Three LA Deeds Show Land Trading Below Permit Value

Three parcels that changed hands in Los Angeles County this year recorded land values far below the construction permits already sitting on them, according to our own records wire.

At 17500 Burbank Blvd, a deed recorded August 7, 2026 under document 0586824 carries a transfer-tax-implied value of $16.8 million. The same parcel, 2254037019, holds an issued Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety permit valued at $21.8 million. At 21010 Vanowen St, a deed recorded November 7, 2025 under document 0781131 implies $12.7 million in land value on parcel 2148029033, which carries an issued permit valued at $50.5 million. At 2877 Francis Ave, a deed recorded August 14, 2026 under document 0607707 implies $7.8 million on parcel 5077022059, against an issued permit valued at $20.0 million.

Why it matters

In each case, the buyer is not pricing raw dirt. The parcel already carries an entitled, permitted construction value that the deed price does not reflect. For a developer underwriting land in Los Angeles right now, these three deeds suggest that sites with an issued permit attached can trade at a discount to what it would cost to originate that same entitlement from scratch. That gap, not the land itself, is the asset changing hands.

The numbers

This is three deeds on our own wire, not a market-wide read. At 17500 Burbank Blvd, land value runs at roughly 77 percent of the permit value, the smallest gap of the three. At 2877 Francis Ave, land runs at roughly 39 percent of permit value. At 21010 Vanowen St, the widest gap, land runs at roughly 25 percent of permit value, a $37.8 million difference between the recorded deed and the issued permit on the same site. Deed values here are implied by the recorded transfer tax, not a stated sale price; Los Angeles County’s base rate is $1.10 per $1,000, with the city’s Measure ULA adding further on top above $5 million and $10 million thresholds, so each figure is a floor rather than an exact price.

What’s next

No fourth or fifth example has surfaced yet on our wire to say whether this is building into a broader pattern. What these three show is a mechanism: an entitled, permit-bearing site can carry a construction value that a buyer does not have to pay for in the land price. Developers underwriting acquisitions in Los Angeles right now have reason to check whether a target parcel already carries unused permit value before assuming it needs to be originated.

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