Prime scores $947M loan on Park La Brea complex  

San Francisco-based apartment landlord Prime Residential has secured a massive refinancing for California’s largest residential complex that could pave the way for additions of granny flats amid high-rise and garden-style apartment buildings.

The firm closed on a $947 million loan for Park La Brea, a 4,249-unit apartment complex about seven miles west of Downtown Los Angeles, just north of the Miracle Mile district along Wilshire Boulevard. The 144-acre property consists of 18-high rise and 175 garden-style apartment buildings.

The new mortgage retires the existing debt on the property. Lender Freddie Mac expects to securitize the loan through K-Deal, a commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) package of multifamily properties. Newmark’s Mitch Clarfield, Ramsey Daya, Chris Moritz and Alec Newman represented Prime Residential in the transaction. 

“Park La Brea, the largest housing community west of the Mississippi, is an iconic Los Angeles asset. This was a historic financing that contains a variety of custom features, including the flexibility to construct a significant number of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) on the property, which will contribute towards addressing the state’s housing and affordability crisis” Clarfield said in a statement. 

Park La Brea was originally owned by MetLife, which built the complex from 1941 to 1950. Prime bought the property, located at 6200 West Third Street, in 1995. According to a previous story from the Los Angeles Times, the planning process for the complex began in the 1930s. A housing shortage after World War II prompted the developer to add 13-story buildings to its plans for the site. 

The property was in the news in the early parts of the COVID-19 pandemic because its roughly 10,000 residents found it difficult to adhere to social distancing guidelines.