AIDS Healthcare Foundation has made a bid to purchase the 299-unit Sunset Gordon tower, which CIM Group developed but has not been allowed to open.
AHF announced that it submitted a $50 million offer to purchase the vacant 22-story building at 1528 Gordon Street, according to Curbed. If the bid is accepted, AHF would drop its years-long lawsuit against CIM Group and Los Angeles over the number of affordable housing the developer included in the building.
Michael Weinstein, who is head of AHF, said it wants CIM to either add more affordable units or sell the property so the nonprofit can repurpose the complex, according to Curbed. If AHF purchased the building, it would reduce the size of the units and increase the number to 1,000.
It is altogether unclear whether the Sunset Boulevard property is even for sale. It has been vacant since 2015, when an L.A. County Superior Court judge invalidated its permits after CIM had demolished an Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant that was supposed to be partially preserved.
CIM and AHF’s Coalition to Preserve LA have since battled over the developers’ attempts to obtain permits, which eventually were issued in December. The most recent approvals stipulate that Sunset Gordon must include 15 apartments for very low-income tenants, 15 for moderate-income tenants and 15 units of workforce housing.
CIM Group has remained one of the most active developers in Hollywood, including a 63-unit project it’s working on across from Sunset Gordon. AHF was a main financial supporter of a 2017 failed anti-development ballot measure. [Curbed] — Gregory Cornfield