Ktown Hotelier wants to build 252 apartments on Olympic Boulevard

A Koreatown hotelier is planning to build a 252-unit apartment complex on the block bound by Olympic Boulevard, Serrano Avenue and Hobart Boulevard, according to plans submitted to the city planning department on Monday.

Choi Bo Sung, Inc., the same entity that operates the Rotex Hotel & Condo just a few blocks away on Olympic Boulevard, requested a density bonus to make way for its project, calling for a 35 percent increase in capacity in exchange for building 40 very low-income units. The project would also include 33,280 square foot of retail space and subterranean parking, city documents show.

The three-quarter-acre site at 3170 and 3188 West Olympic Boulevard is currently occupied by a single-story retail strip, property records show. Tenants include a piano store, pharmacy and taekwondo studio.

Choi Bo Sung purchased the properties for $11.8 million in 2014 as part of a 1031 exchange, according to CoStar.

Meanwhile, multifamily mania continues in Koreatown. Last week, CGI Strategies filed plans for a 122-unit mixed-use development on the corner of South Mariposa Avenue and West 3rd Street, The Real Deal previously reported.

And Koreatown’s most prolific developer, Jamison Services, has plans for about half a dozen projects in the submarket, all of which were filed this month alone, including a 132-unit mixed-use complex on the block bound by 6th Street, Manhattan Place, Western Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.