DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – As the housing market continues to encounter trouble, yet another Downtown condominium project is turning to rentals. The Great Republic Lofts, a 100,000-square-foot adaptive reuse project at 756 S. Spring St., will debut in the coming months as apartments, said David Gray, the project architect.

Developer Spring Main Development LLC is behind the project that will provide 72 units averaging approximately 850 square feet. Gray said the renovation of the 12-story former Great Republic insurance building is complete and awaiting its certificate of occupancy, which is expected by the end of the first quarter, with move-ins following shortly. Other Downtown projects that were planned as condominiums but came online instead as rentals include Amidi Real Estate Group’s $50 million TenTen Wilshire in City West, the 118-unit Artisan on Second, from Trammell Crow Residential, in the Arts District, and the Chapman Flats, a 13-story, $30 million adaptive reuse project near the Great Republic Lofts. In most cases the decision was made because prospective buyers are encountering difficulties securing mortgages; many developers’ loan agreements state that they must close escrow on more than 50% of a building’s units in order to open.

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