Top Floor Penthouses May Fetch Sky-High Prices

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Even in a downtown market where condo buyers keep pushing prices through the stratosphere, the pending sale of two penthouse units at 1100 Wilshire stands out.


The two 3,200-square-foot two-bedroom condominiums are each under contract for $2.8 million, according to sources close to the transaction. Both penthouse units are on the 37th floor and have sweeping views of nearly the entire L.A. basin.


Forest City West, a subsidiary of Cleveland-based developer Forest City Enterprises Inc., is converting the 37-story tower on the western side of the Pasadena (110) Freeway into condominiums.


At $900 a foot, the price would be nearly double the last high of $540 a foot set by developer Jeff Lee’s Grand Street Lofts, near the Staples Center in downtown’s South Park neighborhood.


In fact, the price tops what homebuyers are paying for condos in nearly every submarket in Los Angeles County, including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Brentwood and Century City.


Whereas Lee’s project is in a part of downtown attracting billions of dollars’ worth of investment, the 1100 Wilshire building is outside of the downtown core and borders the Pico-Union district, one of L.A.’s poorest neighborhoods.


Forest City and its partners TMG and RAD Management haven’t yet received permission from the California Department of Real Estate to begin selling units. But the developer is allowed to sign contracts and take deposits for the condominiums.


Kevin Ratner, a Forest City West senior vice president, refused to comment on the possible sale of the penthouse units. But he said the building is getting lots of interest. “There is a strong appetite for this type of product,” he said.


Ratner expects Forest City West will receive approval from the state Department of Real Estate by the end of June. At that time, the company will be able to sell the units.

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