Trumark Urban director expects DTLA rents to flatten, condo demand to rise

After the first phase of Trumark Urban’s high-rise building in Downtown Los Angeles sold out two months after hitting the market, the second phase was rushed to the market early in July.

The 25-story, 151-unit luxury development at 1050 S. Grand Avenue in South Park, dubbed TEN50, will be the first new condo project to be completed Downtown in almost a decade once construction wraps up later this year. Its residences will be released into a market so deprived of condo inventory that prices shot up 13.3 percent in the three month period ended July 31, 2016 — a bigger uptick than any other L.A. market, according to a report by Polaris Pacific.

TEN50 currently has only one competitor with new condos Downtown, but it’s a big one: Greenland’s Metropolis, which includes more than 500 units in its second phase alone.

But Arden Hearing, managing director of Trumark Urban, said there more than enough buyer demand in an area dominated by pricey rental projects — and an influx of more of them on the way.

The master bedroom in a model residence at Ten50

“Our competition is actually the people paying $5,000 rents in lesser buildings,” he said. “It’s accretive to buy rather than rent as long as you have a 20 percent deposit — and that’s different than other cities.”

With tax write-offs, it is $750 to $900 cheaper per month to buy a $600,000 condo than to rent in a new building Downtown, according to Johanna Gunther of Polaris Pacific, which is handling sales and marketing for TEN50. It’s more expensive on the buying side in markets like San Francisco, she said.

Hearing said the discrepancy is owed to the fact that Downtown is “a burgeoning market where world class living is still a growing trend.” Historically, he said, “it wasn’t a place where people wanted to live.”

He expects robust condo pricing growth over next few months as rent prices flatten, due to the influx of luxury apartments.

The kitchen in a model residence at Ten50

The second phase of Ten50 includes one- and two-bedroom residences as well as penthouse and two-story penthouse units that range from $600,000 to just over $4 million. The Real Deal got a first look at the model residences of its third phase, which show a new crop of bedroom and dining layouts.

The entrance to a model residence at Ten50

The TEN50 building, designed by HansonLA with interiors by Handel Architects, includes a landing pad for drone delivery service. It also has  a 13,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor lounge, a “resort-style” pool and a “yoga garden,” according to marketing materials.

Debt fund PCCP provided more than $70 million in financing to support the construction of TEN50, The Real Deal previously reported.