Just four months after we last stopped by, the concrete superstructure of a 16-story apartment tower is now nearing its apex in Beverly Grove. 

watermark Construction of 6401 Wilshire - looking east on Wilshire Boulevard
Urbanize LA

The project, which is being developed by Santa Monica-based WS Communities, replaces a surface parking lot at 6401 Wilshire Boulevard with a high-rise structure consisting of 112 apartments above a parking garage and 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. 

Steinberg Hart is designing the tower, which will stand 193 feet above the intersection Wilshire Boulevard and La Jolla Avenue.  According to a landing page on the architecture firm's website, the building's footprint has a convex shape - mimicking the outline of a camera lens - creating a distinct view profile for passersby and unique view corridors for future residents.

Renderings also show that the building's parking podium, which composes the first five floors of the building, will be capped by a rear facing amenity deck.  Additional open space for residents would be provided at the roof level.

Rendered view of 6401 Wilshire - looking west on Wilshire
Steinberg Hart

The under-construction tower dates to an application submitted to the City of Los Angeles more than 15 years ago, when the project was envisioned as a larger structure containing 143 residential units.  Developer UDR, Inc. purchased the land in 2015, and later sold the entitled project to WS Communities for $38 million in 2019, according to city records.  

A second property purchased by UDR in 2015 - located a few blocks east at 6245 Wilshire Boulevard - has since been developed as the 20-story Vision apartment tower.

Although it has previously developed projects in the City of Los Angeles, WS Communities is best known for a vast collection of mixed-use projects in its hometown of Santa Monica.  The company is now building a five-story, 100-unit apartment complex on Lincoln Boulevard, and has more than a dozen similar projects in the planning stages.  The company's Santa Monica development portfolio - consisting of 23 properties and up to 2,100 residential units - is reportedly for sale.

6401 Wilshire Boulevard
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