Construction Begins on Apartments to Replace Post Office

Amcal Equities, a division of Amcal Multi-Housing Inc. in Agoura Hills, is going vertical on its apartment complex on the site of the former Woodland Hills Post Office. Amcal and Santa Monica-based Gortikov Enterprises Inc. are building the five-story, 335-unit Clarendon complex on 4 acres at 22055 to 22121 Clarendon St., a block north of Ventura Boulevard. Between the complex and its six-tier parking garage, it has parking for 564 vehicles and nearly 370 bicycles. It will also include electric vehicle charging stations and rooftop solar panels. With the site so close to the freeway, the units will have double-pane windows and air filters but not balconies. Seventeen units have been set aside for very-low income tenants. The project is funded with a $65.7 million construction loan from JPMorgan Chase and $17 million in private equity from Essex Property Trust, Amcal said. While in the local approval process before the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council, residents were critical of the project and expressed concerns over traffic congestion on the side streets because they lead to main thoroughfares. Amcal said the complex would generate less traffic than the post office, citing a traffic study it commissioned. Amcal said it should start pre-leasing in early summer 2019 and finish construction in August 2019.