The Location
1532 Granville Ave sits in the 90025 zip, a corridor that runs between Santa Monica and the western edge of Westwood. Walk Score 70, Transit Score 70, Car Score 70: a genuine three-way tie that puts it squarely in the "own-a-car-but-don't-have-to" bucket that Westside renters will pay for. The 1-mile demographic ring carries a median household income of $108,903 and 51,980 residents. Daytime employment within that same mile is 54,369, which is nearly a 1:1 ratio with residents. That employment density is why 2-bedroom product holds up here even when the broader market softens. The submarket vacancy is reported at 7%, the market vacancy at 5.5%. The subject came in at 11.1%, more than double the market rate. That spread is not a submarket story. It is a building story.
The Setup
Nine units, all 2-bedroom, averaging 1,018 SF each. Wood-frame construction, 2 stories, walk-up configuration. Attached garage with 14 parking stalls, which works out to 1.56 stalls per unit on a 6,970 SF lot (0.16 acres). The FAR is 1.37, leaving little to no development upside on the existing footprint under R3 zoning unless a buyer is underwriting an ADU play or a longer-horizon entitlement. CoStar rates it Class C. It last changed hands 153 months ago, roughly 12.75 years, when the recorded seller was Granville Estates LLC, a vehicle traced to RBM of California (contact: Hirotaka Kobayashi). The recorded buyer is Granville Investment Group, LP,
The Math the Broker Is Pitching
The comp is verified: $207,900 NOI, $3.87M price, 5.37% cap, 12.74 GRM. Both sides of the deal confirmed the numbers. But the broker is also pitching achievable upside on a non-RSO asset with in-place rents that, at 11.1% vacancy, are almost certainly not fully loaded. Let us check the math.
| Scenario | Gross Annual | NOI (est. 35% exp.) | Value at 5.37% cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| At-close (reported) | $303,768 | $207,900 | $3,870,000 |
| Stabilized (5.5% vac, same rents) | ~$326,000 | ~$212,000 | ~$3,948,000 |
| Market rents ($2,719/unit/mo) | $293,652 | ~$190,874 | ~$3,554,000 |
That third row deserves a pause. CoStar's market rent for the subject is listed at $2,719/unit/month, which implies a gross of roughly $293,652 at full occupancy. That is lower than the implied current gross of $303,768 at 88.9% occupancy, meaning in-place rents are likely above market on the occupied units, or the vacancy figure is doing heavy lifting. Either reading is worth a phone call to the listing broker before you underwrite a rent-push thesis.
The AB 1482 / RSO Math
Built in 1987, this building clears the October 1978 LARSO threshold cleanly. RSO does not apply. That matters. An RSO building at this price would cap annual rent increases at the LA CPI adjustment (typically 3-4%), making the rent-push thesis a decade-long project. Here, AB 1482 governs instead, capping annual increases at 5% plus local CPI with a hard ceiling of 10%. That gives an operator meaningfully more room to push rents over a hold period.
But let us be precise about what "non-RSO upside" actually delivers. If in-place rents on the occupied 8 units average $2,800/month (implied by the reported gross), and market is $2,719, the operator is not pushing rents on stabilization. They are filling the vacancy. The upside story is occupancy recovery plus the $250K cure cost translating into a better-condition asset that attracts and retains tenants at or above current asking rents. AB 1482 protects the hold, not the entry.
One additional note: the ULA tax (Measure ULA) does not apply here. The sale price of $3.87M falls below the $5M ULA threshold. The buyer avoided that levy entirely.
What an Operator Sees
11.89 times gross. $430,000 a door.
That is a West L.A. number I will actually look at. 1987, off RSO, two vacancies in hand.
What I do not have: a T-12, a rent roll, or the loan. CoStar does print a 5.37% actual cap on $207,900 of in-place NOI, and a 12.74 GRM. Those are not the listing broker's 11.89x on $325,000 of stabilized gross. I am not blending them.
The $250,000 exterior plus an $80,000 loft turn is $330,000 of work before you have collected a dollar of new rent. That is real money on this basis.
I'm tracking this one. I am not a buyer from this chair without the T-12.
I research these transactions to sharpen my own investment strategy and share what I find so Los Angeles owners, brokers and investors can debate the market with better information.
Know one other LA owner who'd want this deal? Forward this — reply with their email and I'll add them.
Property and transaction data: CoStar Research.