Madison Realty unveils proposed apartment highrise in Santa Monica

by TRD Staff

Madison Realty Capital has unveiled a proposed 18-story apartment building in Santa Monica on an approved site once filed as a builder’s remedy project by Neil Shekhter.

The New York-based private equity firm plans to build the 422-unit complex at 1435 5th Street, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. It would replace some low commercial buildings and parking.

Plans for the 204-foot tower include 422 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments above 7,100 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants. A two-level underground parking garage would serve 188 cars.

The former builder’s remedy development would contain 64 affordable apartments.

The white I-shaped building, designed by Venice-based Ottinger Architects, would be clad in smooth stucco and zinc and include continuous exterior balconies sandwiched between floor-to-ceiling windows, according to a rendering.

The complex would feature courtyards at the second level facing both east and west and a rooftop swimming pool deck.

Madison Realty acquired the site in January from NMS Properties, renamed WS Communities by owner Neil Shekhter, which signed over deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure on 28 apartment buildings and development sites to unburden itself of $1.1 billion in unpaid debt, according to The Real Deal.

Lender Madison Realty took 20 WSC properties, including 1435 5th Street; 1433-1437 6th Street, where in August it unveiled plans for an 18-story apartment building; and 601 Colorado Boulevard, where in May it revealed plans for a 24-story apartment highrise — the tallest building in town.

The 6th Street site was one of nine builder’s remedy projects that Santa Monica agreed to process as part of a settlement with WS Communities in May last year.

The builder’s remedy, a loophole in state housing law, allows developers to bypass local zoning in cities that haven’t certified their state housing plans, provided the project provides at least 20 percent affordable housing.

This month, Bryan Gortikov’s Gortikov Capital bought an 11-building, 399-unit affordable apartment portfolio in Santa Monica from Shekhter’s WS Communities for $120 million, or $300,752 per unit.

— Dana Bartholomew

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