Jamison ready to break ground on 224-unit Hollywood development

The project is good news for the company, which has been dogged by recent controversy

Jamison Services' Jamie Lee and the site of 1718 Las Palmas
Jamison Services' Jamie Lee and the site of 1718 Las Palmas

Jamison Services is set to start building a 224-unit apartment complex in Hollywood, a significant project that has been overshadowed by recent controversy that has surrounded the company and its founder.

The family firm has cleared a parking lot at the one-acre site, which spans mid-block from Las Palmas to Cherokee avenues, between Hollywood Boulevard and Yucca Street, according to Urbanize, which first reported on the development.

It’s one of a handful of projects the prolific Koreatown-based multifamily developer has in the works around the city and one of two properties it owns in Hollywood, according to Real Capital Analytics. The family firm has a $5 billion portfolio of over 100 assets mostly concentrated in Koreatown, where it’s undertaken a number of adaptive re-use projects and new development projects.

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It’s welcome progress for Jamison. The city handed the firm a major defeat a few weeks ago when it blocked its 500-unit mixed-use tower project at 3700 WIlshire Boulevard in Koreatown. That followed an incident involving Jamison founder, David Lee, who threatened to shoot protesters who step foot on a park he wants to demolish for the project.

The latest project is not so controversial. It is a six-story apartment building, which will have studio through two-bedroom units and 1,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Jamison utilized a density bonus and will set aside 24 units for “very-low-income” tenants. It will also have 305 parking spaces through four levels of underground parking.

Jamison purchased the site in 2016 from Champion Real Estate Company and appears to be following through with a design Belzberg Architects designed for Champion. [Urbanize] — Dennis Lynch