A six-story, 47-unit apartment complex has opened at 2535 Alsace Avenue in West Adams, just north of Adams Boulevard, adding another dense residential building to a corridor that one developer has been reshaping for two decades. The project includes studio and one-bedroom units, a rooftop deck, and roughly 400 square feet of ground-floor office space. Only four of the 47 apartments are set aside for very low-income households.
The building was developed and completed by CIM Group, according to Urbanize LA, which reported that the firm used development incentives to construct a larger structure than base zoning rules would otherwise allow. Those four apartments are reserved for very-low-income households, and the property sits within a federally designated Qualified Opportunity Zone, according to a Business Wire release. That designation lets CIM tap federal tax benefits tied to long-term investment in the area.
A Familiar Playbook Along Adams Boulevard
The Alsace Avenue project is not an outlier for CIM Group in West Adams — it's the latest entry in a pattern the firm has repeated for years. The developer controls nearly 50 assets in the historic South LA neighborhood, with acquisitions there dating to the early 2010s.
CIM has paired that city incentive with a separate financial tool: a dedicated Opportunity Zone fund the company established in 2019, into which it transferred at least four previously owned West Adams properties to qualify for capital gains tax benefits under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the article notes in reporting by The Real Deal. At 2535 Alsace, development incentives allowed a larger structure than base zoning would otherwise permit, and four apartments are reserved for very-low-income households.
More Density Up and Down the Same Blocks
The new building sits directly next to another CIM project, a 23-unit boutique residential building the firm completed at 2599 Alsace Avenue in July 2024, according to Business Wire. Urbanize LA also reports that CIM built similar structures at 5109 and 5217 Adams. The latter, known as “The Read,” is a six-story, 75-unit building with 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail that used the same Transit Oriented Communities incentives in exchange for six extremely low-income units, complete with a rooftop lounge and fitness center.
Last September, CIM proposed a six-story, 142-unit mixed-use complex with 8,000 square feet of retail and 13 affordable units at 5451 W. Adams Blvd. to replace the former Advance Food Market, with design plans drafted by Kevin Tsai Architecture, as reported by Urbanize LA.
Market Rents and Commercial Friction
Market-rate rents at new CIM buildings have ranged from $2,200 to $3,800 per month. That pricing highlights the contrast between market-rate rents and income-restricted units in CIM's West Adams developments.
CIM's presence in West Adams hasn't been limited to residential construction. A landlord entity linked to the company filed an $828,000 rent lawsuit against private social club The Gathering Spot over unpaid rent at its 5211 W. Adams Blvd. venue, Hoodline reported in July. That dispute offers a glimpse of the commercial tenancy friction that has accompanied CIM's rapid buildout across the corridor even as new residential towers continue to rise around it.
