Wood Partners Sells Los Angeles High-Rise 8th+Hope to Essex Property Trust, Inc. for $200 Million

First Post-Recession Luxury High-Rise to Be Built and Sold in Downtown Attracts Record Price for Apartment Community

LOS ANGELES, CA, Feb 27, 2015 (Marketwired via COMTEX) — Wood Partners announced today that is has sold 8th+Hope, a 22-story, 290-unit luxury glass high-rise in the core of downtown Los Angeles, to Essex Property Trust for $200 million. The .7-acre complex is one of the first post-recession high-rise apartment buildings to be built and listed for sale in downtown Los Angeles.

There was extremely high interest in the sale by investors, according to Wood Partners, and the price per square foot paid for 8th + Hope exceeds any previous sales for multifamily projects in downtown Los Angeles.

“We started developing this project in early 2007 when the vision of a revitalized downtown was a still a question in many people’s minds,” said Frank Middleton, Wood Partner’s Western Region Development Director. “As we came out of the downturn, we began integrating design and marketing roles into the development process with the objective of unlocking value for our residents by creating better communities. It was exciting to roll this out while also participating in the coming of age of the downtown market.”
The property is an integral part of the revitalization of downtown L.A., which has seen a surge of commercial and residential development, as well as entertainment venues, in recent years. It includes about 4,300 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and scores 96 out of 100 on walkscore.com.

“A lot of positive development and investment activity is taking place in downtown Los Angeles right now,” said Brian Hansen, California Director for Wood Partners. “8th+Hope has played an important role in this exciting revitalization, and we were active participants in making the area a walkable, livable and connected community with an indoor-outdoor connection in an urban environment.”

The property, which opened last summer, already is 55 percent leased and is expected to reach stabilized occupancy by the third quarter of 2015.

8th+Hope offers units with floor-to-ceiling glass, expansive balconies and high-end interior finishes including wood flooring, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Housecleaning, pet care, grocery delivery and porter service are available.

8th+Hope’s impressive amenities include a 10,000-square-foot rooftop deck and club room with retractable glass walls that lead to an outdoor social/dining area, spa, fire pit and garden retreat. The complex also includes a lavish private film theater, guest suites, in-unit salon and spa services, 24/7 concierge service, car sharing and covered parking.

One of the nation’s most active multifamily developers, Wood Partners has more than 3,000 units completed or under construction in Southern and Northern California, and a total of more than 4,200 on the West Coast stretching from Seattle to San Diego.

8th+Hope: Honoring the Year’s Best Projects

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – It may be a cliché, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true: It would have been impossible a decade ago to predict the kinds of projects that are coming online today in Downtown Los Angeles.

That’s what the editorial staff of Los Angeles Downtown News realized as we were considering candidates for this year’s Downtowners of Distinction awards. The community is full of housing, entertainment, retail and restaurant projects that might have seemed unfathomable in 2005. Back then who could have guessed that the Central City would be the hippest nightlife destination in Los Angeles, or that it would be the community of choice for young chefs changing the way L.A. eats? Who could have known that 2014 would be the year when Downtown gains a top-notch concert hall, a destination hotel and a huge batch of housing complexes?

In the following pages, Los Angeles Downtown News runs down the winners of the 14th annual Downtowners of Distinction awards. The prizes were created to recognize the individuals, groups and companies that created projects that not only turned a profit, but also made their community and the whole of the Central City a better place.

This year’s Downtowners of Distinction includes a new twist: the inclusion in eight categories of other Notable Projects. Picking 2014 winners was harder than ever due to the unprecedented number of high-quality endeavors that benefit their community. We only give one Distinction award in each district, but we wanted to recognize some of those who took great risks to create new projects.

Wood Partners Sells Mode by Alta for $73.6 Million

Land & Houses USA Inc. Buys 111-Unit San Mateo Apartment Building

SAN MATEO, CA–(Marketwired – Mar 3, 2015) – Wood Partners, LLC announced that it has sold Mode by Alta, a 111-unit multifamily community on two acres in San Mateo, Calif., to Land & Houses USA Inc. for $73.6 million.

“Mode is an exceptional asset that presented us with another opportunity to apply our distinctive and integrated approach to development, marketing and operations,” stated Brian Pianca, Wood Partners’ Northern California Director. “This approach is strongly resonating with our target markets and we are excited by the opportunities that continue to present themselves as a result of this effort.”

Mode by Alta, designed by Christiani Johnson Architects and built by SBI Builders, consists of two three-story buildings on top of a partially subgrade parking structure and includes a fitness room, resident lounge and club room and expansive amenity decks. One-, two- and three-bedroom units have hard-surface floors, stainless steel appliances and solid-surface countertops.

Located on the site of a former commercial printing facility at 2089 Pacific Boulevard, the property is adjacent to the Caltrain rail line and close to major employers including Oracle, Visa, Gilead, Sony and Franklin Templeton. It is centrally located between San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

Institutional Property Advisors was the broker for the sale.

Mode is the second luxury apartment community that Wood Partners has developed and sold in the San Francisco Bay Area. The first, Domain by Alta in Oakland, sold in 2013 for $103.2 million.

One of the nation’s most active multifamily developers, Wood Partners has more than 3,000 units completed or under construction in Southern and Northern California, and a total of more than 4,200 on the West Coast stretching from Seattle to San Diego.