Developer Creates New Firm, Seeking Projects

Developer Alan Lowy has created Pacific Prime Properties Inc. to replace troubled Lowy Development Corp.

Within the last year, Lowy’s company was forced to bow out of several construction projects and take two partnerships into bankruptcy. All the projects are now sold--with the exception of a deep hole at 4848 Wilshire Blvd. in the Park Mile area of Los Angeles that was set to become a 60,000-square-foot office building.

Parkmile Associates Ltd. filed for Chapter 11 protection in February after lender ITT Commercial Finance filed a notice of default on its $3.18 million loan. Lowy says he expects to sell the property within the next 45 days for between $2 million and $2.6 million, with ITT taking a hit for the balance.

Lowy pre-leased most of the planned office project before construction began, but financial difficulties with other projects in downtown Los Angeles dried up his financing, he said, leaving him little choice but to fold.

The longtime Los Angeles developer said he is searching for projects in Orange County and the Antelope Valley with new partner Howard Fuhrman. Fuhrman recently left his post as vice president-finance at Janss Corp.

“I’ve tried very hard to protect my reputation through all of this,” Lowy said. “I hope people still feel good about me personally.”