Developers spent years romancing locals to approve a 10-story building on Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood that will make a grand 2020 entrance into L.A.’s luxury vertical living landscape.
When Candy Spelling dropped $35 million on a Century Tower condominium in 2008, she ushered in a new era, proving that condos could rival Bel Air mansions in price and prestige. Eleven years later, the ante on super-luxury vertical living is about to be upped at 8899 Beverly Blvd. Opening next year, the 10-story development will offer two penthouses expected to shatter sales records.
On the unfinished building’s top floor, a private elevator will open onto a sprawling open-floor plan with 14-foot ceilings and, most notably, the 550 feet of specialized retractable glass for a wraparound deck with 180-degree views of the Hollywood Hills. While the plan is to split the floor into two massive units, the developers — Townscape Partners — have fielded inquiries about combining them into one 20,000-square-foot unit, which would be one of the largest single-floor penthouses in the world. While Townscape declined to discuss pricing, real estate insiders think it could fetch $85 million if not more.
“The Century was pivotal and, along with a few other buildings, pushed the ball forward,” says Townscape Partners’ Tyler Siegel, who helped oversee the Century City development when he was at Related Cos. “The Beverly is part of a group that’s ‘condo 3.0.’ It’s about more than the building — which is highly specialized. But it’s about putting that design in a walkable, highly amenitized neighborhood.”
The former office building at the corner of Beverly and La Peer Drive in the heart of West Hollywood’s design district was never envisioned as a residential structure. The nine-story Richard Dorman-designed building was built in 1964 to house the International Design Center, then the nerve center of L.A.’s design community. That function would later pass to the Pacific Design Center, a few blocks away, after it was completed in 1975. At that point, 8899 Beverly was converted to an office building and over the years serviced many entertainment industry tenants including ICM Partners, which was headquartered there from 1975 to 1993. Relativity Media and Don Mischer Productions also leased space there. (The most well-known tenant has to be industry power dining spot Madeo, which will return to the building upon its completion.)
Townscape, which is back by New York investment firm Angelo Gordon & Co., purchased the building for $39 million in 2012 and then hired Seattle-based architecture firm Olson Kundig. Siegel and his partner, John Irwin, next set out on a herculean effort to convince local homeowners and elected officials to approve their ambitious project. The approvals alone took three years, followed by a spate of litigation. In 2016, a judge rejected an appeal by the West Hollywood Residents Associates, and Townscape reached a settlement with the group. As part of its deal with the city, Townscape agreed to contribute millions for a park and streetscape improvements.
The building will have 40 units with an average square footage of about 2,800. The plan also calls for the construction of eight townhouses along Rosewood Avenue ranging from 2,500 to 4,000 square feet. Amenities include a pool, spa, concierge services and underground parking that will offer showroom-like garages for a handful of tenants.
To sell the building, Townscape turned to Douglas Elliman’s Fredrik Eklund, a top-performing NYC broker who’s using the building as a launchpad for his L.A. operation — and bringing a rich roster of clients including Jennifer Lopez, Daniel Craig, Gigi Hadid and Bruce Willis. So far, says Eklund, interest in the building has come from a mix of American businessmen seeking a part-time L.A. residence and locals who are looking to downsize.
