Jamison breaks ground on 230-unit complex in Koreatown

Architecture to provide “contrast” and “highlight” to Art Deco next door

Jamison Properties' CEO Jaime Lee with 626-634 St. Andrews Place (LinkedIn, Jamison Properties)
Jamison Properties' CEO Jaime Lee with 626-634 St. Andrews Place (LinkedIn, Jamison Properties)

Jamison Services has broken ground on a 230-unit apartment complex in Koreatown.

The developer, based in Koreatown, has begun building the eight-story building at 626-634 St. Andrews Place, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. Completion is expected in June 2024.

The mixed-use complex next to the century-old Wilshire Professional Building, would include studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments and 800 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

It would add 133 parking spaces for tenants, and 50 slots for use by the Wilshire Professional Building.

The 44,237-square-foot development, also known as 3875 Wilshire Boulevard, was entitled using the Transit Oriented Communities guide to allow a larger building with more units than allowed by zoning rules in exchange for 23 affordable units for extremely low-income households.

The contemporary-styled complex, designed by MVE + Partners of Downtown Los Angeles, would be clad in white stucco with floor-to-ceiling windows and horizontal black accents and balconies.

“The building will be built next to a 13-story 1929 historical building,” reads a description from the MVE website, referring to the Art Deco-style Wilshire Professional Building. “The contemporary architecture is meant to provide contrast and therefore highlight the adjacent historic building while complementing it through the use of neutral colors, compatible massing and some vertical articulation.”

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Jamison owns numerous apartment complexes in Koreatown, particularly along Wilshire Boulevard, according to Knock LA.

The company had previously proposed two other projects on the St. Andrews Place site. In 2012, the company had pitched plans for a seven-story apartment building, before later receiving approvals to construct a 16-story structure. https://la.urbanize.city/post/16-story-tower-neighbor-historic-k-town-building

Jamison Properties and its family-run group of companies was founded in 1995 by Dr. David Y. Lee, a first-generation immigrant from South Korea who now lives in Los Angeles. In 2006, he founded Jamison Services to serve as the building arm for Jamison Properties.

His companies have since become Koreatown’s biggest landlord.

In 2018, Lee used Jamison Services’ founder David Lee allegedly threatened to use an AR-15 assault weapon to keep protestors off the site of his latest Koreatown project. He later apologized.

– Dana Bartholomew

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