Developer Sees Room to Move West on Wilshire

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Sonny Astani sees some potential for another project on the stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between downtown and MacArthur Park after a recent $83 million sale of the 218-unit WilshireValencia apartments.

The next opportunity could be found on a patch of land owned by the Los Angeles Unified School District, according to the chairman of Astani Enterprises Inc., who tends to acquire a street-level understanding of the various neighborhoods that draw his attention and dollars as a developer.

“There are a couple of pieces I’m eyeing – a piece of vacant LAUSD land; it’s not part of their school plans,” Astani said. “And there are several older commercial buildings that I think sooner or later will sell. There is stuff out there.”

Astani declined to get too far into specifics on the multifamily property, but said he did very well on the project – it was built on a 1.5-acre site that he bought for $7.6 million five years ago and opened in January. The upscale rental units replaced three small office buildings and a 29-unit apartment at the corner of Wilshire and Valencia Street.

It was an especially tough project, Astani said, with everything from the demolitions; relocation payments for tenants of the old apartments; challenges in getting an architect who could configure the WilshireValencia’s pool, gym, basketball court and 8,000-square foot garden to ensure plenty of sun; and the city’s entitlement process testing his mettle.

“I’ve done 5,000 units, and this 200-unit project was probably the hardest,” he said.

There’s plenty to like about the stretch of Wilshire, according to Astani, which heads west from downtown through an area some call City Center West and others call the Westlake district. One particular strong point is that lower land prices have allowed rental units in the area to come on line at about $300 a month cheaper than in downtown.

Another is MacArthur Park at Wilshire and Alvarado Street.

“It’s an unbelievable asset – a huge park with tennis courts and a lake,” he said.

Other highlights are the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division station at Sixth Street and Valencia; recent developments such as Spa Palace, which offers some indicators that the vibrancy of adjacent Koreatown – just to the west of the park – is spilling over to Westlake; and the general momentum of the new residential and commercial developments.

Some challenges remain – Astani noted the number of homeless in the area has grown in the past couple of years, and the area around MacArthur Park can sometimes be overly vibrant, with street peddlers clogging sidewalks – although there are some bright sides to all the action (see related item in Page 3 column).

One other caution: Land has become more expensive everywhere in Los Angeles – and might be getting too pricey for entrepreneurial developers.

“Entrepreneurs make their money when they buy the land,” Astani said. “If you don’t buy land right, you’ll be working for the bank. Demand is high and there’s a lot of cash – but you have to buy the land right.”

Art Deco for Akerman

Look for the lawyers of Akerman a few blocks north of where you used to find them in downtown’s Financial District now that the Miami-based firm has taken 25,000 square feet at the CalEdison at Fifth Street and Grand Avenue.

Figure on a few more of them, too, since the lease represents a near doubling from Akerman’s prior address at 725 S. Figueroa St.

The downtown office has grown to 30 lawyers and staff in the past couple of years, according to the firm.

The CalEdison was previously known as One Bunker Hill, which opened in 1931 as the headquarters for Southern California Edison Co., and is a locally designated art deco landmark listed on the Register of the California Office of Historic Preservation.

Rising Realty Partners is the developer and property manager. Matthew Cheezem, Maureen Hawley and Mike McRoskey with Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. represented Akerman on the lease. Carle Pierose and Rob Erikson of Industry Partners were brokers for the CalEdison.

Beauty of a Deal

That’s what Bassett Beauty Solutions is hoping it got on the 1,040 square feet of space it took in a Centers Business Management retail center at the busy intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Heights Avenue in West Hollywood.

Jason Ehrenpreis, a leasing agent with Centers Business Management, completed the five-year lease with Bassett.

Editor Jerry Sullivan contributed to this week’s real estate column and can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 200.

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