Harridge Development Group is swooping into Inglewood with a plan to build 228 townhomes on an 18-acre site just a mile from the Los Angeles Rams’ planned $2.6 billion stadium.
The Miracle Mile-based company purchased the property last week from Irvine’s Shopoff Realty Investments of Irvine, which bought the site – the former Daniel Freeman Hospital – in 2013 and entitled it for 310 homes. The price was $38 million, according to a source familiar with the deal.
David Schwartzman, Harridge’s chief executive, said he plans to begin demolition in the next few weeks and complete the project by the time the stadium opens in mid-2019. Plans call for homes priced from the mid-$800,000s to low $900,000s, and Schwartzman said the stadium’s retail and office space would help attract buyers.
“It could be the next Playa Vista, with everything going on there. We like to be in front of the trend,” he said.
Bill Shopoff, chief executive at Shopoff Realty said the project was likely to be successful even without the stadium, given the demand for new housing at affordable prices. Even so, his hopes for a bigger return were dashed by tight financing in the homebuilding industry.
“It takes way more equity today,” he said. “We have good demand, and prices are back at or near peak values, but the capital is not as available.”
The Hoffman Co.’s Bryant Brislin brokered the deal for the land, which Shopoff had been leasing to movie and TV productions.
Dekel Capital in Century City said it provided Harridge with acquisition and development financing of $31.2 million.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include details on the project’s price and financing.