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Luxury Apartments Rekindle Hollywood’s Golden Era

The judges of NAHB’s Pillars of the Industry awards found the 20-unit development to be not just better, but best — they awarded it the top prize in the Luxury Rental category.

The property was developed by the Lefevre Corporation, and it had significance to the developer because his grandfather had once lived in an apartment building at that site. The apartments that Lefevre decided to build would have fit right into that earlier era, when grandfather was a young man, Hollywood was Hollywood, and up-and-coming stars lived in apartments with courtyards, balconies and a view of the hills.

The plan created “wildly varied units” with an average size of 1,500 square feet, each with a different floor plan. The structure itself is asymmetrical, with level changes, balconies, exterior stairs, towers and shade from overhangs and awnings.

Access to each unit is through a courtyard and there are no interior shared corridors. The style is Mediterranean, with a nod to Southern California’s Spanish missions, with thick white stucco exterior walls, red barrel tile roofing, cast iron railings, paver tile flooring in the courtyard and fountains.

With its village feel, the upscale community fits right into its historic neighborhood, looking as if it had been there all through Hollywood’s golden age. It was leased up in four months, even though the rents are well above the area median. And, the developer says, it recently was appraised at “the highest dollars per unit of any apartment building in Los Angeles County."

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