With the $26M purchase of a retail center and plans to redevelop it, Newport Beach-based The Abraham Cos. has kicked off a new $150M fund aimed primarily at luxury multifamily opportunities in the greater Los Angeles area.

The low-rise strip mall at 400-430 South San Vicente Blvd. in Beverly Grove sits on a 1.1-acre site where The Abraham Cos. President J.J. Abraham and Chief Operating Officer Bob Fitts plan to build more than 100 residential units in a mid-rise building with ground-floor retail. The firm has hired Steinberg Hart as project architect, with landscape architecture by Rios.

Los Angeles’ multifamily rents have grown by 12% over the last two years, according to RealPage Analytics. That is slightly behind the national average of 17%, but was largely fueled by the outflow of residents during the pandemic, a trend which RealPage says has shown signs of reversing since late last year.

The neighborhood was a big factor in the appeal of the site for TAC leadership. Within walking distance, there are Caruso residential projects, 8500 Burton (built) and 333 La Cienega (in the works), plus The Beverly Center mall and a 19-story apartment building planned next to the Our Lady of Mount Lebanon-St. Peter Cathedral.

“This location is fantastic,” Fitts said. “It's as good as it gets. It's bordering Beverly Hills, it's several blocks away from world-class shopping and amenities.”

Conceptual design is underway now, with entitlements expected to begin this summer. Construction could start as early as late 2023, a process that is anticipated to take about two years if all goes according to plan. And it’s just the first project in TAC’s sights.

The Abraham Cos., in a joint venture with Oklahoma City-based Oklahoma Rock Holdings, has an initial equity allocation of $150M, which TAC plans to leverage into $400M or $500M for projects on what it calls ‘tweener sites: properties that could support between 100 and 200 units, and that are too big for small, mom-and-pop developers but too small for bigger, institutional attention. That’s where Abraham and Fitts said they believe real opportunities can still be found.

“We believe that this is not as crowded of a market. And we believe that knowing especially Southern California and Northern California the way we do, we can take advantage of the experience we have in land assemblage, entitlements, construction and development and put all that together to be able to create value for our investors,” Abraham said.

Though this site was just one parcel, Fitts and Abraham said future projects aiming for that number of units will likely include assembling parcels.

The main focus will be on the Los Angeles area and Southern California, including Orange County and San Diego, though opportunities outside those boundaries are not totally off the table.

“We're looking for these generational locations, and that's where we can build something that kind of stands the test of time,” Abraham said. “There are no plans to sell the assets — we’re not just building and selling.”