Oct 22 2009
Putting Some Sizzle Back in California’s Luxury Real Estate Market
The Glory of the "Golden Mile" Returns in Los Angeles
Long-awaited dynamic changes transforming the iconic "Golden Mile" back to its glory days of luster are taking shape, and the Wilshire Corridor is once again seeing the high life. With a line-up of posh new developments, the corridor is making its biggest play yet to become the Lake Shore Drive or Knightsbridge of the West Coast. Residents can expect the unexpected, as the Corridor is no longer the home of tradition, but rather a trendsetter in the marketplace, attracting, once again, the highly successful international elite, young Hollywood and business moguls alike.
From an 1820s Spanish land grant to a rather nondescript 1950’s patchwork of apartment buildings, modest hotels and landmark churches and synagogues, Westwood’s Wilshire Corridor has again emerged as one of the most desirable addresses in Southern California. The wide, winding boulevard was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire, a developer who arrived in the Los Angeles area in 1884. The 90024 zip code, also known as "The Golden Mile," is once again, one of the most desirable residential high-rise streets in the world.
According to Los Angeles Business Journal's Chief Dwellings Columnist, Ann Brenoff, "It would appear that the baton for the High Rise with the hottest address in Los Angeles has officially been passed to the Carlyle on Wilshire. If CNN talk show host Larry King and mega-superstar actor Bruce Willis didn't do it, Irv Weintraub (former William Morris COO) inking on the dotted line surely must have," she continued.
The Carlyle Residences, the newest addition to the winding two-mile section of Wilshire Boulevard to the east of Westwood Village, is a new cornerstone. The first new construction project and the last permitted high-rise on the Boulevard has just come to completion. The project, by renowned international developers Elad Properties, owners of the Plaza Hotel, has unprecedented collaborations with the best in architecture, design, construction, décor, amenities - providing a private wine cellar and dining room along with staff units and private elevators taking each resident to their unit. The crescent-shaped building is setting the bar to new heights for the boulevard with the best value and quality for high profile, international clientele, business magnates and members of Royal families.
Veteran television talk show host Larry King, who with wife Shawn King purchased a 3 bedroom 4.5 bath unit earlier this year, attended the recent opening celebration for the Carlyle along with Elad CEO, Miki Naftali. King addressed the crowd, saying, "We are incredibly excited to own a home in the best building in Los Angeles overlooking the best city - Los Angeles. It is not often that there is this kind of opportunity in the market today." King continued, "The level of design and all of the amenities are just marvelous."
The Wilshire Corridor overall is a cosmopolitan byway – connecting the entire city with a network of neighborhoods on all sides and offers an unparalleled "skyscape." It also offers cultural, educational, and shopping destinations along Wilshire Boulevard, as well as easy access and a direct route from the Pacific Ocean all the way through Downtown Los Angeles from the East, West, and North and South. The famed Geffen Theater and unmatched Hammer Museum are neighbors, as well as major movie theater palaces and hundreds of spectacular restaurants and shops. And, increasingly, Los Angeles is an international city of commerce, acting as a connection between the US, Far East and Europe, therefore attracting many more multi-continental residents and business owners.
While the monorail system proposed in 1990 by the Westwood Planning Commission never materialized to get residents and visitors alike through some of the most dynamic communities that cross the Boulevard, it is still the crux of what makes Los Angeles a truly unique city and one that is a true microcosm of so many smaller cities, varying communities and centers. As Frank Gehry, the famed architect, once said, "The real downtown of L.A. is as long as it is linear, it’s Wilshire Boulevard."
Source: http://www.coldwellbanker.com/