LA Advances CGI’s Plans for New Apartment Development in Hollywood

The City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved a density bonus and determined that it qualifies for an exemption from the state’s arduous environmental review procedures, which normally adds years to the entitlement process.

The project site spans less than a half-acre at 1818-1824 North Cherokee Avenue, about a block and a half north of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, near the Hollywood & Highland shopping center — which is currently undergoing a $100 million redevelopment — and a Metro Red Line subway station. It’s also near The James of Hollywood apartment complex, the Whitley Hollywood Hotel, and several other multifamily developments.

Hollywood is one of L.A.’s denser submarkets, which has seen residents flee for more suburban areas of the state amid the pandemic and widespread shift to remote work. Indeed, the University of Southern California reported this week that the farther one travels from the city of Los Angeles, the greater the potential for rent growth. Realtor.com reported that L.A. rents have dropped 5.5 percent since the onset of coronavirus in the U.S. However, experts say the years-long housing and affordability shortage continues to drive interest in multifamily development. 

Gidi Cohen’s CGI Strategies, based in Woodland Hills, has been busy of late. Commercial Observer reported earlier this month that the firm secured $41.5 million to refinance its newly constructed multifamily building in the Koreatown neighborhood. And, in a joint venture, CGI and Megdal Investments acquired a 24,000-square-foot retail property in L.A.’s Los Feliz neighborhood. The center is being redeveloped into an organic grocery operated by Lazy Acres Market, which signed a long-term lease with CGI Strategies.