Beverly Hills-Adjacent Condo Tower Pulls Permits

Image credit: Genton Property Group

According to a series of permit filings with the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, the long delayed Wetherly Luxury Residences are finally exhibiting signs of life.  The $230 million development, in the works since prior to the global recession, calls for a mid-rise condominium tower at the corner of 3rd Street and Wetherly Drive.  Renderings from the website of developer Genton Property Group portray a boxy, 12-story structure containing 55 for-sale units and more than 100 parking stalls.  The proposed building, reportedly designed by architectural firm RTKL, would feature a stout, 152-foot height profile.

Originally approved at a 16-story, 132 unit development, a combination of neighborhood resistance and market realities gradually whittled the proposed building down to its current size.  However, even the substantially reduced development program has still engendered outcry from neighbors large and small.  In addition to run-of-the-mill complaints of blocked views, overpopulation and traffic congestion, the project also brought Genton Property Group into conflict with the adjacent Four Seasons Hotel last year.

• Construction Fencing up at 3rd and Wetherly (Building Los Angeles)
• 300 S Wetherly Drive (LADBS)
• The Wetherly Luxury Residences (Genton Property Group)
• Four Seasons Feud in Bev Hills (Curbed LA)

Details Emerge for Adaptive Reuse of Joseph Youngerman Building

Image credit: Bob Safai

Thanks to documents from the Mid City West Community Council's Planning and Land Use Committee, details have emerged for CIM Group's upcoming mixed-use conversion of the monolithic Joseph Youngerman Building. The nine-story office tower, currently vacant, is slated to become a 36-unit apartment complex featuring street-level commercial space.  The mid-rise building occupies a prominent location along the Third Street shopping corridor, situated one block east of the Beverly Center and Cedars-Sinai Hospital.  An above-grade, 107-stall parking garage will be maintained as part of the adaptive reuse project, nearly double what is required by code.

Built during the 1980s office boom, the Joseph Youngerman Building has stood head-and-shoulders above its low-rise surroundings for more than three decades.  The 38,000 square foot edifice was previously home to the Director's Guild of America's pension and health fund, and is named for the union's longtime executive secretary.  However, the DGA's decision to relocate to more expansive facilities along the Miracle Mile last year left the building without a primary tenant, opening the door for CIM Group to purchase the mostly vacant tower for $14 million.

Image credit: Loopnet

• Beverly Center-Adjacent Office Building Getting a Mixed-User Makeover (Building Los Angeles)
• Meeting Agenda - August 19, 2014 (MCWCC)

Beverly Center-Adjacent Office Building Getting a Mixed-Use Makeover

Joseph Youngerman Building; Image credib: Bob Safai

One year after purchasing Mid City's Joseph Youngerman Building for $14 million, CIM Group is moving forward with plans to convert the mostly vacant structure into a mixed-use development.  Located at 8436 West 3rd Street, the mid-rise office tower occupies a prominent location on the western end of the Third Street Shopping District, sitting within walking distance of the Beverly Center.  Although standing just nine stories, the Joseph Youngerman Building is a well known landmark in Mid City, rising head and shoulders above nearly all surrounding commercial buildings.  The 38,000 square foot edifice was built in 1983, and was reportedly just 30% occupied as of last summer.  Given Los Angeles' continually sluggish office market, but resurgent residential and retail sectors, a mixed-use conversion seems like a no-brainer.

In recent years, several residential-retail developments have trickled into the surrounding neighborhood, including the NMS@La Cienega and Caruso Affiliated's luxury 8500 Burton Way complex.   However, other mixed-use endeavors have proven less successful.  One such development, proposed nearby at La Cienega and Beverly Boulevards, gradually attenuated its height profile in an attempt to compromise with neighboring property owners.  Those efforts proved fruitless, as the Mid City West Community Council held steadfast to the development site's 45-foot height limit, thus forcing owner Beverly La Cienega, LLC to drop nine units from the project.  As a result, the Park La Brea News reports that the residential-retail complex may no longer pencil out financially.

Image credit: LoopNet

• CIM Grp Buys Joseph Youngerman Bldg for $14M (CoStar)
• Case Information Summary Sheet (LADCP)