Zillow announced early last month that it would close Zillow Offers, the arm of its business that buys and resells houses online. The news highlighted a small sector of the residential real estate industry that gained more attention during the COVID-19 pandemic: iBuying.
The news came amid a DLBA-led investigation into longtime president and CEO Kraig Kojian for alleged mistreatment of employees.
“Considering the strength of the economy, the overall surge in demand for goods, the extraordinary purchasing power of consumers (aided by coronavirus relief spending), and the ‘shop early’ messaging,” CSULB Economics Chair Seiji Steimetz said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a record-setting Black Friday and holiday shopping season.”
The global behemoth, which now occupies about half a million square feet of office space in Long Beach, is the last vestige of the city’s first aerospace boom, which began in 1940 when representatives of the Douglas Aircraft Company bought a 200-acre site near Daugherty Field (now Long Beach Airport) for $1,000 per acre.
A letter from a former employee accused DLBA President Kraig Kojian of “workplace bullying and a toxic work environment, largely inflicted upon women workers.”
Deepening the waterways, in some cases by as little as 4 feet, would allow some ships to enter and exit the Port of Long Beach much more quickly, ultimately lowering national transportation costs.
Landlords across California can, with certain exceptions, once more evict tenants who are behind on rent.
