Beny Alagem and Jonathan Goldstein
Founder and chairmain; Chief executive officer at Alagem Capital Group and Cain International
“Several billion dollars.”
That’s the answer that Jonathan Goldstein of Cain International provides when asked how much One Beverly Hills, the gigantic megaproject that he’s building with Beny Alagem’s Alagem Capital Group, will cost.
Goldstein isn’t trying to be anything other than accurate in the admittedly vague answer. When a project reaches a certain altitude — when it spans multiple acres of land (more than 17) in the most coveted city (Beverly Hills) in the most coveted county (Los Angeles) in Southern California; when it has one of the most touted luxury brands (Aman) headlining the hospitality portion; when the world’s premier architecture firm (Foster + Partners) is doing the designs — we can understand why estimates need to be rough.
It’s been a long and deliberate process. “Last year we were very active in getting the entitle-
ments from the city — which we were very fortunate to get,” said Alagem. One Beverly should be finished around 2027.
Of course, it’s been a rough market in L.A. There have been “some limitations on transactions [due to] the rate increase in the last 18 months,” said Alagem. But he adds, “I see a better year at the end of ’24.”
And, even in this ugly rate environment, Cain for one has not been an especially shrinking violet. Over the summer, Cain made an extremely bold play when it purchased a $1.2 billion portfolio of construction commitments from Pacific Western Bank. And the company’s been toiling away at one of South Florida’s most sought-after office projects, 830 Brickell, not to mention the $150 million Cain plunked down with OKO Group for Edgewater House and The Ambassador Palm Beach Hotel & Residences, which will be reborn as glittering new luxury residences.
But much of it comes back to the massive bet made in Beverly Hills. “We’re big believers in California and L.A. in particular,” Goldstein said. No kidding!
