BW Brody Affiliated Pays $24 Million for Pico-Robertson Lot

An empty lot near Beverly Hills is headed for redevelopment after selling for eight figures.

Sherman Oaks-based multifamily developer BW Brody Affiliated Companies paid an individual investor $24.3 million for 9700-9740 West Pico Boulevard, currently a 1.7-acre patch of grass, CoStar reported. The firm plans to develop a luxury apartment complex at the site, in Pico-Robertson just outside the Beverly Hills city limits.

Selling for $13.9 million per acre, the sale marks one of the most-expensive lot sales in Los Angeles in years among deals for parcels greater than 1 acre, the outlet said. It’s slightly higher than a similar sale last year where two Hollywood parking lots, previously slated for a multifamily development that stalled, sold for $13 million per acre. In June, CGI+ Real Estate Investment Strategies sold a 4.9-acre site in Torrance for $40 million, or about $8 million per acre.

The West Pico Boulevard site was once home to an office building and is located near retail, dining and offices in Century City and Beverly Hills.

BW Brody Affiliated manages luxury apartments across the Los Angeles area, including the 113-unit Metro Art Sherman Oaks at 14140 Moorpark Street, and the 62-unit Metro Art Brentwood at 11771 Montana Avenue. The firm is expected to seek entitlements for multifamily.

Apartment development across the city is down 20 percent, and most projects are rising in downtown, Koreatown and east side neighborhoods, leaving the west side in the dust when it comes to construction. There are only six large apartment projects under construction in Los Angeles, according to CoStar.

Housing construction and proposals on the Westside haven’t ground to a complete halt, however. In West Los Angeles, Southern California Affordable Housing is planning to redevelop an abandoned commercial building in West Los Angeles into 279 affordable studio and one-bedroom apartments.

Apartment vacancy across Los Angeles is about 5 percent. It remains to be seen whether BW Brody Affiliated can pull off a luxury development amid high construction costs and a lengthy entitlement process that usually favors affordable housing projects.

— Chris Malone Méndez