Jamison Services buys another property in Koreatown

Office landlord Jamison Services is ramping up its residential ambitions in Koreatown. Weeks after acquiring a 31-story high-rise apartment tower at 2908 Wilshire Boulevard, the office landlord last week acquired a property that is zoned to hold up to 248 units of residential housing.

Jamison paid Cohen Asset Management $20 million, or about $142 per square foot, to acquire 2601 Wilshire Boulevard. The property currently holds two office buildings and a connected parking garage. It is leased to the County of Los Angeles until April 2019.

Jamison is beginning to venture into residential — rather than commercial — developments. A long-time office landlord in Koreatown, the real estate firm purchased the 31-story high-rise apartment building at 2908 Wilshire Boulevard earlier this month, in a partnership with investment firm Hankey Investment Co.

As of January, Jamison has 27 projects in the works, including two new mixed-use residential and retail complexes in Koreatown on top of its Wilshire properties.

“People are working against the clock right now,” Jaime Lee, CEO of Jamison’s commercial leasing and asset management arm, told the Wall Street Journal. “We’re coming to market as quickly as we can.”

The CEO of Cohen Asset Management, a firm based in L.A., was awarded last month nearly $40 million in a defamation lawsuit against a former tenant at a Las Vegas property, according to a release. The company recently acquired a 302,000-square-foot industrial building in Vernon, California as part of a joint venture.  — Cathaleen Chen