Houston-based Camden Property Trust has moved into the Valley with plans to break ground this summer on a 229-unit luxury apartment complex in south Glendale. The real estate investment trust purchased 2.2 acres for $21.4 million in December. The complex will be the company’s first project in the San Fernando Valley and its second in Los Angeles County. The Camden Glendale project, surrounded by Central Avenue, San Fernando Road and Los Feliz Road, will include up to 38,000 square feet of ground-level retail. The company plans to complete and open the units — ranging in size from studio apartments to two-bedrooms—in the beginning of 2014. “It is hard to find an entitled multifamily site in Southern California,” said Benjamin Brosseau, Camden’s Western region vice president of real estate investments. “We felt it was a good value for the land, and we could add more volume in Southern California.” The five-story luxury complex, located near the Glendale Amtrak station, will include a pool, Jacuzzi, club house and business center, Brosseau said. Camden hopes to draw residents from employees at the adjacent Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center, those looking for a central location and individuals attracted to a transit-oriented development. Camden purchased the property at 3900 San Fernando Road from Triangle Restaurants Inc. The property is currently home to a shuttered carwash, an auto repair facility and a Burger King with broken windows and walls. Several developers considered building apartments on the property, but the economy crumbled and stalled the project, said Philip S. Lanzafame, Glendale’s chief assistant director of community development. Now that Camden is moving forward with its plan, others in the former Glendale Redevelopment Agency’s San Fernando Corridor project area could benefit. For example, the future apartments should help fill 5,500 square feet of retail space located across the street from the new project, said Michael Tsparian, senior vice president at Lee & Associates, who represents the landlord of the retail space. “We are kind of excited about” the complex, he said. Tsparian said the new apartments will likely help the landlord he represents to bump up the rent. In fact, Tsparian said the landlord decided in late 2010 not to renew the lease of a billiards hall at the space because he has an opportunity to lure in traditional retail as the neighborhood improves. The new apartment project will bring to 11 the number of Camden communities in Southern California. The company is planning more developments and acquisitions in Los Angeles, Brosseau said.
Camden Chooses Glendale For FirstValleyArea Project
