Colonies

As the real estate industry ponders ways to cater to an aging population, one company has come up with an unusual amenity for senior housing: a professional theater. In fact, developers of an apartment complex catering to seniors with an artistic bent that has opened in North Hollywood think it may be the region's first pairing of housing and live theater. The $32-million NoHo Senior Arts Colony is intended for residents age 62 and over with interests in such artistic pursuits as singing, acting, photography and writing.

Tom Barrack's Colony Capital is taking a big step into foreclosures. The Santa Monica real estate investment firm won an auction by the federal government to purchase 970 foreclosed homes in California, Arizona and Nevada from mortgage titan Fannie Mae for $176 million. Barrack, owner of Colony Capital in Santa Monica, has had his name associated as a contender for several high-profile deals this year.  He tried unsuccessfully to buy the Dodgers and he is considered a potential bidder for Anschutz Entertainment Group, better known as AEG, the Los Angeles sports and entertainment giant behind Staples Center and L.A. Live.

An estate in Beverly Hills that was once home to comedian Joe E. Brown is on the market at $6.89 million. Set apart from the street by walls and a gate, the 1930 Spanish Colonial Revival faces in on a courtyard with a fountain. Among original details are peg-and-groove oak floors, stenciled beam ceilings, colorful glazed tiles and wrought ironwork. The master suite features a sitting room and a balcony overlooking the inner courtyard. There are five bedrooms, five bathrooms and 7,157 square feet of living space.

The Colony Theatre in Burbank is facing the possibility of imminent closure if the company isn't able to resolve a budgetary shortfall, leaders announced over the weekend. They said the 37-year-old company has run out of money and needs to raise $49,000 in the next two weeks and $500,000 by the end of the calendar year in order to remain open. The Colony, which produces contemporary and classic plays and musicals, operates a 268-seat theater in the Burbank Town Center mall.  In the past two years, the Colony has seen a significant drop in attendance, which has been "the root of all these problems," said Trent Steelman, the company's executive director, in an interview.

The Anschutz Co. expects its sports and entertainment empire to sell for at least $5 billion, two people familiar with the sale process told the Los Angeles Times. The so-called "bid books" for the AEG sale have not been distributed to potential investors, said the people, neither of whom was authorized to comment publicly. The book lists the assets for sale and provides confidential financial information about them. A sale is not expected to be completed until next year. Colony Capital, a Santa Monica-based real estate investment firm, is interested in exploring a bid for AEG, a person familiar with the process said Wednesday.

TAMPA, Fla. -- A couple of dozen tents huddle together in an empty lot next to an old Army-Navy surplus store.  There's a semitrailer that makes a fine performance stage, a school bus/communications center right out of Haight-Ashbury c. 1968, and about 200 tough-and-ready residents. They call it Romneyville, and it's just half a mile from the center of the snazzy hotels, corporate-bankrolled parties and media entitlement that are at the heart of the Republican National Convention.

Actor Bruce McGill has listed his gated house in the Ojai area at $1.675 million. The Spanish Colonial Revival, built in 1987 and renovated in 2009, features hand-forged ironwork, a media room, a wine closet, decks, five bedrooms, five bathrooms and 4,013 square feet of living space. Outdoor amenities on the more than 2-acre equestrian site include a tennis court, a putting green, a sand volleyball court, a fire pit and a swimming pool with a spa. The lot is zoned for up to six horses.

Walter Manzke, the former chef of Bastide and Church & State (who left the latter 2½ years ago to open his own restaurant Republique, which is still forthcoming), will be cooking at Colonial Wine Bar on Sept. 7. Colonial's the new spot on Melrose that used to be TiroVino and before that All'Angelo. Carolyn and Mary Anne Reyes (of Mandalay restaurant and the Pearl Cocktail Lounge) and sommelier David Haskell (Bin 8945) are focusing on wine pairings with Mediterranean cuisine from chef Pippa Calland.

Rep. Todd Akin, the GOP's candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri, caused a huge stir the other day with his comments about how women who are true rape victims rarely get pregnant. "If it's a legitimate rape," he said, "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. " In a piece that was typical of the widespread outrage the remarks stirred, the Atlantic magazine called them the "contemporary equivalent of the early American belief that only witches float. " The writer was onto something important.

Stop by the corner of Prince George and Boundary streets on almost any morning and you're likely to see the old brick walks busy with pedestrian traffic. Curious tourists mix with sleepy students walking from their dorm at old Brown Hall to classes at the College of William and Mary. Step back in time 250 years, however, and you would have seen about 30 black children ages 3 to 10 lining up for a day of instruction in reading, writing, religion and deportment. Founded in 1760 by the college and an Anglo-American missionary group whose trustees included Benjamin Franklin, the pioneering Bray School touched the lives of several hundred young blacks over its 14 years, helping give Williamsburg a population of slaves and freemen who were unusually literate.