Business & Real Estate

Ellie Van Houtte/Los Altos Town Crier File Photo

View from the 9,800-square-foot Los Altos Hills mansion pop star Beyoncé rented for $10,000 a night for Superbowl 50, which took place at Levi’s Stadium in 2016. The singer performed with Coldplay during the halftime show.

The recession caused by the pandemic did little to stifle the cost of buying a home in the Bay Area, and real estate in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills remains among the top tier of neighborhoods in the region.

A report released last month by Compass Real Estate ranks Los Altos Hills as the fifth priciest neighborhood in the Bay Area to purchase a home, with the median house sales price coming in at $4.2 million. Los Altos came in 11th, with its median price for a home at $3.35 million.

Courtesy of the City of Los Altos

The completion date for the Los Altos Community Center has been pushed back seven months because of the pandemic.

The city issued its latest update on the construction of the Los Altos Community Center Jan. 26, touting the building’s progress despite COVID-related delays that have pushed its completion date back seven months.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the project’s contractors were forced to cut some working hours to comply with Santa Clara County’s construction health protocols. That has reduced workdays from eight hours a day to seven, according to Jim Sandoval, the city’s engineering services director.

Given today’s real estate market, homebuyers have asked for an explanation of noncontingent and contingent offers when purchasing a house or condo.

Q: What does “noncontingent” mean? If I want to make an offer to buy a house, does it have to be noncontingent?

Eric He/Town Crier

The city of Los Altos plans to partner with Santa Clara County to redevelop a property currently owned by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District into a 90-unit affordable housing project.

An all-affordable housing project in Los Altos, the first in the city’s history, is projected to break ground by the end of next year.

Courtesy of Marjan Kashi

Marjan Kashi, owner of Pure Serenity Skincare, recently moved her salon to a new location, but still within Rancho Shopping Center.

Pure Serenity Skincare, a Los Altos salon, has moved to a new location, but it’s still within Rancho Shopping Center.

If you own Apple or Tesla stock, first of all, congratulations! Your Apple holding grew 77% last year. As if that weren’t astounding enough, Tesla’s stock price soared 720%.