Apartment Community Welcomes New Owner

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Bargain hunters willing to buy in bulk might do well to look to Baldwin Hills.

Earlier this month, Crenshaw Village, a nearly 25-acre apartment community of 669 units in 65 buildings, was sold to Calabasas real estate company Upside Investments Inc. for $60 million. That’s less than $90,000 for each unit and about $92 a square foot.

Woodland Hills’ Jones & Jones Management Group Inc., which handles more than 25 apartment buildings across Los Angeles County, owned Crenshaw Village for more than 30 years before opting to sell earlier this year. The property, originally offered for $62.5 million, was on the market for 30 days; the sale closed Sept. 19.

Built in 1948, the sprawling multifamily site has management offices at 4220 Santa Rosalia Drive and is made up of four apartment communities: Buckingham Apartments, Hillcrest Apartments, Santa Rosalia Apartments and Santo Tomas Apartments. A variety of sizes and configurations – from studio to three-bedroom units – command rents between $875 and $1,425 a month, according to CoStar Group Inc.

Ron Harris, Paul Darrow and Michael DiSimone of Institutional Property Advisors, a downtown L.A. division of Marcus & Millichap that focuses on multifamily properties, represented the seller.

Harris said that development dollars being poured into the surrounding neighborhood made the portfolio an attractive buy. Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, for example, a regional mall blocks from Crenshaw Village, completed a $35 million upgrade a little more than a year ago. Nearer still is a site where Kaiser Permanente plans to build two medical office buildings. And the city is scheduled to begin construction soon on the $2 billion Crenshaw light-rail line, which will bring a station to Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards.

“The property’s tremendous potential is further enhanced by the large amount of public and private investment taking place in the immediate area,” Harris said.

Century City real estate investment banking firm George Smith Partners Inc. secured two loans totaling $42.6 million for the buyer.

Construction Commenced

Developer Ron Simms tore down the old Mann National Theatre in Westwood, one of the last single-screen cinemas built in the country, nearly six years ago.

Now, after haggling with community advocates for years over what to build in its place, construction has begun on an 80,000-square-foot mixed-use project.

The four-story development at 10925 Lindbrook Drive in the heart of Westwood Village is expected to cost about $11 million to build and will include 34 apartments above 5,250 square feet of street-level retail. The residential component of the project is a first for owner Simms Commercial Development, which hired West L.A. architecture firm Nadel Inc. to design the building.

Before Simms could build, Dale Yonkin, project director for Nadel, said the development team had to work closely with the community to settle design issues.

“We originally designed a modernist building for the site, but the local business advocacy group felt they wanted something more traditional,” he said. “We went through three design review board meetings to come up with the final design.”

Yonkin and his team fashioned the project to make it appear less imposing. For example, the architects stepped back the top floor so that the building appears to be only three stories tall from the street, giving it a lower profile. The façade was manipulated to look like several buildings rather than one large structure.

Seven of the project’s 34 apartments will be penthouses on upper levels with large terraces; all units will have 11-foot ceilings. The complex will be built around a private courtyard and will also have a rooftop gathering area with a spa for residents. Two levels of subterranean parking will provide spots for 74 cars.

Last week, the two-story excavation was completed and the construction team began pouring the concrete foundation.


Playa Play

Advertising and public relations company Team One will add to the rush of creative and technology companies moving into Playa Vista.

The full-service communications company, which has its offices at 1960 E. Grand Ave. in El Segundo, signed a lease for more than 10 years and 64,000 square feet at the Reserve, a former post office facility built in 1971 that was recently redeveloped as Class A office space. Industry sources estimate the lease value at more than $50 million.

Team One, which plans a March move-in, will join a growing number of ad firms moving to the area, including TBWA/Chiat/Day and 72andSunny. Other companies that have signed leases at the Reserve, at 13031 W. Jefferson Blvd., include TMZ, Microsoft Corp. and Sony’s PlayStation division.

Carl Muhlstein of Jones Lang LaSalle represented landlord Worthe Real Estate Group of Santa Monica. Matthew Miller of Cresa represented Team One.

Staff reporter Bethany Firnhaber can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 235.

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