Construction is underway on the Residences at Wilshire Curson, a 20-story, 285-unit apartment building owned by Miracle Mile-based J.H. Snyder Co. and its partner, OGO Associates.
The estimated $207 million development at 640 S. Curson Ave. sits adjacent to the SAG-AFTRA Building, where owner Jerry Snyder maintains an office on the penthouse floor. It also is located across the street from La Brea Tar Pits.
The property, which he has owned for 40 years, was supposed to be built for offices, but the tight housing market in Los Angeles changed his mind.
“The office market is good,” Snyder said. “The apartment market is better than good. There is a tremendous demand for apartments.”
The development, which will include 400 parking spaces, is slated for completion in 2020, Snyder said.
Snyder said he expects the completion of the nearby Academy Museum of Motion Pictures as well as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Purple Line extension to make the Miracle Mile area even more attractive to tenants.
The Purple Line’s Wilshire/La Brea and Wilshire/Fairfax stations are expected to open in 2023.
Rent Control Draws Dollars
Election Day is less than three months away and Proposition 10, the Nov. 6 ballot initiative that would likely expand rent control in California, is shaping up to be very expensive.
More than $30 million has been raised so far, and two-thirds of the money is going to efforts opposing the initiative, which would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a law that prohibits rent control on single-family homes and other housing built after Feb. 1, 1995.
Any decision to expand rent control would then go to local municipalities instead of Sacramento lawmakers if the initiative passes.
Prop. 10’s opponents argue it will exacerbate, not alleviate, California’s affordability problems, chilling development in the state. Companies, business groups and others in opposition have contributed more than $20 million to defeat the initiative, according to the California Secretary of State.
Essex Property Trust Inc., a San Mateo-based real estate investment trust, has donated more than $2 million to defeat Prop. 10. The California Association of Realtors, a Koreatown-based real estate industry group, has donated $1.5 million to the anti-Prop. 10 cause.
Other opponents include the California NAACP, whose president, Alice Huffman, called Prop. 10 “the wrong approach that will only make the problem (of housing affordability) worse.”
Support is led by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the Hollywood-based nonprofit organization that is sponsoring the initiative. It has donated more than $12 million, including $10 million given earlier this month, the group announced.
Prop. 10’s backers say it’s a legitimate response to the state’s high cost of housing.
“The California dream is dying, and only voters can save it in November,” said Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation president, in a statement.
A 2016 report from the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said that expanding rent control was unlikely to expand California’s housing supply and “likely would discourage new construction.”
Barker Snags Potter
Barker Pacific Group Inc., a downtown-based real estate investment firm, has hired Nick Potter, a former executive at CIT Bank of Pasadena, as a partner in charge of its capital markets group.
Potter will oversee capital raising requirements and financial structuring for the organization across multiple real estate investment platforms. He’ll also lead company communications and reporting with shareholders and investors.
Staff reporter Ciaran McEvoy can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8337.
