Izek Shomof eyes 200 apartments next to his Panorama Tower

Developer Izek Shomof has plans to pack 200 homes next to his 14-story, 194-unit Panorama Tower in Panorama City.

The head of the Downtown L.A.-based Shomof Group and Pacific Investments has shed new light on plans to build the 200 apartments next to the converted office tower at 8141-8155 North Van Nuys Boulevard, Urbanize Los Angeles reported, citing a city environmental assessment.

Plans call for a seven-story apartment complex with nearly 2,100 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants on the parking llot adjacent to Panorama Tower.

The 200 units would all be market-rate and include two studios, 159 1-bedroom and 39 2-bedroom apartments, according to the sustainable communities environmental assessment. It would include a 10,700-square-foot private warehouse, plus a three-story parking garage for 504 cars.

The rectangular building, designed by Downtown-based Takacs Architecture, would be light gray with slate-blue panels and orange accents, with inset balconies and vertical windows, according to renderings.

The Panorama Tower, built in 1962, was designed by midcentury architect Welton Becket, whose firm designed the Capitol Records building and the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. 

After taking heavy damage in the 1994 Northquake earthquake, it became a blighted monolith that towered over the San Fernando neighborhood for a quarter century. In 2004, the city attorney filed a lawsuit against its then-owner, charging that the building was plagued by graffiti, broken windows and trespassers. 

Shomof bought the abandoned office building in 2015 for $12.5 million, with plans to convert it into apartments. It reopened as a multifamily in February 2020 after $25 million in renovations, extensive seismic and systems upgrades. Two penthouses were added at the top. 

Construction of the neighboring apartment complex is expected to take 27 months, according to the environmental study, but no timeline was disclosed.

The project has emerged during rapid change in Panorama City, which includes a new light rail line beginning work along the Van Nuys Corridor, and a 4.5 million-square-foot high-rise complex planned to the north at Panorama Mall. 

The Panorama Tower site abuts a Los Angeles County-owned property at 14545 Lanark Street, where nonprofit developer Holos Communities is developing 180 low-income apartments, and across the street from a second affordable housing complex at 8140 Van Nuys Boulevard.

Last month, Thomas Safran & Associates received a $54.3 million grant from the City of Los Angeles to build a 102-unit affordable housing complex at 8130-8146 North Van Nuys Boulevard, across from Panorama Tower.

Shomof, a native of Israel, was among the first investors to have a hand in redeveloping Downtown L.A., restoring multiple buildings in the Historic Core starting in the 1990s, including the Premiere Towers at 621 South Spring Street.

Early last year, the head of Shomof Group and developer Leo Pustilnikov announced plans to turn a century-old former Sears building in Boyle Heights into a $400 million “life rebuilding center” for 5,900 homeless residents. The 26-acre campus would include a medical clinic, mental health support and job training.

— Dana Bartholomew