Chinese Developer Heads to Hollywood

LOS ANGELES—Chinese developer Gemdale Properties, a subsidiary of the Gemdale Corp., is making its mark on Los Angeles. In its first Los Angeles project, the developer has entered into a partnership with LaTerra Development to build a $125 million mixed-use property in Hollywood. The development, which as of now will be funded entirely with equity, will have an office, multifamily and retail component. This is the first major development by a Chinese investor in Hollywood to date.

“Los Angeles is one of the most important markets in the United States. We are the most interested in residential and mixed-use projects,” Jason Zhu, CEO of Gemdale USA, tells GlobeSt.com about the company's decision to invest here. “In terms of location, Hollywood was our first choice of where we wanted to be because of the economy and the population.” He also noted markets like Newport Beach in Orange County and Downtown Los Angeles as other areas of interest for the company.  

Located at 1350 N. Western Avenue on four acres of land, the project will include a creative office space, a 250-unit apartment complex and ground floor retail along Western Avenue. There is an existing office building on the site with surface parking. The developers plan to renovate the office property to attract “Hollywood-esque tenants,” and then will build the residential tower where the surface area parking is now. The parking will be relocated into a structure.

While office development is really taking off in the market, there are fewer instances of major multifamily development. “With the resurgence of good-paying jobs in Hollywood, folks need places to stay and live,” Charles Tourtellotte, President and CEO of LaTerra Development, tells GlobeSt.com. “Although there is good mass transportation, people would really prefer to live near their office. There are some natural supply constraints in Hollywood, and that has caused increased rents and lower vacancies. We have noticed that has created a really good opportunity for residential development. We have been looking for quite sometime for a site that was scalable or sizable for residential development, and this is it.”

This is the first partnership between Gemdale and LaTerra, and both find it to be a perfect fit. “The company is a strategic partner, and they bring to the table more than just capital. For us, that is a very important feature,” says Tourtellotte. “We feel very fortunate to have them as a partner.” Zhu echoes the sentiment, saying, “For Gemdale, it is important to have a partner like La Terra, who really knows the local market. We are looking forward to have more projects with La Terra in the Los Angeles market.”