20-Story Building To Rise in Active Multifamily Market
An Art Deco-inspired apartment is being planned at 1830 N. Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. (City of Los Angeles)
By Jack Witthaus
CoStar News
May 30, 2023 | 10:05 AM
A 20-story apartment building is being planned in Hollywood as the city of Los Angeles grapples with a housing shortage that makes the city one of the nation's least affordable places to live in the United States.
Applicant CGI+, a real estate firm based in Los Angeles, wants to build the 223-unit multifamily property with nearly 20,000 square feet of retail on multiple parcels at 1830 N. Cahuenga Blvd., according to plans submitted to the city.
The apartments are expected to feature 27 very low income affordable units along with a rooftop pool that offers views of the world famous Hollywood sign.
AC Martin, a Los Angeles-based architect, designed the project which "employs a modern interpretation of the Art Deco style" by using symmetry, layering of vertical and geometric lines and repeated patterns, according to city documents.
The greater Los Angeles area is home to numerous Art Deco-era buildings including Griffith Observatory, Eastern Columbia Building and Sunset Tower.
63% of the City Rents
Multifamily construction is important in Los Angeles, one of the most unaffordable places to live in the U.S. due to lack of housing supply.
Roughly 63% of the city rents instead of owns housing due to the high costs and limited inventory of for-sale homes, according to the city documents.
Meanwhile, building housing has proven to be difficult in the city. Roughly half of L.A.'s housing stock was built before 1960 and one in five units were built before 1939, according to city documents. The percentage of housing built in the 1990s and 2000s "is the lowest of any decade," according to city documents.
A recent study found that it takes a near full presidential term for a housing project to be permitted and built in the city of Los Angeles, a timeline analysts say is too slow to meet current and forecast demand.
The Hollywood apartment market has a 5.2% vacancy rate, higher than the greater L.A. average of 4.6%, according to CoStar data. The market's average rent is $2,355, above the greater L.A. average of $2,217.
Currently, there are roughly 977 apartment units under construction in Hollywood, making it the ninth-busiest construction market in greater L.A.