Silver Lake apartment project has been 25 years in the making

Bolour Associates has begun construction on a Silver Lake apartment complex whose property was first approved for multifamily construction more than 25 years ago.

The $24 million, 65-unit project spans five stories at 3160 Riverside Drive on the Los Feliz border. It will feature a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom units, according to Urbanize.

The Beverly Hills firm purchased the property in April 2016 from Andrew Fakhoury, Jamal Sayagh, and Hiam Sayegh.

The property had been entitled for a 52-unit apartment building in 1991. That project never moved forward though and the site remained a gas station for years. It was later converted into a beer garden and event space called Riverside Service Station.

The site’s entitlements were attractive to Bolour, said Adam Eisenberg, head of acquisitions at the firm.

“Entitlements are difficult in California, and it is especially difficult to entitle property in a community such as Silver Lake,” Eisenberg told Urbanize.

Bolour had to pay for environmental remediation of the site, according to its website. The firm then set aside some units as affordable, taking advantage of state density bonus incentives to increase the unit count to 65. Westside-based AFCO Design is listed as the project’s architect.

Bolour is in the process of entitling an Arts District site for a 310-unit live/work complex. It purchased that property, at 527 South Colyton Street, in 2014. [Urbanize] — Dennis Lynch