Hancock Park: small-lot homes ready for sale

| June 29, 2017 | 0 Comments

LOCAL agent Diana Knox and developer Guy Penini introduce The Sevens.

Hancock Park’s newest residential development, featuring seven three-story single family homes, is set to hit the market later this month. To get a sneak peek, the Chronicle met with developer Guy Penini and real estate broker Diana Knox for a pre-release tour.

Located at 4701 Wilshire Blvd., The Sevens is a collection of small-lot homes that include three and four bedroom floor plans offering as much as 2,429 square feet of living space in some units.

“It’s been a labor of love,” says Penini, principal at BLDG Partners, the owners and developers of the property.

According to Penini, the previously undeveloped lot was owned by the Polish government, which ran an auction process to unload the land.

“The purchase had to be voted on by the parliament in Warsaw,” he says.

After acquiring the property, the developers were faced with the question of what exactly to build on the lot, which is protected by the Park Mile Specific Plan (PMSP) and zoned for office use or for up to seven residential units.

“We were fascinated by the question of how to capitalize on the energy of Wilshire Blvd. and to take advantage of the beauty and prestige of Hancock Park,” explains Penini.

A small-lot project seemed liked the right fit. “We find small-lots really interesting,” he says, “You get all the benefits of a single-family house while still providing density.”

Why density matters

Increasing local density is a cause célèbre for faculty at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. In a recent article in the “Luskin Forum” publication, Prof. Joan Ling cites studies demonstrating that people keep moving to Los Angeles. “So where are these people going to go?” she asks. Adding that “a city can only sprawl so far.”

Ling and her UCLA colleagues, in this instance, argue that “the only way to handle a constantly growing population is to set aside our neighborhood-based ideals and look at the region as a whole.” Prof. Paavo Monkkonen argues that planning decisions should be made at a state or metropolitan scale, not a neighborhood scale.

That’s a hot topic for local communities, but it’s not one related to The Sevens, which followed the hyper-neighborhood-oriented PMSP instead of seeking statewide density bonus benefits.

Inside The Sevens

Designed masterfully to complement the architectural significance of Hancock Park, Penini says they “tried not to compromise anywhere.” Each residence features four bathrooms, a two-car garage, 10’ ceilings, large windows throughout, Viking appliances, filtered skylights, wide-plank White Oak flooring and a rooftop terrace with mountain and city vistas.

Penini says that it was important for BLDG Partners to not only get the interior design right, but to also work with neighbors to design an exterior that works for the community: “One of the things we did very early on was get the neighbors involved.”

For that reason, the project was designed without back decks or patios to maintain the privacy of its neighbors, and a six-foot common wall was constructed on the rear property line to provide additional privacy and protection.

Windsor Square resident and local real estate broker Diana Knox, of Partners Trust, says she is “very excited” to bring the development to market.

“Each unit is a house without the hassle,” describes Knox, who notes that she is getting an “incredible amount of buzz” about the project.

Knox says she anticipates releasing three units first, and then more as they sell.

The Sevens are priced from $1.6 to $2 million. For more information, contact diana.knox@thepartnerstrust.com.

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Category: Real Estate

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