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Pillar-Winning Met Lofts Help Transform Downtown L.A.
Met Lofts, the first loft community every built from the ground up in Los Angeles, won a 2007 NAHB Pillars of the Industry award this year for the Best New Loft.
Built on a block of parking lots in the middle of a largely ignored downtown that is now being transformed into “the entertainment district,” the development is a mixed-use, market-rate rental community with a 20% affordable component. Its exterior is contemporary — a little bit industrial, a little bit edgy — and its 264 residences have everything a loft should have: high ceilings, large windows and great views of the city, perched atop 11,000 square feet of ground-level retail .
The community’s owners, Forest City Residential, have catered to young urban pioneer residents with a finely attuned appreciation for the unusual.
 The loft-style construction delivers a seriously industrial interior look, but does so with all the features that its residents demand: on-site, direct-access parking; a fitness center and lap pool; an interior courtyard and entertainment area; a lounge and game room; and — it being L.A. — a private “screening room.”
The Met Lofts mascot is a dog named Lili, and prospective renters are given two customized maps of the area — one for humans and one for pets. And to fulfill L.A.’s 1% public art requirement, the owners commissioned an interactive electronic art display that gives the building an unmistakable presence at night.
The mix of good design, good market research and a lot of creativity has worked incredibly well, with the building 96% leased and stabilized after 14 months, commanding some of the highest rents in town, with no rent concessions.
For information on resources available from NAHB Multifamily, e-mail Ann Marie Moriarty, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8350.
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