The conversion of apartment complexes into condominiums is a trend that has recently begun sweeping into Westwood, with one building already converted and two more considering the option for the future.
Club California, a complex on Roebling Avenue, was the first apartment building in Westwood to be transformed and sold as condos.
Apartments at 403 Landfair Avenue and 747 Gayley Avenue may also become condos in the future.
While checking his mail one afternoon, third-year history student Bryan Mack noticed a yellow sign alerting residents of his building at 403 Landfair Ave. of a government meeting to discuss the complex’s conversion to condos.
Residents were told the conversion will likely occur in the next few years, Mack said.
The apartment complex at 747 Gayley Ave., on the other hand, has no immediate plans to be converted, manager Ronnie Mehta said. Rather, conversion is simply an option for the owners of the structure in the future.
“Condo prices are presently experiencing a decline,” Mehta said. “They are currently the worst-performing real estate.”
Mehta said the eventual conversion of the apartments to condos is a “financial exit” for the owners of the building.
“The owners may consider subdividing the building into condos as an exit strategy in the future,” Mehta said. “They would consider this option if they wanted to break up and share the structure among their family as part of an inheritance.”
But despite the currently poor performance of condominiums as a real estate option, Club California condo sales agent Jennifer Linderman said a dearth of space is what has prompted some property managers to convert now.
“There’s not enough land,” Linderman said. “We want to build and sell condos, but there aren’t any empty lots for that kind of project.”
This lack of land has caused realtors to resort to buying apartments and converting them. With the search for affordable dwellings in Westwood already an obstacle, students have expressed concern over the trend toward condos, attributing it to realtors’ desires for higher profits.
“Realtors are taking housing away from students probably because it makes them more money. I also think it’s going to move students away from campus,” Mack said.
Buying a condo is not an attractive option for many students, who only expect to live in Westwood for a few years, he added.
“Students are a large population of the residents in Westwood. I just don’t think buying a condo is a feasible step for most of them,” Mack said.
Mehta also said he was not sure how well condominiums would fare in a student-dominated market.
“It doesn’t sound feasible to sell condominiums in a predominately student-inhabited neighborhood ““ there is no financial sense in that,” Mehta said.
In fact, the majority of condo buyers are not students, Linderman said, but she added that that does not mean there is no market in Westwood for condos.
“Many buyers are young professionals and UCLA affiliates,” she said.
In response to student concern, realtors emphasized the value of investing in a residence, rather than renting.
“If you figure out what your mortgage would be and the price of renting, it could be more profitable to buy a condo,” said Shannon Bedore, a Club California sales agent.
Linderman said the conversion trend is not unique to Westwood. It is becoming more common all over Southern California.
“Conversions are taking place all over, including in Los Angeles, the inland empire, the (San Fernando) Valley and Orange County,” she said.