Buyer Hot for Properties in Cool Neighborhoods

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As Highland Park and Eagle Rock grow more hip by the day, two 1960s-era apartment buildings in those neighborhoods will soon undergo sweeping renovations to match the area’s increasing cool factor.

West L.A.’s California Landmark Group just bought the buildings from a private investor for $7.5 million.

Ken Kahan, president of California Landmark, said his company has recently focused its property searches on up-and-coming urban areas surrounding downtown. Highland Park and Eagle Rock fit the bill, especially with burgeoning retail strips along York Boulevard and Figueroa Street that could make the neighborhoods attractive to renters.

“There’s a general push for young people coming in from other parts of the country – as well as Angelenos who are getting priced out of other markets – who are looking for locations near downtown that are walkable and really have a good community feel,” he said.

The renovations of the buildings – a 28-unit complex on Avenue 59 in Highland Park and a 17-unit complex on Toland Way in Eagle Rock – will begin with infrastructure upgrades. Then, as tenants vacate, the interiors will be remodeled.

Taking on rehabilitation projects rather than building from the ground up was the only way the company could move into Highland Park and Eagle Rock, areas that are not zoned for new development, Kahan said. The rents will eventually increase based on market conditions and the extent of renovation.

Over time, Kahan said he expected the neighborhoods’ retail corridors to keep filling with craft beer joints, specialty coffee bars, boutiques, and galleries – and to keep attracting tenants.

“These are long-term investments,” he said. “Our horizons are not three to five years, they’re decades.”

California Landmark plans to use the acquisitions to tap a growing interest among creative professionals in putting down roots in the traditionally working-class Latino enclaves. Some newcomers have taken on house flips that have frustrated longtime residents both with construction noise as well as worries of being displaced.

Downtown Design

Yet another company is banking on downtown L.A.’s Seventh Street as a thriving retail and residential hub.

Bonnis Properties, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, purchased a 13-story tower at Seventh and Hill streets for $52 million. The firm plans to renovate the site, built in 1929 with art deco and gothic flourishes, but has not yet released plans.

“The buyer will work with the city very closely to determine what they’ll do,” said Derrick Moore, a broker at Avison Young’s downtown office who represented Bonnis. “It will be very exciting, especially for this particular section of the Jewelry District and Financial District that has been seeing tremendous attention and growth.”

The previous owner, Kyung Ku Cho of Koreatown-based Mitaa Wilshire Investments, last year emptied out the building, which had been populated by jewelry wholesalers and retailers, and had plans to convert it, reportedly to a high-end hotel. The building was once home to now-defunct men’s department store Foreman & Clark.

Any renovations would put the building in “great company,” said Moore.

“Seventh Street and Broadway are historically major retail thoroughfares for downtown, and one can see that they are certainly returning to that,” he said, noting that there are plans for a streetcar to run along Broadway. Meanwhile, the Bloc shopping center plans to open this summer at the former Macy’s Plaza on Seventh, and nearby restaurants such as Little Sister and BS Taqueria have been drawing crowds.

“As you go block by block, the level of brands that have announced plans for Seventh Street really make for a vibrant retail and hospitality corridor for downtown,” Moore said.

Bunny Hop

Giant illuminated nylon rabbits – some that reach two stories high – are hopping into downtown Los Angeles this summer. Created by Australian artist Amanda Parer, the light sculptures will visit the area as a project from Arts Brookfield, a division of New York real estate giant Brookfield. They will appear from June 5 to 11 at three Brookfield properties: Bank of America Plaza, Wells Fargo Center, and the FIGat7th shopping center.

Staff reporter Daina Beth Solomon can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.

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