The earthquake-ravaged Panorama Tower on Van Nuys Boulevard, which is being transformed into a live-work complex, may be getting a separate retail component, city documents show.
Izek Shomof, a Los Angeles-based developer who heads Pacific Investment Group, filed plans Thursday for the construction of an “open mall building” next to the existing structure, records show.
Shomof purchased the abandoned 13-story office building for $12.5 million in 2015 through an entity called Grand Pacific 7-28 LLC. About a year later, he revealed his development plans: a 192-unit live-work complex and a ground-floor retail space.
It’s unclear whether the new open mall would replace the original retail component. Either way, the intersection at Roscoe and Van Nuys boulevards could become a new retail hub, given that the adjacent property at 8401 Van Nuys Boulevard is the Panorama Mall, which was acquired by Primestor Development.
And across the street at Roscoe Boulevard and Tobias Avenue, Icon Company is gearing up to demolish the shuttered Montgomery Ward department store to make way for apartments and retail space.
Shomof could not be reached for comment. In Chinatown, his firm is planning a 122-unit, seven-story mixed-use complex at the corner of Alpine and Spring streets, The Real Deal reported in September.
The native of Israel was among the first investors to have a hand in redeveloping Downtown L.A., restoring multiple buildings in the Historic Core starting in the 1990s, including the Premiere Towers at 621 South Spring Street.