Updated August 27, 2026
Yes, if the sale price clears the threshold — Hollywood is inside the City of Los Angeles. And in Hollywood specifically, that is not an edge case. It is the normal case for anything of scale.
Measure ULA is a City of Los Angeles transfer tax charged on sales above two dollar thresholds that adjust annually. The current figures and rates are set out in what Measure ULA is; this page is about what it means here.
Because of what Hollywood buildings sell for. Across the 24 Hollywood apartment buildings in my own closed record — 562 units, $153.2M — roughly two-thirds sold at prices that would sit above the current lower ULA threshold.
That is a function of size and of price per door. The median in the Hollywood record is $282,589 per unit. At that level a building of about twenty units is already in ULA territory, and twenty units is an ordinary Hollywood building rather than a large one.
Compare that with a Valley submarket where the same twenty units might trade at half the per-door figure and land comfortably under the threshold. Same ordinance, same city, entirely different practical exposure — driven by what Hollywood doors cost.
Sell a building that is not in the City of Los Angeles.
That sounds facetious. It is not: West Hollywood is a separate city and Measure ULA does not apply there at all. For an owner holding buildings on both sides of that line, the cost of transacting differs by a percentage of gross price on one and not the other — which is a genuine input into which asset you sell first, and one that has nothing to do with either building's operations.
It is worth being precise here rather than hopeful. The tax follows the property's jurisdiction, not the seller's address, not the buyer's, and not where escrow sits. A Hollywood building is a Hollywood building.
ULA is charged on gross sale price, not on gain. That is the part owners most often mis-model. A building that has appreciated modestly still pays on the whole number, and an owner selling at a loss can still owe it — the site covers that case in do I owe Measure ULA if I sell at a loss.
Because the thresholds are cliffs rather than slopes, a Hollywood building priced just above one can net less than the same building priced just below. That is a real pricing problem with a real answer, and it is worked through in pricing a building near a Measure ULA threshold.
The mistake to avoid is discovering the figure late. It belongs in the analysis before you decide to sell, alongside the retrofit position and the relocation exposure — not in the closing statement.
Model it explicitly, early, on the gross number. If the building sits near a threshold, that fact should shape the pricing conversation rather than surprise you inside it. And if you hold anything in West Hollywood as well, know that the two buildings carry materially different costs of exit before you choose which to bring to market.
The full cost stack for a Hollywood sale is in what it costs to sell a Hollywood apartment building.
Request a free evaluation of your building →
Thinking about selling? Get a no-obligation evaluation on your building.
Request Free Evaluation →