Kor Group Converts Landmark to Condos

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HOLLYWOOD, CA-The Los Angeles-based Kor Group’s Broadway at Hollywood & Vine has undergone a chemical peel to restore its original look as part of its conversion into 96 luxury live-work condominium lofts. Tyson Sayles, SVP at the Kor Group, tells GlobeSt.com that the chemical peel has removed layers of paint to restore the original facade of the department store, which was converted into office space in the 1980s and then purchased by Kor in 2004 for the loft conversion project. “The original surface was very nice multicolored brick as well as terra cotta and stone work” under the layers of paint, Sayles says. The project, approximately 200,000 sf, will include about 11,000 sf of retail and restaurant space in addition to the lofts. “It’s going to be white tablecloth restaurant with a full bar,” Sayles tells GlobeSt.com. “We are talking with several name recognition operators who are interested.” He notes that food and beverage service will also be available at a roof garden with pool, cabanas, exercise room and spa that Kor is creating as part of the project. Designed by Santa Monica-based Killefer Flammang Architects, the conversion will create lofts ranging from approximately 930 sf to 2,000 sf, with parking on the sub-basement, second and third floors. Wade Killefer, design principal of Killefer Flammang, notes that the residential portion of the project calls for a two-story addition to the eight-story building that was added to the initial structure. Opened in 1927, the original building was a 10-story classical revival style concrete and steel structure. An eight-story streamline modern building was built to the west of the original building in 1939. The conversion will restore the streamline modern façade of the addition and the exposed brick of the original 1920′s structure, according to Killefer, whose firm has designed some 35 adaptive reuse projects. The Killefer Flammang projects include Kor’s Eastern Columbia and Pegasus buildings Downtown. Sayles says that the units will be delivered to buyers as open lofts, which will have completely fitted kitchens with European style cabinets and stone countertops, baths with luxury finishes, granite tub decks and tile surrounds. The design concept calls for single story lofts and multilevel penthouses. The units will offer views of the Hollywood Hills to the north, with ocean views from glass walls facing to the west. Sayles says that the Kor Group sees “a great demand” for luxury condominiums in Hollywood, both in terms of loft-style units like these and more conventional luxury condo buildings. “We’re providing a luxury life-style oriented product that caters to the entertainment industry and creative professionals,” he says. With its valet parking and other services, the finished product will have “sort of a boutique hotel feel to it” Sayles says.