Developer Astani plans mixed-use project near downtown L.A.

Developer Sonny Astani has bought property on Wilshire Boulevard west of downtown Los Angeles where he plans to build a $60-million apartment and retail complex.

The six-story, 220-unit development called the Valencia will rise at the northwest corner of Wilshire and Valencia Street, Astani said. He paid Horacio Carlso Vignali $7.6 million for the 1.5-acre site now occupied by vacant commercial buildings and a parking lot.

Work on the Valencia is set to begin in April and be finished by the end of 2014. The building will have shops and restaurants on the ground floor and a swimming pool and deck on the roof, Astani said.

The site is across the street from John Liechty Middle School between Good Samaritan Medical Plaza and a Home Depot store. In 2006, Astani built a 200-unit condominium building called Vero one block east of the Valencia site. The Valencia will be similar to the Vero, he said.

Astani is chairman of Beverly Hills-based Astani Enterprises Inc., which has 1,800 units under development in downtown, Koreatown and Hollywood.

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