Business & Tech
Renovations Under Way at Strip Mall on La Brea
The work at Santa Monica Boulevard is expected to be completed by March and will include a fresh paint job, more windows and two new tenants.
A West Hollywood shopping center is getting a face-lift along with new tenants.
The strip mall on the northeast corner of La Brea and Santa Monica Boulevard is being renovated. Work started in December and should be completed by March.
“We are rehabbing a property that had not had the proper attention given to it,” said Scott Ginsburg, vice president of development and acquisitions for center owner Combined Properties.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
The new lead tenant will be Chase Bank and a second tenant will be announced shortly. Ginsburg reports that his firm is in negotiations with a major national chain that will take up the remainder of the retail space.
During renovations, the building is being painted with brighter colors and storefronts will have many more windows than they sported before. Meanwhile, the parking lot will be relandscaped with drought-tolerant plants.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
Combined Properties is making a concerted effort to be green and use sustainable materials in the renovation. “We are trying to put money, effort and thought into it,” Ginsburg said. “We’re excited by what we’re doing and how it’s going to look. For a small property, it will be impressive.”
At one point, Beverly Hills-based Combined planned to demolish the center, which dates back to the late 1950s, and replace it with a mixed-use building with street level retailers and apartments above. However, the downturn in the economy caused the firm to reconsider that idea.
“We investigated a more vertical development,” Ginsburg said. “We had proposals into the city. But with the changes in the economy, [renovating the property] made the most sense.”
Combined may revisit the mixed-use building plan some time in the future, he said.
These renovations do not extend to the Radio Shack and Rite Aid stores portion of the shopping center. In fact, the Rite Aid section is a completely separate shopping center owned by another investor. Since the two centers share road access and have adjacent parking, many people mistakenly believe they are one center.
Be sure to follow Weho Patch on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook.