HOLLYWOOD-Multifamily specialist Alliance Residential Co. has acquired the historic 52-unit Hollywood Tower apartment complex for $34.5 million and plans to develop 146 additional units on the site, according to CB Richard Ellis. Adrienne Barr of CBRE's Team Lustig-Bower tells GlobeSt.com that the landmark apartment property, at 6200 Franklin Ave., comes with entitlements already in place for the 146 additional units.

Barr says that bidding was "very competitive" for the Hollywood Tower, which drew multiple offers. Built in 1929 and known for providing sophisticated living for film luminaries in earlier eras, the apartment building is exempt from rent control.

Team Lustig-Bower represented both the buyer and the seller, an individual investor based in Los Angeles, who ensured that a number of duplexes that were on the site were vacated and demolished by the close of escrow. The CBRE brokers estimate that by vacating the duplexes and securing entitlements for the additional units, the seller saved the buyer approximately one year of time that otherwise would have been spent on approvals and carrying costs.

The eight-story existing apartment building, which was 97% occupied at the time of the sale, comprises 12 two-bedroom units, 21 one-bedrooms, 17 singles and two bachelors, with the units averaging about 830 sf. The property features a grand lobby, rooftop sundecks, a fitness center and a renovated leasing office.

The acquisition is the latest in a series of Southern California projects for Phoenix-based Alliance Residential, which operates its local office out of Orange County. Besides Los Angeles, the company's Southern California properties include multifamily developments in the Inland Empire, and it is also focusing on projects in Orange County, the Central Valley, San Diego and the Pacific Northwest.