$2B One Beverly Hills Project One Step From Approval

The $2B One Beverly Hills development took a significant step forward this week, receiving all but official approval from the Beverly Hills City Council.

The project at Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards would redevelop the former Robinsons-May department store site and a nearby gas station and mesh with two existing hotels, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills and the Beverly Hilton. The project site will cover over 17 acres and include building a land bridge over Merv Griffin Way to connect the Beverly Hilton to the Robinsons-May site, the Beverly Hills Courier reported.

The project developers are Alagem Capital Group and Cain International. Alagem Capital CEO Beny Alagem owns the Waldorf Astoria and the Beverly Hilton. The JV bought the site in 2018 for $420M, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported at the time. 

“This has been a very long journey and the outcome is very exciting,” Alagem told the Beverly Hills Courier.

Bisnow couldn't reach representatives for Alagem Capital Group, and Cain International didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The project, one of the biggest to come to the city, would create 340 residences and 42 hotel rooms along with 8 acres of open space. The tallest building on the site would reach 32 stories. Architects Foster + Partners and Gensler are overseeing the design of One Beverly Hills, along with landscape architecture firm Rios. 

Much of the public comment at the meeting came from those who opposed the project at 9900 Wilshire Blvd.

“To those who don’t like this project, and we’ve heard from some, there’s not an option here of no project,” Council Member Julian Gold said during the meeting. “The choices are clear: It’s either this project or the previously entitled project, which could and probably would be built.”

A version of the project was entitled by Wanda Group, which sold the property to the current owners.  

City officials also received a letter signed by 155 Beverly Hills business owners and residents in support of the project, calling it “a worthy and pivotal project that truly belongs in our city.” 

Council members voted 4-1 in favor of the project, with Mayor John Mirisch voting against it. Of the five items included in the vote, two — the development agreement and an ordinance that would revise the zoning map for the project site — need to return to the council a second time for a final vote. After that vote, the project would be officially approved and can proceed.