Equitable Building Goes Condo

HOLLYWOOD, CA-Palisades Development Group and Paladin Realty Partners LLC will restore and convert the historic 100,000-sf Equitable office building at 6253 Hollywood Blvd. into residential and office condominiums in a project called the Lofts @ Hollywood and Vine. When redeveloped, the building will be turned into 60 residential units and five office condos.

The property, where the first floor is leased commercial space but floors two through 12 are unoccupied, was built in 1929 and occupies one of the region's most storied intersections, the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

In addition to the condominiums, the project will add a restaurant, a lounge and a rooftop deck to the building. The developers expect to begin work soon and to complete the project in early 2007.

Avi Brosh, president of Palisades Development Group, says the restored Equitable building will be designed with public spaces that resemble those of Hollywood in the 1920s, with metallic gold ceilings, patterned wallpaper, mirrors and art deco elements like those in vogue when the building first opened.

The restaurant and lounge will take up the first floor, with the second floor to be turned into the office condos. The residential lofts will range from 850 sf to 2,000 sf and will include nine different floor plans.

The Equitable condominiums will be the latest in a series of local projects for Palisades Development Group, which owns a portfolio including developments in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Pasadena, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and West Los Angeles.

Palisades also has developments under way in many of those same cities. Its partner in the Equitable project, Los Angeles-based Paladin, is an investment and development firm that acquires, develops and manages properties on behalf of public and corporate pension funds, foundations, endowments, trusts and high net-worth investors.