Owner of the Year: Forest City Enterprises

The trees have been multiplying quickly in the Forest.

Photo by Paul Napolitano

Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, the 2005 co-owner of the year, has opened in the last 13 months nearly 2 million sq. ft. of open-air lifestyle centers in suburban Southern California and two large apartment complexes in downtown Los Angeles. And it currently has two office-to-residential conversion projects under construction on the western edge of downtown L.A.

The bullish building pace will continue next year.

"We'll finish 1100 Wilshire in the first quarter of 2006 and 3800 Wilshire in fourth quarter [of '06]," said Greg Vilkin, president of Forest City West Residential in Los Angeles, a unit of Forest City Enterprises. "We bought the 1100 Wilshire in July 2004" and started construction soon thereafter, Vilkin said.

Webcor Builders is the general contractor for 1100 Wilshire, a $46-million project. The structure was an empty 37-story office tower since it was completed nearly 20 years ago. It is being converted into a 37-story high-rise for luxury condos. Prices are expected to range from $350,000 to $1.7 million. Project architects are Irvine-based Thomas P. Cox: Architects Inc. and Los Angeles-based AC Martin Partners.

The 3800 Wilshire project, an office building formerly occupied by Getty Oil Inc., is being converted into 260 condos and 22,000 sq. ft. of retail.

The general contractor for the $50 million project is Taisei Construction and the architect is Thomas P. Cox.

In Northern California, Forest City and the Westfield Group are entering the final year of construction on San Francisco Centre, a 1-million-sq.-ft., $420-million project that will connect at five levels to an existing Nordstrom-anchored retail center and feature Bloomingdale's and more than 200 specialty stores and boutiques.

Elsewhere in San Francisco, Forest City expects to start demolition and construction of an adaptive re-use project of an 80-year-old building in the Presidio. The new development will consist of 220-unit luxury apartments in the six-story building, a historic structure that was used as a public hospital.

Meanwhile, Oakland Uptown, "our biggest project yet," Vilkin said, will start construction in 2006. The first phase includes 665 apt units and 15,000 sq. ft. of retail at a $130-million construction cost. McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners is the architect and Roberts/Obayashi is the general contractor for the first phase. Demolition and remediation started Nov. 15.

"We are building the first two phases and the third will go out for an RFP," Vilkin said.

Of the 665 units in the first phase, 20 percent is earmarked for families earning 50-percent below the median income level and five percent is for families at 120-percent below the median income. The second phase will consist of 250 for-sale condos and will start construction in 2007. The third phase is expected to have 320 for-sale condos and 77 affordable housing units.

Forest City also is working on a project that has been dubbed "Downtown Fresno," a 12- to 14-block outdoor shopping district with 1 million sq. ft. of retail and 650 housing units. Los Angeles-based Johnson Fain is the master plan architect.

-By Paul Napolitano

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