Wanda’s One Beverly Hills gets six-month permit extension

Wanda Group recently parted from its local partner, Athens Group

Rendering of One Beverly Hills, Wang Jianlin (Wanda Group/Getty Images)
Rendering of One Beverly Hills, Wang Jianlin (Wanda Group/Getty Images)

The city of Beverly Hills isn’t quite ready to give up on One Beverly Hills just yet.

The Beverly Hills City Council granted permit application extensions for 33 projects – Wanda’s OBH included – that have either already expired or will expire before Dec. 31, the Beverly Hills Courier reported. OBH, at 9900 Wilshire Boulevard, last filed for building permits on Dec. 13, 2016. They were due to expire on Dec. 13, 2017 before the city extended them.

Wanda and other developers in the pipeline have a 120-day period, starting Nov. 7, to complete the building permit application process.

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Council member Les Friedman led the motion for a six-month permit extension, arguing that the City staff failed to warn the projects of their upcoming expiration date.

Wanda cut a deal with the city last year, agreeing to pay a fee greater than $60 million to Beverly Hills in order to build the project. If the permits expired, the fate of the hefty sum could have been in jeopardy.

The $1.2 billion condo and hotel project, spearheaded by the American arm of China-based Wanda Group, has been having trouble getting its feet off the ground. Just last month, its development partner, Athens Group, who walked the project through the entitlement process, exited the partnership for reasons that remain unclear. Wanda is facing larger issues, as China buckles down on overseas investment. It has been forced to shutter many of its assets. Jack Gao, who oversaw Wanda’s international investments and served as interim CEO of the Hollywood production company Legendary Entertainment, stepped down last month. [BHC] Natalie Hoberman