Century City-based multifamily investment management and development firm Cityview just completed development of a new 296-unit apartment complex, located in University Park East, an area with close proximity to downtown L.A. and the University of Southern California campus.

“We like to be proximate to job centers at Cityview,” Sean Burton, chief executive of Cityview, said. “We often say we’re not in the housing business, we’re in the jobs business. And we love University Park because it sits right in between downtown L.A., which despite some of the challenges it’s faced, it still has a lot of jobs, and USC, which I think has north of 20,000 paid positions there.”

The apartment complex, named Jasper, offers a variety of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, including 25 units designated very low affordable and three units designated moderate income affordable.

Situated at 2528 S. Grand Ave., the building falls in an opportunity zone – a set geographical area identified by the governor as economically distressed, based on census data. Opportunity zones allow investors to receive federal tax incentives by investing their capital gains into these select communities. 

“Jasper is bringing nearly 300 units of much-needed housing, including affordable units, to an area experiencing an extreme shortage,” Burton said in a released statement. “Located in a vibrant neighborhood with easy access to jobs, higher education, transit and entertainment, Jasper offers extensive amenities that foster resident well-being and connection.” 

The complex, which is now open for leasing for immediate move-in, is situated courtyard-style, with three wings, all of which surround an outdoor pool and lounge area,located on the third floor. It features two rooftop sky decks, an entertainment terrace, a dog park, a fitness center, a game lawn, an outdoor pizza kitchen and more.

“We spend a lot of time designing those amenities,” Burton said. “We wanted to take advantage of some of the great views you have – south, and also north of the mountains into downtown.”

Jasper is built to be very friendly for remote work, offering residents a large business center-like shared workplace with private work areas and meeting rooms. The property hopes to achieve LEED silver standards, with an expected 20-30% improved efficiency compared to similar non-green buildings.

The complex opened at the beginning of April and already has approximately 100 leased units, which is a third of the total units available. 

“This was the fastest project we’ve ever had at Cityview,” Burton said. “And we’ve done 150 of them in terms of pre-leasing.”

Jasper aims to create a friendly atmosphere among residents. 

“We want people to feel like they’re at home when they’re at Jasper,” Burton said. “A lot of our renters have dogs. It’s always a very pet friendly environment as well.”

Cityview collaborated with AC Martin, WPIC Construction, Nadia Geller Designs and Labib Funk and Associations in creating Jasper.

In addition to Jasper, Cityview is finishing up development on The Parker, a 123-unit multifamily community in the heart of L.A., and will complete Belle on Bev, a 243-unit multifamily project in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown later this year.