Lofts Developer Brosh Takes Long-Term View

HOLLYWOOD-Auctions and distressed sales of lofts and condominiums are much in the news these days, but developer Avi Brosh is holding the line on pricing at the Lofts @ Hollywood and Vine and sees a future for Hollywood as one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Brosh, whose Santa Monica-based development firm converted the 12-story, 100,000-square-foot former Equitable office building at Hollywood and Vine into 65 lofts in a project that was completed in May of 2007, tells GlobeSt.com, “In terms of maintaining pricing, we are being very aggressive” because of his belief both in the Lofts @ Hollywood and Vine and in the long-term future of Hollywood.

The 65 lofts, which include five office condos on the second floor and 60 residential units on the remaining floors, are priced at $300,000 to more than $1 million. “We are in it for the long haul,” Brosh says of his commitment to the lofts project, where 27 of the units have sold, all of them residential lofts.

The recession has put a damper on construction of new lofts and condo projects, but Brosh says it’s a matter of time–how long, no on really knows–before some of those projects get built. “Hollywood is at the epicenter of some of the most exciting and dynamic projects proposed in Los Angeles,” he says. “My sense is that many of those projects will not happen for a good, long while, but I think there will be a few fantastic projects that will happen, once the clouds part in the economy.” In time, he says, “Hollywood will be one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in Los Angeles.”

Despite the current weak market for condo sales throughout Los Angeles, Brosh says, he is committed to the Lofts @ Hollywood and Vine for the long term both because of his belief in the future of Hollywood and because “We have what we believe is the premier building in Hollywood.” The location is next door to the Pantages Theater, Capitol Records and Brosh’s Palihouse Vine as well as across from a Red Line Station and the W Hotel, which is scheduled to open in late 2009. It offers a list of amenities including 24-hour valet parking, 24-hour security, a private landscaped roof garden and sky deck, on-site dry cleaning and laundry delivery. The ground floor features Dillon’s Restaurant and the Dolce Group Lounge.

Brosh says that it’s difficult to tell how the market for Hollywood condos stacks up against other parts of L.A., such as Santa Monica and Downtown L.A., because so few units are selling these days. “Right now, it’s hard to see which market is more robust. It’s difficult to pinpoint,” he says, because the condo market and all other sectors of commercial real estate are going through “a complete recalibration of everything, on every level.”

In addition to the Lofts @ Hollywood and Vine and the Palihouse Vine, Brosh’s firm, By Palisades, has developed the Palihouse Hollway in West Hollywood and the Custom Hotel near the Los Angeles International Airport. The firm also has new projects under construction or in development in San Francisco, Miami and Manhattan.