Why Building a Crosswalk in LA Is Kafkaesque
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Who are Bill McBride and Zach Lazry and what are their real‑estate backgrounds?
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Hello and welcome to another live episode of the Oddlots Podcast. I'm Joe Weisenthal.
And I'm Tracy Alloway.
So we're here at the Vermont Theater in Hollywood. And of course you you talk about Hollywood, but you also have to talk about the real estate industry. We know this has always been a hub, a booming real estate industry, but what do the the changes in economic development and the housing market, how does it manifest itself here?
That's right, so we have a real treat for you. We're gonna be speaking to an absolute legend in the world of residential real estate, someone who actually called the subprime bubble before 2008, and maybe even more importantly, called the bottom of the housing market after 2008. And then we're also gonna be speaking to a relative newcomer in the world of commercial property, someone who's doing new things in LA and trying to develop basically a new Neighborhood.
So enjoy our conversation with the legend Bill McBride of Calculated Risk, as well as Zach Lazary, real estate developer, founder of the Western Company. Thank you both so much. Zach, what do you what do you do? What's your job? I'm a real estate professional. Okay, what does that mean? Because there are a lot of people who could say those
words. So my goal with the Western Company, the goal that we have is that being able to say I'm a real estate professional is more exciting than it it normally is. So I come from a theater and acting background and what I noticed was the developments that I was seeing in Los Angeles moved here in about two thousand fourteen. Okay. You know, you'd have a really exciting neighborhood pop up in Silver Lake or Echo Park or Highland Park. Yeah. And then all the new whenever scaffolding would go up for a new building. There's generally a oh Oh no. What's that gonna be? And that's not the reaction that you should have when a new building is being built. There should be some excitement. What is that going to be? What kind of
new creative spirit is gonna enter into that structure. I just don't think the commercial real estate industry i i is that inspiring in that way, or those outcomes haven't been so inspiring. So our goal is to sort of infuse development with the art spirit.
Wait, so I'm gonna ask a very basic LA question and I'd be curious to get both your takes on this. And again, Joe gave the caveat earlier, which is we've been to LA a couple of times, but we don't know that much about it. Whenever I come here
Why do Zach Lazry’s developments focus on creating community‑centric neighborhoods?
I am sort of stunned by the diversity of independent businesses compared to New York.
I think about this all the time. Yeah,
there's so there's so many mom and pop shops. Like I passed by a linoleum emporium on the way over here, which I just don't think you would ever see in New York. And I'm sure the direction of travel for a lot of independent businesses isn't that great. But how have so many managed to survive in LA so far compared to other places in the US?
Yeah. Well, I went to school in New York, went to NYU and A lot of my most talented friends left New York and moved to Los Angeles because New York just got too expensive. And yeah. LA it's it's while it's expensive to buy a home in LA, you can generally find a good rental deal in a really exciting neighborhood. Um it's a lot harder to do that in New York City. So you have people who are just dedicated to their craft who can survive in LA and focus on their art. versus in New York, it's a lot more difficult to be able to focus on your craft while being able to pay rent. So I think you just have more of an experimental
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who are Bill McBride and Zach Lazry and what are their real‑estate backgrounds?
0:00–3:13
2
Why do Zach Lazry’s developments focus on creating community‑centric neighborhoods?
3:13–5:57
3
How does the high density of mom‑and‑pop shops shape Los Angeles’ urban fabric?
5:57–8:43
4
What makes the process of approving a new crosswalk in LA feel Kafkaesque?
8:43–11:40
5
Why are crosswalk approvals so costly and bureaucratically complex?
11:40–14:33
6
How will autonomous vehicles change parking needs and street design in LA?
14:33–17:23
7
What challenges do developers face sourcing construction materials and transformers today?
17:23–19:40
8
How do zoning, ADU rules, and water scarcity impact future LA development?
19:40–23:27
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Odd Lots
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