Developer Plans to Build 114 Units in West LA’s Sawtelle

Developer Peter Hillakas wants to build an eight-story apartment tower in the Sawtelle district of West Los Angeles, according to an application filed Jan. 9 with the City of Los Angeles Planning Department.

The project, named Amherst Apartments, calls for demolishing four single-family homes located on the 2300 block of South Amherst Avenue. The existing buildings, dating from the 1940s, are situated at the intersection of Amherst and Tennessee avenues.

If he gets a green light, Hillakas will develop a building with 114 apartments, 13 for extremely low-income people. Amherst Apartments also will include two levels of subterranean parking with 113 spaces.

Designed by architectural firm KFA, the project would include floor plans of studios to two-bedroom units. Average square footage for the apartments runs approximately 650 square feet, Hillakas said. Amherst Apartments’ plans for open space would include a 1,068-square-foot roof deck. Building amenities would include a pool, gym and podcast studios.

If things go smoothly for this project, Hillakas hopes to gain entitlements in the next nine months and after that gain permits in nine months to a year later.

Hillakas serves as a senior director for commercial real estate financier Gantry. This development project is not affiliated with Gantry, he wrote in an email to The Real Deal. He has worked at Gantry since 2004.

Hillakas’ proposed development is located a short walk from another proposed multifamily project in the Sawtelle district. Developer Thomas Beadel filed an application in late November to construct a four-story building at 2245 South Amherst Avenue. The building would create 38 one-bedroom apartments for low-income people, according to news first reported by Urbanize LA.