An apartment building bites the dust on Sweetzer, just north of West 3rd Street and right next to the new-ish faux Mediterranean apartments. What will go up next? More of the same cookie-cutter faux-Meds? Or perhaps a pricey loft situation?
Apartment Going Down on Sweetzer
August 28th, 2008 · 12 Comments
Tags: REAL ESTATE
12 responses so far ↓
1 alex the sea turtle // Aug 29, 2008 at 6:24 am
Thanks for that update. I haven’t been up past 3rd in a few and didn’t know.
What a shame. This neighborhood is under attack.
2 LA Builder // Aug 29, 2008 at 9:50 am
The neighborhood has been “under attack” by the city for decades. When landlords are forced to rent their units to undesirable tenants at below-market rates, when they are assailed at every opportunity, of course, they’re going to raze the place and build condos.
3 flip // Aug 29, 2008 at 11:00 am
LA builder delivers the typical blather. Most owners make little or no repair to buildings. Most tenants in that area (at least in my 4 year experience there) have ample finances to pay the rent. There is little to no crime or vandalism. The nieghborhood has plenty of restaurants, bars, retail that make it incredibly desirable to live. Thanks to the continued greed at city hall and developers along the Wilshire corridor, Hollywood, downtown, etc, you will overbuild and overcharge - especially at a time when so many people were over their heads with their homes. What could happen is a lot of units will sit empty. It will push prices down, and some buildings that have character will be destroyed for bland boring replacements.
4 alex the sea turtle // Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13 am
Umm why do builders think they need to tear down nice older character apartments and homes when their under used buildings all over that could be done instead. I support the projects at the Beverly Connection, La Jolla/Wilshire and Crecent Hghts/Wilshire.
I don’t like to see the charming older apartments, homes and buildings that give this neighborhood a sense of history and character torn down and replaced.
5 kiki // Aug 29, 2008 at 11:31 am
The ‘faux Mediterranean’ next door is 5 stories high, unlike the majority of the rest of it’s neighbors, blocking out the sky. And it apparently has a faulty (fire?) alarm system, or faulty tenants, since that alarm goes off for hours at least once a month. Not to mention the amateur porn tenant (who puts on a long, loud show with open patio doors). That building both narrowed and destroyed the alley behind it. I have low hopes for whatever goes into this new lot. The only thing going for it is that it’s only one lot, not 3 like it’s neighbor. Can’t wait for the construction to start at 7 am M-F, 8am Sat! (with the silence during their mid-morning break, @ 9-10am.) How about starting an hour late instead??
6 Miss Teresa // Aug 29, 2008 at 12:36 pm
The new building next door was supposed to be condos - I believe it had to go rental to fill the building, and now it will be next door to a construction site. This developer sure had bad timing!
As for LA Builder: These older apartment buildings are not subject to vacancy control, just rent control. If a tenant makes a choice to move out, the landlord can charge market rate for the vacated unit. Rent control can make it difficult to make a profit on a duplex or fourplex, but buildings any larger than that tend to have a fair amount of turnover, thus allowing for rent adjustments.
7 Anonymous // Aug 29, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Rent control laws can be onerous but as long as you play the game you’ll be fine. Its much better to maintain the older buildings and instill a sense of pride with the tenants as opposed to tearing down and building a new joke. If you let your properties run down then you’ll get run down tenants too.
8 alex the sea turtle // Aug 29, 2008 at 2:10 pm
LA Builder is typical of a new mentality that if your property won’t make you rich rich rich then something is wrong.
9 Coenbro // Aug 29, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I live literally right across the street from this in my amazing, great apartment. Sure, some charm is lost when we loses interesting buildings. But the place wasn’t that great. I hate the two giant mega buildings on my street, but I do enjoy the fact that the owners must be losing money. Those places seem half vacant.
Also, this ‘hood is one of the best in LA. And the loss of one building is not going to change it. Now where are my earplugs?
10 MMC // Sep 1, 2008 at 8:11 am
I heard that it will be a pool for the gigantic building next door. Which at least won’t block out the sky…
11 Sweetzer Apartment Kaput, Odd Monster Head // Sep 2, 2008 at 5:58 pm
[...] So the Sweetzer apartments are completely demolished, which is no surprise. But what with this noosed monster head left behind? Just a drunk prankster? Or some sort of strange message? Hmm. » Apartment Going Down on Sweetzer [...]
12 Alicia Carroll // Sep 10, 2008 at 6:48 am
GREED pure and simply. Many of the older buildings in my neighborhood, 1st. and Sweetzer, have been taken over by the children of the original owners who passed away. The originals owners were part of the neighborhood, having tenants for 20+ years, with pride in their buildings. I watched heirs take over many building up and down Sweetzer with one thing in mind, “how much can I get”? The newer buildings are nothing more than plywood and plaster. The newer buildings are a blight on the neighborhood. Hopefully, most will sit empty. In this economy, there are few people able to pay $3,000.00 plus in rent.
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