Odd Lots · Sep 28, 2026 · 22m · 14m saved
With Zach Lasry, Founder of The Western Company · Bill McBride, Founder of Calculated Risk
Zach Lasry's company got approval for a crosswalk at Clinton and Western in Los Angeles. The city told him it would be built in a few years or more, and that he would have to pay for it.
For a long time, Lasry said, commercial property made money through financial engineering. Higher interest rates have ended that, so the only way left to make money is a better building.
"So now you actually have to make the product good."
Zach Lasry, founder of The Western Company, on Odd Lots. His company is building a new Los Angeles neighborhood, Melrose Hill, around Western and Melrose. He spoke on a live panel in Hollywood with Bill McBride of Calculated Risk, whom the hosts credited with calling the subprime bubble before 2008 and the bottom of the housing market after it.
The full episode is covered here so you can skip it. 22 minutes of audio, 8 minutes of reading.
Here are the 9 moments that matter.
Key Takeaways
Higher rates ended easy profits in commercial property, and developers now have to build better buildings to make money
Roughly 95% of Los Angeles is zoned residential, Lasry said, so a lost main street leaves nothing around it
A single crosswalk would cost his company $1 million and take a few years or more
Regulation is homebuilders' number one issue in good times and bad, McBride said, and the build-to-rent model is under pressure
LA's ADU boom came with no parking rule, so streets in those areas are more crowded than before
Self-driving cars could change parking, house design and police stops
1. Why New Buildings Disappoint
Lasry said he came from a theater and acting background and moved to Los Angeles in about 2014. He watched neighborhoods such as Silver Lake, Echo Park and Highland Park become exciting, then saw people dread each new building.
"And then whenever scaffolding would go up for a new building, there's generally a, oh, oh no, what's that going to be?" — Zach Lasry
His goal is to put an artistic spirit into development
"So our goal is to sort of infuse development with the art spirit." — Zach Lasry
