Hanover-Upside JV Closes on Getty

LOS ANGELES-A joint venture between Upside Investment Inc. of Calabasas and Los Angeles-based Hanover Financial Co.’s Hanover Real Estate Fund LLC has closed on the $21-million purchase of the former Getty office tower, which the partnership will convert to apartments.

The new owners plan to refurbish the 22-story office tower into a 260-unit apartment project along with approximately 25,000 sf of retail space that will include an existing five-story, 600-space parking structure adjacent to the tower.

The property is in the Koreatown portion of the Mid-Wilshire District, at 3810 Wilshire Blvd., at the southwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue. It is directly across the street from a Metrorail subway station and the Wiltern Theater, and within walking distance of a Ralph’s Supermarket and a 24-hour fitness facility. The 340,000-sf tower, which once housed the corporate offices for Getty Oil Co., was developed in 1962 and has been vacant for more than 10 years.

The Upside-Hanover JV, which has acquired the tower from an East Coast financial institution, has budgeted approximately $50 million for development of the apartment project. That figure includes both the acquisition price and extensive renovations, remodeling and conversion of the property. Fremont Investment & Loan provided the acquisition debt, with George Smith Partners acting as the finance intermediary.

Upside’s principals are Sean Baker, president, along with CEO Gary Simon. Hanover and Upside also partnered up for the development of Lafayette Park Place Apartments, which is located in Koreatown. Upside later acquired Hanover’s interest in that project.Hanover Financial Co. is the managing partner of Hanover Real Estate Fund LLC. Hanover’s principals are Michael H. Lowinger, president, and Mark Macedo, chief operating officer. Since the foundation of the company in 1999, through both acquisition and development, Hanover has acquired approximately $500 million in real estate assets situated primarily throughout Southern California, with the balance located in the Western US. Macedo notes that this is Hanover’s fourth partnership with Upside, which owns apartment complexes and shopping centers valued in excess of $150 million located throughout the Western US.