In July, Beverly Hills-based Alagem Capital announced plans to fold the site of a former Robinsons-May department store into a $2-billion complex consisting of luxury condominiums and a hotel.  Now, an initial study released by the City of Beverly Hills offers a detailed look at the project.

Slated for 17.5 acres of land at Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards, the One Beverly Hills development would combine the department store site with that of an adjoining gas station and the property beneath the Beverly Hilton and Waldorf Astoria hotels.  Alagem, in partnership with Cain International, has proposed the construction of two high-rise towers containing up to 303 residences, a hotel containing 42 guest suites and 37 condominiums, and a standalone pavilion containing roughly 35,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.

The revised plan for the site trades designs crafted more than 15 years ago by Getty Center architect Richard Meier in favor of a new concept from Norman Foster.  Working with executive architect Gensler and landscape architecture firm Rios, the project team has proposed a design which would include curving towers interspersed with 10 acres of landscaped open space - including walking paths and a large botanical garden which will be partially accessible to the public.

The largest of the proposed structures - the 32-story, 410-foot-tall Santa Monica Residences and the 28-story, 369-foot-tall Garden Residences- would rank as the tallest buildings in Beverly Hills if built today.  A third structure, the 124-foot-tall Wilshire Boulevard, would contain the proposed hotel and condominiums.

Parking for the One Beverly Hills complex would be provided within an underground garage, capable of accommodating up to 2,179 vehicles.

According to the initial study, construction of One Beverly Hills is expected to begin in 2021 and occur over approximately 50 months.  The various components of the project would begin operations between 2026 and 2030.

One Beverly Hills represents the third attempt by Alagem Capital to revise plans for a mixed-use expansion of the Beverly Hilton campus first approved by voters in 2008.  While a second attempt at secure new entitlements at the ballot box was defeated in 2016, that proposal did not include the former Robinsons-May property - which Alagem acquired in 2018 - or the neighboring gas station site.