging his shoulders," Qian said. "But, mmm, his form - not bad, not bad at all. " Coaching Chinese hopefuls in Columbus, Ohio, at one of the world's most-talked-about bodybuilding competitions, Qian gazed wistfully at the trophy he never had the chance to win. As a 17-year-old, he watched "Rambo" and "The Terminator" on screen.