The following article was co-authored by Rina Yano, editor of the Sawtelle Japantown blog. For more information on Westside real estate and Japanese food and culture, please visit www.SawtelleJapantown.com and follow her on Twitter @SawtelleJT. Traveling north on Sawtelle Boulevard in the Sawtelle Japantown, you may notice a new purple and grey apartment complex and several other lots rife with construction activity. The majority of these new developments come from Wellesley Manor, a real estate firm whose other holdings in the neighborhood include Soho Square - a 94-unit mixed-use building built in 2006 - and St. John’s Wood - a 55-unit condominium complex built in 2009. Wellesley Manor has the following projects in the pipeline for Sawtelle: Camden Town Camden Town, located at 1750 Sawtelle Boulevard, consists of 15 residential units which shall be rented out as apartments. Final touches are currently being applied to the four-story structure, which will open to the public soon. The building was designed by architect Warren Techentin, whose prior work includes the adjacent Soho Square development at 1700 Sawtelle Boulevard. Notting Hill Apartments The Notting Hill Apartments, currently under construction at 1900 Sawtelle Boulevard, will consist of a low-rise edifice featuring 52 residential units. The building, which is rising on the former site of the Harada Nursery, will include nine live-work apartments on its ground floor and five dwellings reserved for low-income households. Designs from Newport Beach-based MJS Design Group call for a five-story structure featuring multiple outdoor gathering spaces and a three-level underground garage with parking accommodations for up to 78 vehicles.
Regents Park Across the street from the Notting Hill development, a century-old bungalow was recently demolished to make way for Regents Park, a five-story structure which would include 25 residential units, 650 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a large parking garage. Like Camden Town, the proposed low-rise building is being designed by architect Warren Techentin. In addition to various residential complexes from Wellesley Manor, the following projects are currently planned or in development by different entities: 1831 Sawtelle Boulevard Construction began earlier this year for a new three-story apartment building at 1831 Sawtelle Boulevard. According to information from the Los Angele Department of Building and Safety, the low-rise building will include 30 residential units and a two-level basement garage. City records list the project’s architect as the Glendale-based firm Uriu & Associates. 1837 Sawtelle Boulevard Construction permits are currently in the works for another multi-family residential building on an adjacent property at 1837 Sawtelle Boulevard. The project, which is being designed by architect David Forbes Hibbert, would consist of a four-story building featuring 19 residential units and a below-grade parking garage. Two units would be reserved for very-low income households.
1947 Sawtelle Boulevard The largest project planned for the neighborhood is slated for the current home of the Westside Family YMCA at 1947 Sawtelle Boulevard. The project, which is being developed by California Landmark Group, would consist of 73 residential units and 7,700 square feet of ground-level commercial space. Designs from Rios Clementi Hale Studios call for a modern five-story structure flanked by cherry blossom trees. The building’s height would pare down to two-story townhomes as it approaches the adjacent single-family zone to the west.