L.A. King of Down-Market Offices Bets on Apartments: Real Estate

Los Angeles’s largest private office landlord, a former doctor with a portfolio of buildings that have seen better days, is turning his focus to apartments as the city’s demand for rentals surges.

David Lee, the founder and president of Jamison Services Inc., has $3.5 billion of mostly 20-to-30-year-old properties with minimalist lobbies, mid-tier retail on the bottom floors and often little or no landscaping. He is converting five of his about 60 Los Angeles office buildings, many located in the Koreatown neighborhood, to multifamily and is seeking more opportunities, including ground-up development, to capitalize on rising demand from apartment renters.