Construction has begun on the new $210 million 10000 Santa Monica, a 42-story, 283-unit apartment tower in Beverly Hills. Insurance and investment company Ullico Inc.announced this month a $57.5 million loan toward the financing of the project, with the remaining $152.5 million in construction funding coming from additional loan participants.
"I am so pleased to see construction cranes back in the Los Angeles area," said Edward M. Smith, president and CEO of Ullico Inc in a press release. His company also helped bring projects such as the award winning Red Building and L.A. Live entertainment complex to the city.
Miami, FL-based Crescent Heights will be responsible for developing, leasing and managing the 10000 Santa Monica property. New York City-based Handel Architects LLP is designing the project. This is the same firm that designed the acclaimed National September 11 Memorial in New York's Lower Manhattan.
Located on the Beverly Hills/Century City border, 10000 Santa Monica is definitely in the high-rent district. The 39 Story project will boast incredible views of downtown, the Pacific Ocean and the Hollywood Hills and project officials say it will be the only "true high-rise/high-end rental project" on the west side of Los Angeles.
The 2.4-acre development, which will take about 30 months to complete, will offer 283 units in a 470,000-sq-ft residential tower, at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Moreno Drive. Led by Handel Architects' Partner Glenn Rescalvo, the design for 10000 Santa Monica "evolved from the process of creating a dynamic shape that would contrast with the neighboring flat top structures," says the firm's website.
The building is composed of four crystal-like quadrants, and the balconies define the dramatic angles that are expressed along the north and south facades.
The exterior glass skin of the building will stretch from floor to ceiling and create a luminous and transparent façade. Each of the facades will be angled away from the other, creating the illusion of multiple planes of glass.
Crescent Heights acquired the project site in 2010, at which time it says there were no approved entitlements or site plans.
Separate Account J is sold through Ullico Investment Company, Inc. and is made available to properly qualified institutional and accredited investors only.
As a condition of the loan by Ullico and its subsidiary, Union Labor Life, all construction on the project will be built with union labor. J for Jobs, Union Labor Life's commercial real estate investment vehicle, will be a major part of this.
