53 apartments + retail fully framed at 3223 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica

This post was written by Steven Sharp and published on 8/16/2023 on la.urbanize.city

Cypress Equity Investments builds housing on former Aahs! site

At the former site of an Aahs! store in Mid-City Santa Monica, wood framing has reached its peak for a new mixed-use apartment complex from Los Angeles-based developer Cypress Equity Investments.

The project, which occupies a corner lot at 3223 Wilshire Boulevard, consists of a four-story building which will feature 53 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments upon completion. Plans also call for 5,800 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 109-car subterranean parking garage.

City approvals require that four of the apartments be set aside for rent as affordable housing.

Pyatok, an Oakland-based architecture firm, is designing the 3223 Wilshire, which is portrayed in renderings as a contemporary low-rise structure with a rooftop amenity deck overlooking the intersection of Wilshire and Centinela Avenue.

“Ribbons of wood screens and glass express the dynamism of the project’s retail and circulation spaces,” reads a narrative posted to the firm’s website. “From behind its glazed façade, ground floor retail anchors the prominent corner at Wilshire and Centinela. The frontage is sculpted to create a lively street edge, enhancing the pedestrian realm with a generous, arcaded sidewalk and welcoming visitors to a south-facing plaza with planters, lighting, and outdoor seating. The ground floor also accommodates service spaces, residential reception, and a bike room, as well as several apartments that open onto a landscaped wrap-around walkway.”

Integrare Group is serving as the project’s general contractor.

Cypress Equity Investments, based in the neighboring Brentwood neighborhood, is developing at least a half-dozen similar projects in Santa Monica – the largest of which is a 521-unit apartment complex slated for Lincoln Boulevard in Ocean Park. The developer is also planning building market-rate and affordable housing in the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Echo Park and Pico-Union.