Glass Tower | 23 fl | Pro

[Westsidelife]

Location: 11th Street and Grand Avenue
Function: Mixed-Use | 128 Units
Developer: The Kalantari Group
Architect: DeStefano + Partners
Completion: N/A

Glass Tower Condominiums

Construction could begin by the end of the year on a 25-story, $60 million ground-up residential tower at 1050 S. Grand Ave. Owner and developer Amir Kalantari said the glass-clad building would hold 128 high-end condominiums from 850 to more than 3,300 square feet. Units would sell for $400,000 to $3 million. Kalantari said the venture would take two years to complete. - Los Angeles Downtown News

[Fern~Fern*]

Completion date 2009... We should get moving on this Tower!

[latennisguy]

do u have the old rendering? I think I liked the old one more

[Fern~Fern*]

^ There's nothing wrong with this one....

[Westsidelife]

Never Mind the Naysayers, Says Developer of Glass Tower

DOWNTOWN: Kalantari says groundbreaking for skyscraper is set for April.

THERE is only one way Amir Kalantari can prove he is actually going to build his Glass Tower condo project: evidence of construction in progress.

Skepticism has grown because the developer's company, Kalantari Group, purchased the site at 11th Street and Grand Avenue in 2004, got it entitled in 2005 and then let it sit vacant amid the boom in downtown condo construction. Kalantari says he understands real estate industry naysayers, but still vows to build the 23-story, 192,000-square-foot tower, which he said is being financed entirely by company cash flow. Groundbreaking is now scheduled for April with construction expected to take 24 months.

"Speculation doesn't bother me. When you entitle a building with this much publicity and don't get in the ground, people scratch their heads," Kalantari said. "I have way too much personal cash and time in this to not build."

Speculation about the project, with its striking glass facade, has accelerated in recent months, especially given the slowdown in the downtown housing market, where at least one developer has publicly declared he won't build one of his condo towers. There was also Kalantari's decision in February 2006 to put the property on the market. He called the decision an "exercise more than anything" to test its value, adding that he received offers for the parcel but "none were even looked at."

Even Calvin Abe, president of Ah'be Landscape Architects, who worked on some preliminary landscape work, said he thinks Kalantari will sell the fully entitled project before building it. "They take it through entitlements and then the value goes up," Abe said.

But Kalantari said a rise in construction costs slowed the project, requiring it to be redesigned by DeStefano and Partners Ltd., which replaced Nadel Architects Inc. last summer. The DeStefano redesign stripped the building of much of its expensive glass facade, though one corner of the 128-unit building will still feature elaborate glasswork.

The building's sixth-story pool deck is also a feature often discussed by downtown real estate denizens, who question its design. The pool will be built on the northwest side of the building and will not receive direct sunlight for parts of the day. "We did studies; it gets afternoon sun, it doesn't get morning sun," said Hanson, adding that he could not change the placement because the building's footprint was finalized in the entitlement process. The pool deck had been designed foremost to offer a view of the downtown skyline.

[Fern~Fern*]

What a bummer it's been downgraded to 23 floors!!!

[Westsidelife]

^ It has always been 23 stories. They just don't count the 4 story podium the 23 story tower sits on.

[Elsongs]

One thing's for sure. The people who will live here won't throw any stones.

[soup or man]

New renderings of The Glass Tower

[TICONLA1]

So, is it still going to happen.??

[soup or man]

I strongly believe so. Hopefully by July.

[godblessbotox]

looks pritty cool

[Westsidelife]

Financing is Coming Into Focus for Kalantari Building

Development: Glass Tower's location has sat idle since 2005 entitlement

By DANIEL MILLER
Los Angeles Business Journal Staff
November 26, 2007

While most downtown developers loathe to admit it publicly, some in the development community have been impacted by this summer's credit crunch. One such developer is Amir Kalantari.

Speculation about his condo site at the northeast corner of 11th Street and Grand Avenue has lingered for years -- partly because the developer's company, the Kalantari Group, got the property entitled in 2005 and then let it sit while other builders got in on the residential building boom.

Though Kalantari was set to break ground this summer on his 23-story Glass Tower -- so-called because of its glass exterior -- the developer said that didn't happen because he has had to "revisit" secondary financing options. While Corus Bank of Chicago has been retained as the primary lender on the project, Kalantari said that now he must decide whether to "pay out of pocket or get a mezzanine lender" for secondary financing. Kalantari declined to say how much additional funding the $70 million project needs.

"We have been forced to slow down because of issues in the banking market," Kalantari said. "We are still bullish about the product in the market."

Corus also is financing the construction of Beverly Hills-based Astani Enterprises Inc.'s Concerto condo development downtown. Astani secured a $190 million loan from Corus earlier this year after dropping lender Fremont Investment & Loan when it became entangled in the subprime meltdown.

Kalantari said the credit crunch has reduced his options for secondary financing. "Whereas I might have had 10 options a year ago, that has been lowered to three. You have to weight the costs of going out of pocket or to a lender."

Mezzanine financing has become more common in the development industry as primary construction lenders have lowered the percentage of a project they are willing to fund. As recently as last year, construction loans might cover 75 percent of the cost of a project but now most lenders are only willing to cover about 65 percent, forcing developers to seek higher-rate mezzanine loans to see a project to completion. Both loans are then paid back through long-term mortgage debt.

Kalantari said that in the next month he will decide which funding route his company will take. Once that is settled, the project could break ground in six months at the latest.

The 192,000-square-foot, 128-unit building was designed by Doug Hanson of DeStefano and Partners Ltd., who already has scaled back much of the expensive glass facade envisioned by a prior design firm. Despite prior speculation, Kalantari said that he's not interested in selling the site, which he purchased in 2004.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Los Angeles Business Journal

[solongfullerton]

I don't understand the whole issue with buildings being put on hold. All the developers have to do is lower the prices and people will buy. The issue is not that there are not enough buyers, its that prices are too high for the current population of potential buyers. Maybe these developers won't make as much as they had planned, but its in thet best interest of the future of downtown and future developments there to keep the building process moving along.

[milquetoast]

Originally Posted by Ferneynism

Completion date 2009... We should get moving on this Tower!

Don't want to piss off my hometown but 2 years? This part of City Center hasn't taken 2 years! Why does it take so long?

[Westsidelife]

image hosted on flickr


Glass Tower to Break Ground Early 2008

By fridayinla
December 18, 2007

After years of delays and redesigns, the long-awaited Glass Tower will finally break ground at 11th and Grand in South Park during the early part of 2008. We contacted developer Amir Kalantari of Kalantari Group who confirmed the project is nearly ready to move forward.

The most recent reports suggested Kalantari had set his sights on an early January kick-off, but he now says, “Our ground breaking schedule has been pushed back beyond January 2008. The slight delay will be used to study the secondary financing market and finalize our firm’s financing decisions for the project. The scope of the project remains the same.”

Another reliable, but separate, source close to the project confirms this information.

The sleek 23-story tower designed by De Stefano + Partners will contain 128 luxury condominiums and 5,600 square-feet of ground-level retail. The development will replace a surface parking lot on the northeast corner of 11th and Grand in the South Park district, catty-corner to the new South Group towers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: angelenic

[Westsidelife]

I won't believe it until I actually see it. But it's great hearing that plans for this project haven't been scrapped. This will be a great addition to that developing cluster.

[redspork02]

Is this the tower that was/is going to have a observation area on the top??

[Westsidelife]

^ Why would a 23 story residential tower have an observation deck? That makes no sense.

[phattonez]

I thought it was Park Fifth.