Steve Fifield: LA Developer?

You know Steve Fifield as the Chicago mega developer responsible for major office towers and some of the sexiest residential towers in the Windy City. What you may not know is that Steve has made his way to the Best Coast and tells Bisnow he's got twice as much going on in LA as Chicago.

Steve (with wife Randy) tells us he's got more than 1,400 units coming online in the next few years and that his Century West Partners has about $1B worth of development in process or recently delivered in LA (about double what he has in Chicago). Steve has even moved COO Kevin Farrell out West; he's now living full-time in SaMo, to help manage the monumental growth. 

Next year, Century West will deliver hundreds of apartments across LA, starting with more than 340 units in Korea Town, some of which are an attachment to his K2LA project (the company recently sold the Chicago version for $215M). In addition, next year will also bring the completion of the second phase of the $220M Avant in South Park, which will add 192 units. The project is one of the reasons we asked if it was South Park's time. 

Kevin tells us projects like Avant are a refreshing change for the LA transplant. While the company has always focused on outdoor amenities to differentiate its product (like this rooftop deck overlooking the city at the Avant), there are seasonal attractions in Chicago, where an outdoor lounge succumbs to the winter weather. 

And there is much more to come. Just last month, Century West got approval to build a 489-unit project in Glendale. The 3.2-acre city block was sold to Century West by Citigroup, more than a year after another bidder originally won the gig, only to back out. Steve tells us the project will be one of the last large-scale developments in Glendale, which has been on a construction tear in recent years. 

Steve tells us Century West, which was assembled in 2010 when Steve was introduced to real estate investor Michael Sorochinsky, also has approval for 398 units at 600 Virgil Ave in LA. Steve's actively looking for more development opportunities in LA, where he still intends to expand substantially, he says.