MWest Holdings of Sherman Oaks purchased the 170-unit Park Wilshire apartment in Westlake for $27.4 million and plans a $1 million renovation of the 92-year-old site near MacArthur Park.
Ronald Harris, Greg Harris, Paul Darrow, and Joseph Grabiec of Marcus & Millichap’s Institutional Property Advisors represented MWest in purchasing Park Wilshire from Montgomery Partners, based in Mill Valley. Montgomery bought the apartment in 2007 for $17.15 million.
The jump in value over the past decade is a strong indicator of how much the neighborhood has changed.
Ronald Harris brokered the sale of the building in 1993 for a mere $2.4 million, he said. It was half empty and many tenants weren’t paying rent, back when monthly rates ranged from $500 to $600 for a one bedroom unit.
“The area was very challenged,” Harris recalled. “Not one lender would finance it, and the buyer had to buy it all in cash.”
These days, downtown development is booming just a mile and a half away, making Westlake an ideal spillover site for developers and residents.
“It attracts that kind of tenant that’s a little more rent sensitive,” Harris said.
Park Wilshire’s 1920s-era design is an attraction as well. MWest intends to stay true to the historic look while rehabbing the lobby and corridors, redesigning units, and adding a gym and business center. One point of pride will be restoring the neon rooftop sign that spells the building’s name in Gothic-style script.
“The Park Wilshire neon sign is not just a glowing placard, but also an atmospheric symbol that returns the building…to its roots in Los Angeles’ classic film noir period,” said Karl Slovin, MWest president, in a press release.
MWest recently upgraded apartments at the Wilshire Royale and Hollywood Tower, also built in in the 1920s. The developer is now renovating downtown’s San Fernando Building, a 1906 structure that it purchased last month for $37 million.
Real estate reporter Daina Beth Solomon can be reached at [email protected]. Follow @dainabethcita on Twitter for the latest in L.A. real estate news.
