JERRY! (Part 2)
We told you last week about iconic developer Jerry Snyder’s Hollywood and Miracle Mile office doings, but he’s also got two towers with 464 apartments set to open May 1 in Koreatown. Your publisher paid a visit.
Yesterday, we snapped a very fit Jerry in the fitness room at the corner of Vermont and Wilshire. He says The Vermont is probably his third favorite among all his buildings (the first two being the Water Garden in Santa Monica and The River at Rancho Mirage). He feels the 21-month construction project has created “quite a statement” about quality in multifamily. He wants it to have a “Four Seasons feeling.”
With financial partner Washington Capital (a union pension fund in Seattle), Jerry has created what he sees as the latest in upscale living in the social media age. It’s got a spinning room, ton of communal areas, full-time social director, "hip sales staff," WiFi everywhere, 32k SF of retail, and of course, a dog park with yellow fire hydrant. Quite a change from 1944 when Jerry, at age 14, came across country from Flatbush with his mom on a Greyhound bus and moved into a tiny apartment on Soto Street in Boyle Heights.
Jerde Partnership senior design principal Tammy McKerrow, originally from Ohio, has worked on various projects with Jerry for nine years. Apartments in the two towers (30 and 24 floors) are 670, 750, and 1000 SF; one or two-bedrooms, some with “flex” space; and priced from $1,800 to $4,000 a month.
Jerry says his definition of a good architect is someone who thinks of things you don’t but are “pleasantly surprised” to see—he loves this railing and the curve of the pool which Tammy conceived. She also read Jerry's mind and suggested turning The Vermont into two elegant towers instead of one monolith.
Everyone has floor-to-ceiling windows, which means incredible views. Another key feature: lots of closet space.
Jerry is hands-on. Here, he discusses with son Lon where to put the TVs, which he decides should be mounted on the wall.
Construction VP Joe Irvine showed us huge concierge and social areas—an expectation of Millennial professionals among their target demographic. Jerry plans to offer free drinks on occasion, an attraction to tenants he says he first learned in building Coronado Shores’ 10 towers in San Diego years ago. Retail will include a Wells Fargo bank, Starbucks, Fatburger, Sugar Nails, AT&T, and others. They’re also looking for a nice restaurant. Lots of retail and residential parking is included on floors 2-7 (meaning apartment views start high-up on the eighth). An opening party for the complex is planned in July.
Though Jerry’s done work over the years in NY, Chicago, SF, and SD, these days he likes to be able to drive to all jobs. One day recently, he left his Bel Air home at 9am, visited every single one of his sites, and efficiently ended up at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills for a noon lunch. He likes to get out and about, saying most deals happen accidentally by running into people. The real hurdle, he says, is that zoning battles now get magnified by social media, so he prefers not to buy anything that’s not already properly entitled. But as much as he loves The Vermont, he smiles and notes that his truly favorite project is always his “next one.”
