(Save the date: RealShare Apartments comes to the Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles, October 24.)
LOS ANGELES-California Landmark Group has acquired a 55,000-square-foot lot at the corner of Larchmont Blvd. and Melrose Ave. here and has plans to develop on it the LC, an 85-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail. HFF provided brokerage services in connection with the sale of the property and subsequent capitalization of the $40-million deal.
Ken Kahan, CEO of CLG tells GlobeSt.com that the anticipated construction costs for the project are roughly $25 million of that total capitalization amount. The seller was a development company that had entitled the lot probably approximately four or five years ago and then was hit by the economic downturn. “They were basically stuck in a situation where they couldn’t build during the recession, and we just happened to have better timing than they had.”
CLG plans to begin construction on the already-entitled property in March 2013 and complete construction by January 2015. Once developed, the property will include units ranging from 600 square feet to 1,200 square feet, with rents from $2,000 to $3,500 per month. The ground floor along Melrose Ave. will include more than 3,000 square feet of space for stores and restaurants, along with several live/work units.
CLG is working with PK Architecture to realize the vision for a mid-century modern design in this neighborhood. The design will incorporate a unique configuration of apartment units built on top of the alley that runs through the property.
According to Kahan in a prepared statement, “We see significant opportunity in the area. The LC will be the largest residential development ever built proximate to Larchmont and will help invigorate the commercial stores closest to Melrose. The project helps meet the demand for local rental housing in this urban neighborhood and will continue to improve alongside the future Paramount Studios expansion.”
Kahan tells GlobeSt.com that the project will be the first in the area to provide housing and retail geared toward Paramount workers. “It’s a true live/work project.”
Prior to CLG’s acquisition, the site included commercial buildings and bungalow housing. The Melrose parcel was rezoned for apartment and retail uses.
As GlobeSt.com previously tweeted about on @GlobeStcom on Twitter and @GlobeStLIVE and reported on, in June CLG announced plans to invest more than $75 million in the subsequent 12 months in urban infill, multifamily development properties throughout Southern California. At the time, Kahan told GlobeSt.com that the company will be looking at unentitled and entitled land parcels as well as class B or C retail and office properties. “Within Los Angeles, we are heavily focused on Downtown, Koreatown and Hollywood,” he explained.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
