MWest Holdings of Sherman Oaks, which buys and renovates apartment communities, is growing its property management division to oversee operations of other apartment landlords. The division, known as Polaris Property Management, has hired three new staff with construction and maintenance specialization as the culmination of a 50 percent growth in personnel in the past two years. Jesse Alvarez was hired as construction manager and will be responsible for all renovation projects. Filomeno White, a 20-year industry veteran, will oversee property maintenance and technicians as the new regional maintenance supervisor. Ann Bueno will serve as a dedicated construction accountant handling finance, accounting, cost and business management on construction and maintenance projects. The division, which has previously maintained and managed only MWest properties, is seeing increasing demand for its services from other apartment owners, said MWest President Karl Slovin and Jay Rey-Hipolito, vice president of operations for Polaris. The two companies employ 74 people. “It’s very competitive out there,” Slovin said. “There are more (apartment) owners from abroad. If you’re a Chinese buyer, you need to have a local operator who knows how to operate within Los Angeles.” The apartment market has grown robustly in recent years with thousands of new apartments coming online, and Polaris has broadened out the division to include in-house marketing, legal services and asset and property management, said Rey-Hipolito. Driving the need for construction staff is MWest’s preference for purchasing not just apartment buildings that need significant renovations, but those with historical elements. For example, it has turned a 1920s-era hotel into apartments. On average, MWest buys 800 to 1,000 units each year, Slovin said. Recently, it partnered with KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT II in Newport Beach to buy the 10-year-old, 292-unit Lofts at NoHo Commons at 11136 Chandler Blvd. at the heart of the NoHo Arts District and is planning an $8 million upgrade to the interior units and the exterior and common areas. Its more historic properties include L.A.’s Hollywood Tower at 6200 Franklin Ave., built in 1929,; the Wilshire Royale at 2619 Wilshire Blvd., built in 1927; and the San Fernando Building at 400 South Main St., built in 1907. Live Expansion Entertainment and technology company Live Media Group Holdings moved last November to Calabasas from Van Nuys, a relocation that tripled its space and enabled it to boost production. Live Media chose Calabasas after looking unsuccessfully for 15,000 square feet of industrial space in Van Nuys, Burbank and Glendale with enough parking for its 13 production trucks, said Chief Executive Brad Sexton. “They’re usually out and about – we do 32 golf events a year – but we needed to store trucks and do maintainance,” Sexton said. “So, parking was key to our needs.” With more space, Live Media has added a second high-definition control room, which accepts live event feeds from the trucks in the field, and may eventually add another two, he explained. Live Media may also grow staff, including freelancers and engineers, as a result. Live Media is undergoing another shift as well – producing more sports events, particularly events for digital content. Sexton said as the company does the encoding that allows it to broadcast live sports events onto multiple digital platforms, it has gone from producing 70 percent traditional broadcast production and 30 percent digital production to almost the reverse. It now does 25 percent traditional production and 75 percent digital production. “Young people are cutting cable, and watching on mobile platforms and on the web,” he said. “Over the last three years there has been a dramatic shift.” Apartment Buyers Renters and investors are “flocking” to the San Fernando Valley, according to a report by Calabasas commercial real estate brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap Inc. In the 12 months preceding this year’s first quarter, the Valley had so much investor activity that it “prompted the market to lead the (L.A.) Metro area in deal flow and dollar volume by a wide margin,” the report stated. More than $2.2 billion flowed into the Valley last year, nearly double the next closest market. Prices per unit were in the mid- to low-$200,000 range, with the highest in Burbank, Glendale and Sherman Oaks. Rents in the San Fernando Valley were $1,880, up 1.6 percent compared to the same period a year ago, the report found. Tri Cities’ rent grew 1.5 percent to $2,183 a month. Woodland Hills rent rose 2.8 percent to $2,137. Staff Reporter Carol Lawrence can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or [email protected].
