The six-story concrete building at 17351 Sunset Blvd., near Pacific Coast Highway and across from Vons, has sat vacant for more than four years, but new owner Jake Mathews of 9 Mile Investments hopes to change that soon. Mathews, whose company purchased the property from U.S. Bank on March 16, plans to renovate the 47,802-sq.-ft. mixed-use building. The sale price was listed as $8.4 million, according to the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor. ‘I’m really passionate about this project, and I think this property has so much potential,’ said Mathews, who founded the Sonoma-based 9 Mile Investments in 2009 and has worked in real estate since 1993. ‘I want to create something that is great for the community and the people who will live there.’ The 1983 building is currently designed for commercial use on the first and second floors and 16 condominiums on the upper floors. Mathews, a graduate of UC Berkeley and UCLA, plans to renovate the existing condominiums and is in the process of hiring an architect and contractor. He is also looking for a commercial tenant for the 3,000-sq.-ft. first floor, and is considering converting the 7,000-sq.-ft. second floor into four or five additional residential units. He has hired Jonah Garb, managing director of Kennedy Wilson in Beverly Hills, to handle the retail leasing. ‘We are evaluating our options,’ said Mathews, whose experience includes being a senior partner at Village Properties in San Francisco, where he served as the company’s director of investment acquisitions for 10 years. ‘We want the businesses to be a good fit for the character of the building and the neighborhood.’ The neighbors say the building, which has been the site of homeless encampments and illicit activity, needs revitalization. In 2006, Adam Pasori, the chief executive officer of the Santa Monica-based Cedar Signature Homes, purchased the building and began renovation work. However, a year later, Pasori was killed, along with five family members, in a plane crash in the Sierra foothills, which meant the remodel was never completed. ’This really is a new opportunity for this property,’ Mathews said. ‘I think everyone will be excited and surprised by the turnaround.’ William Lehman, the project manager and founder of Aeries Development (a design and project management company on Hollywood Boulevard), and Aaron Clark, a real estate attorney and Pacific Palisades resident, have already met with the Sunset Beach Association, which responded favorably. The association passed a motion at its May 25 meeting, saying that ‘the SBA unanimously supports the developer’s stated concepts of: Restoring, enhancing and maintaining the exterior of the building at a high standard, including covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) that strictly control the appearance and use of the balconies; converting the second floor to residential use; and maintaining the first floor for commercial use as per Pacific Palisades Specific Plan requirements.’ The Specific Plan specifies what types of developments are permitted in the community. While the association approved the second-floor conversion, Mathews told the Palisadian-Post that he has not yet decided how the space will be used. Second-floor retail is notoriously difficult, but if he can find a tenant that he thinks will be successful there, he plans to pursue that option first. ’We don’t want to have the risk of turnover on the second floor,’ Mathews said. ‘The building has to stay full of life, full of occupancy.’ Mathews plans to enhance the existing architecture, which is in a style called brutalism. Starting in England, brutalism made its way across the United States in the 1970s. The hallmark of this type of architecture is board-formed concrete. ’It has the industrial effect of concrete but with a lot of the warmth and character of wood because the wood is literally tattooed onto the structure,’ project manager Lehman said. ‘Basically, the knots and grains of the wood are visible on the concrete.’ ’On the Sunset building, a lot of the exterior has been compromised,’ Lehman continued, noting that the cracks in the cement were routed out and filled with caulking. ‘But it can easily be restored to what it was.’ Once the architect is hired, he or she will begin developing a vision for the building’s exterior, which will include new lighting and appropriate railings. ’I think the [architect] will create an exterior that will really surprise people in terms of how beautiful what is there really can be,’ Lehman said. In the condominiums, the building’s previous owner plastered the interior walls and placed stone on the floor, covering the board-form concrete. Lehman said that these units will be remodeled to expose the concrete, explaining that ‘we want to work within the language of what is there.’ All the condominiums are an average of 1,800 sq. ft. There are eight single-level lofts on the third and fourth floors and eight two-story townhouses on the fifth floor. The units all have outdoor decks supplying views of the ocean and ranging from 600-sq.-ft. to 1,000-sq.-ft. Since the building is constructed into the hillside, the townhouses on the fifth floor also have a garden entryway. Mathews wants the building to blend into the natural landscape, so Lehman said they plan to consult with Sunset Beach Association member and gardener Barbara Marinacci on what types of native plants to use. The building has a total of 68 parking spaces under the building, which Lehman said will easily accommodate both the proposed residential and commercial uses. In fact, there will be more parking than needed if the second floor is converted from commercial into residential. Mathews would like to complete the renovations in a year to 16 months, and he hopes the building will become the flagship project for the company. While 9 Mile Investments is a young business, the executive team has more than 50 years of combined experience developing commercial, residential and mixed-use properties in California and New York. A Harvard-Westlake graduate who grew up in Hollywood, Mathews plans to move into the complex with his family once it’s complete because he has always loved Pacific Palisades. ’I am 100 percent committed and invested in turning this into a terrific Pacific Palisades, beach-oriented, mixed-use building,’ Mathews said. Lehman now plans to arrange a meeting with the Pacific Palisades Community Council and its Land Use Committee to discuss the project. Those interested in leasing a retail space should contact Jonah Garb at (310) 887-6247.
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