Vince Muselli
Vince Muselli — one of the city’s most prominent realtors — never went to college.
Instead, he joined the Marine Corps after graduating from Venice High School in 1969 and later followed a friend into the real estate business.
Today, Muselli, 52, is one of the largest commercial realtors in Santa Monica. He sells and leases buildings throughout the city, and the rest of the westside.
A father of three who lives in Malibu, Muselli has served on many different boards and commissions in Santa Monica — including as president of the Chamber of Commerce and as an Architectural Review Board member. He is currently on the board of the chamber of commerce and is active with local schools.
Muselli, a native of Los Angeles whose father was a furniture salesman, got into real estate as a newlywed. He was working the graveyard shift at a local gas station when he passed the realtor’s exam and was almost immediately recruited by the Joe Henry Co.
Musselli said he focused on getting listings rather than working with buyers. He began to make money as the listings sold, eventually turning enough of a profit to open his own business in 1979. Though his company once swelled to 35 brokers, Muselli, whose offices are at 501 Wilshire Blvd., only has four brokers today.
“But I’m more profitable now than I was at 35 people,” he laughed.
Here, the Daily Press sat down with Muselli and asked about the business he built.
You’ve been in Santa Monica for quite some time. What are your three favorite things about the city?
“I like the community spirit that Santa Monica has — and that’s on all sides of the table, whether it be with the positions I agree with or the positions I don’t agree with. I like the energy the city has, regarding things that bother people or things that people want to see changed.
“I also love Palisades Park, the vistas... I just think it’s a great, you know, one of the nicest walks one can do anywhere in Southern California.”
Do you have a third favorite?
“Santa Monica Pier. The idea of having a pier with food and entertainment, and a theme park on it is something I think is very unique to Southern California and one of the things that I think makes Santa Monica a unique environment — not to mention the way it ties in with the beaches, that are also quite beautiful as well.
“I’m a coastal-oriented person. I love the beach, I love the water, I love the sand. If I could figure out a way to do it, I would have my office on the pier.”
If you could change three things about Santa Monica, what would they be?
6DE,“I would bring back POP, Pacific Ocean Park, and the little trolley car that ran along the beach, that ran up and down the entire boardwalk. You could get on a trolley and ride from Santa Monica down to POP all the way down to the Venice Pier, and back.
“The era I guess is what I would change. The grand ballroom on the pier that used to be here, I would bring that back if I could.
“I don’t like some of the changes that have been done in downtown Santa Monica regarding some of the lanes, where they’ve narrowed streets. The one-way system. And I particularly don’t like on Fifth Street in front of the post office, the changes they’ve made. They made one lane going south, which creates all kinds of traffic jams all over the place... I’m not convinced that the changes they’ve made have accomplished anything.”
Is there a third thing you’d like to see changed?
“Rent control. How’s that for one?
“I was actually chairman of an organization way back when it first came around that fought the initial round of rent control and we actually prevailed at that time... Rent control in the form that it’s been in I would change.
“I don’t think the rent control law has helped the real people it was intended to help when it was put in. It’s the whole argument that there’s a lot of people hanging out in rent-controlled apartments that are driving BMWs that could afford to be paying a lot more rent than they are.
“Then there are seniors and other low-income people who are struggling and, in a lot of cases, have been forced out by landlords who saw their only choice of getting some type of return on their property was to utilize the Ellis law, vacate their building and tear it down to build something else — or sell it to somebody who would do that.
In the years that you’ve lived here, what have you done to make Santa Monica a better place?
“This goes back a ways now. In 1980, ‘81, ‘82, probably ‘84, there was a building moratorium put in place in Santa Monica. I was a chamber board member at the time and I was chairman of the Land Use Committee...
“We had to deal with the process of negotiating with the then city manager... We had to basically work with the city to come up with a brand-new land use document — which is still the same document that the city currently works under.
How did that change the city?
“Some of the things you see now are a result of that document, particularly the residential development of downtown Santa Monica. Those are things that were not in place during the moratorium and were a result of that, among other things.”
You have two kids at Malibu High School and have been involved with the schools. What do you think about the superintendent’s gift-sharing proposal? (The proposal would require all donations to the district be distributed equitably — instead of allowing a specific school to reap all the benefits through one contribution).
“I’m in favor it.”
Even though it will almost certainly take money away from Malibu High?
“Yes. Well, I mean, if you’re talking about taking 15 percent of whatever they raise. (15 percent of all cash gifts to individual schools or the district be deposited into an “equity fund,” administered by an external organization). I don’t see 15 percent as being a substantial impact to Malibu High, for sharing that with other schools across the district, which would conversely mean they’re sharing it back with us — even though some of the other schools aren’t raising as much.
“If it allows us to retain 85 percent of whatever we raise and keep it in Malibu... I’m in favor of doing it.”
How do you think the commercial real estate market in Santa Monica will evolve over the next five, 10 and 15 years?
540,“I think it’ll stay strong. Santa Monica has always done better than the rest of the westside in the good times and the bad times, and I think the outlook is going to remain good here. The vacancy factor is beginning to creep down now, which is one of the biggest drags on the market.”
What about the issue of the I-10 being more clogged and many companies choosing to rent office space in downtown LA?
“I don’t see that, long-term, impacting us at all. I think that the profile of the size of tenant here is not the same profile of a tenant who would take a large chunk of office space in downtown Los Angeles. We have a few tenants like that, but most of our tenants are 5,000-square-feet-and-under type of tenants, size wise.”
If you weren’t in the real estate business, what would you be doing?
“Let’s see, what would I be doing...
“Prior to getting into real estate, I always thought I was going to be a comedian. Not because I was the funniest guy around or because I was cracking jokes all the time... I just figured I’d do something in the entertainment business or Hollywood...
“But if I was going to get out of this business now, I would probably get into teaching, probably on the college level — not that I have any credentials.”
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Vince Muselli
Born: Sept. 10, 1951, in Hollywood.
Business: Muselli and his four brokers oversaw more than $135 million in business last year, including sales and leases.
Family: Married twice, with three children. First son Charles is 32, daughter Kate is 16 and second son Thomas is 14.
Hobbies: Horseback riding, tennis and basketball.
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Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 19, 2004. Read the original PDF.