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LOS ANGELES-Developers MJW Investments and Phoenix Realty Group have nearly completed construction on the last three of the seven former garment district buildings at the $130-million Santee Village and Santee Court. The last three buildings, which comprise 216 lofts and 23,500 sf of retail space, represent a $92-million portion of the project. In total, the seven former apparel industry buildings have been converted into 445 rental and for-sale units and more than 61,000 sf of retail space.

The three buildings that comprise Santee Village are called the Santee, the Eckardt and the Cornell. Sales of the loft-homes are slated to launch in fall of this year, with occupancy scheduled for the fall of 2007.

One unusual twist on the project is that buyers of the lofts will be eligible for property tax reductions under the 1972 Mills Act Tax, which authorizes lower taxes for owners of historic buildings. Built between 1912 and 1926, the buildings of Santee Village were designated historic structures in 2001 as the first downtown multi-story structures to be specifically designed to house textile manufacturing facilities.

The project is being developed in an area bounded by Seventh, Eighth and Los Angeles streets as well as Maple Avenue and Santee Street. In addition to offering for-sale housing units, the developer is marketing the retail space as condominiums and plans to deliver the space in August 2007.

In addition to the 23,500 sf of space at Santee Village, the Santee Court portion of the redevelopment includes 38,000 sf of retail space. In total, the redevelopment consists of four for-sale buildings: the Textile, the Santee, the Eckardt and the Cornell, along with the three for-rent properties of Santee Court: the Bailey Hat, the Connell and the Brownstein-Louis buildings.

Instant Insights /

$130M Santee Project Nears Completion

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