TORRANCE, CALIF. — CGI+ Real Estate Strategies has sold a shovel-ready, 4.9-acre multifamily development site in Torrance to JPI for $40 million.
CGI+, a Los Angeles-based multifamily investment firm, acquired the property adjacent to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center at S. Vermont Avenue near 220th Street in 2022. After receiving entitlements for a six-story, 525-unit residential building — with 34 units reserved for households earning less than 30 percent of area median income — CGI+ planned to begin construction in 2023. However, rising interest rates and increases in labor and construction costs delayed the start of construction, according to CGI+ founder and CEO Gidi Cohen.
“We were able to generate attractive returns on the sale of the land while still leaving plenty of runway for the buyer,” said Cohen.
Designed by AC Martin, the planned development will offer floor plans ranging from studios to three-bedroom units. Amenities include outdoor workspaces, barbecue and dining areas, a hot tub, playground, pet park and fire pits.
The project also will include a 28,000-square-foot space atop an eight-story garage that will offer 360-degree views from the Pacific Ocean to downtown Los Angeles. The roof-top park will feature a resort-style pool, coffee shop, clubhouse, an indoor-outdoor gym, a pickleball court and outdoor lounge spaces.
The Land Advisors Organization team of Chris Gomez-Ortigoza and Tim Barden marketed the fully entitled development site on behalf of CGI+.
The plot is located within a transit-oriented-incentive district that the City of Los Angeles has earmarked for the construction of approximately 3,500 new homes and 4.6 million square feet of commercial space. Under the city’s plan, developers who build projects with at least 8 percent of units designated as affordable housing within a half mile of public transportation receive several zoning and permitting benefits, such as a reduction in parking minimums and the ability to exceed some density requirements.