Cypress Equity Investments Seeks Approval on Two SoCal Mixed-Use Projects

Michael Sorochinsky’s Cypress Equity Investments has plans to add more multifamily housing in Santa Monica, Calif. 

The development and investment firm wants to build 288 units at 1801 and 1819 West Santa Monica Boulevard, in a project designed by DLR Group. The news was first reported by Urbanize on Monday. 

Plans for the site, formerly a Honda dealership, include two eight-story buildings featuring units ranging from studios to three-bedrooms, along with 2,700 feet of ground-floor commercial space. Thirty of the 288 units will be set aside for affordable housing, according to a staff report for the city’s Architectural Review Board. 

“The two adjacent projects share a similar form and massing while the subtle difference in tone and materials distinguishes one building from the other,” reads the staff report, which recommends approval of the project designs. “Livability is enhanced with amenities like upper-floor courtyards and rooftop decks, and the large scale of the buildings is broken down with large repetitive fenestrations, recessed spaces, and a few irregularly angled forms. As conditioned, the projects appear appropriate for the context along Santa Monica Boulevard.”

Representatives for Los Angeles-based Cypress did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

If approved, construction on the buildings couldn’t come at a better time. Multifamily developments in California were at a 10-year low in the first quarter of this year, largely due to high interest rates. 

The amount of approved permits for such projects in the Golden State dropped 22 percent this past quarter compared to the first quarter of 2023, making the first quarter of 2024 the slowest time for new plans since 2014. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.