Executive Summary
3965 E Olympic Blvd is a 49,992 SF (1.148 ac) vacant commercial corner site in unincorporated East Los Angeles, with three street frontages (Olympic Blvd, S Ditman Ave, S Hicks Ave) plus direct visibility to the I-5 Santa Ana Freeway across its frontage road. The ownership, Capital Insight, has advanced a design package by Rockefeller Partners Architects (schematic progress set dated 7/10/2026) for a 128-unit, 100% affordable (80% AMI) density-bonus mixed-use project in two five-story buildings with 1,962 SF of ground-floor commercial and 101 parking stalls — none required under AB 2097. This analysis values the site against closed and active development-land data in the East LA / Boyle Heights corridor and the current market for 100%-affordable land plays across LA County.
Subject Property
The offering is a single assessor parcel (Tract 3840, Lots 170, 171, 178 & 179) assembled as one 49,992 SF development site at the northeast corner of Olympic Blvd and Ditman Ave, one block east of Indiana St in unincorporated East Los Angeles — LA County building authority, not LA City. The land is flat, fully vacant, and wraps the corner with roughly 232 ft on Olympic, 272 ft on Ditman, and additional frontage on Hicks Ave and the I-5 frontage road. Los Angeles Community Hospital sits one block east; the Food 4 Less–anchored Olympic/Atlantic retail node is a half-mile west.
1.148 acres
LA County · unincorporated
no improvements
Olympic · Ditman · Hicks
AB 2097 · near transit
Rockefeller Partners Architects
land only · 2019 base year
The Designed Program — 128 Units, 100% Affordable
The ownership's architect has carried the site through a schematic design package for a two-building, five-story mixed-use project using the LA County affordable housing density bonus (Title 22, Table 22.120.050-A). A 100% lower-income set-aside at 80% AMI earns an 80% density bonus, and the site's location within a half-mile of a major transit stop unlocks additional units and eliminates all parking minimums under AB 2097:
| Density Build-Up (per RPA, SD 1.1) | Units |
|---|---|
| Base density — C-3 zone at 50 du/acre | 58 |
| Base density — R-3 portion at 30 du/acre | 5 |
| Density bonus — 100% set-aside at 80% AMI (80% bonus) | 50 |
| Additional units — within ½ mile of major transit stop | 15 |
| Total designed program | 128 |
9.4% / 68.0% / 22.6%
96 units + 32 units
ground floor, corner
0 required · AB 2097
vs 12,800 SF required
Lower Income set-aside
Unit Mix & Distribution
| Unit Type | 2nd Story | 3rd Story | 4th Story | 5th Story | Total | Mix % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 9.4% |
| 1 Bedroom | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 87 | 68.0% |
| 2 Bedroom | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 29 | 22.6% |
| Total | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 128 | 100% |
Development Pathways
C-3 commercial zoning with county density-bonus overlays supports three distinct programs — three different buyer pools underwriting the same corner:
- The RPA-designed program: 100% set-aside at 80% AMI earns an 80% bonus plus transit units — 128 units vs 63 by-right.
- Zero parking required (101 provided); covenant rents near market in this submarket; potential property-tax welfare exemption for qualifying sponsors.
- Deepest current buyer pool: affordable and workforce-housing developers priced out of LA City ED1 sites.
- Base density with no affordability covenant — 58 units on the C-3 area plus 5 on the R-3 portion.
- Market-rate rents, conventional financing, standard county site-plan review.
- Roughly half the door count of Pathway A on the same land basis — carries a higher per-door land cost.
- The site's pre-2020 concept was a retail development — C-3 supports retail, auto-oriented, QSR, and flex uses outright.
- 1.15 flat acres with I-5 visibility and hospital-district traffic one block east.
- Fallback value floor; does not capture the residential density the state and county codes now grant this corner.
Comp Analysis — Development Land
Because the subject's value case is the 128-unit affordable program, the primary pricing metric is price per planned unit — the basis the affordable and workforce-housing pool actually underwrites — with $/SF of land as the cross-check. The subject carries 390.6 SF of land per designed unit, more land per door than every comp below, which is why its supportable $/SF sits below the small-lot comps at a comparable $/unit.
Closed Sales — Development Land (Eastside + 100%-Affordable Benchmarks)
| # | Address / Submarket | Closed | Lot SF | Units | Entitlement at Sale | Price | $/SF | $/Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1308-1322 S Soto St, Boyle Heights 90023 | Reported 7/2024 | ~28,000 | 123 | Pre-entitlement (TOC filing followed) | $3,300,000 | $118 | $26,829 |
| 2 | 4110 W 3rd St, Koreatown | 4/29/26 | 36,686 | 190–205 | Pre-entitlement LIHTC (ED1/TOC path) | $5,620,000 | $153 | $27,417–$29,579 |
| 3 | 4623-4631 Beverly Blvd, Greater Wilshire LAAA Sale | 7/22/26 | 21,000 | 121 | Unentitled (MIIP pathway) | $4,975,000 | $237 | $41,116 |
| 4 | 825 Hyperion Ave, Silver Lake | 6/25/26 | 22,651 | ~105 | Unentitled (buyer plans 100% affordable) | $5,280,000 | $233 | ~$50,286 |
| 5 | 1431 N Vista St, Hollywood | 6/25/26 | 6,528 | ~30 | ED1-entitled, 100% affordable | $1,600,000 | $245 | $53,000 |
Active Competition — Development Land Listings
| Address / Submarket | Status | Lot SF | Units | Entitlement | Ask | $/SF | $/Unit | DOM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4153 Whittier Blvd, East LA 90023 — C-3, county | Active | ~14,810 | 51 | Fully approved, shovel-ready | $1,600,000 | $108 | $31,373 | ~109 |
| B | 3329 Whittier Blvd, East LA 90023 | Active | 8,026 | 32 | Near-RTI (plans at LADBS) | $699,000 | $87 | $21,844 | 1 |
| C | 3416 E 1st St, East LA 90063 | Active | ~10,019 | 38 | Previously entitled | $850,000 | $85 | $22,368 | ~95 |
| D | 3810-3836 Pasadena Ave, Lincoln Heights | Active | 37,575 | — | Unentitled, RAS3 Tier 3 | $6,000,000 | $160 | — | ~130 |
| E | 714 Concord Aly, Boyle Heights 90023 | Active | 21,063 | — | Unentitled, RD1.5 | $2,800,000 | $133 | — | ~86 |
| F | 209 N Mathews St, Boyle Heights 90033 | Active | 8,846 | 22 | RTI, TOC Tier 4 | $1,700,000 | $192 | $77,273 | ~44 |
| G | 1817 Sichel St, Lincoln Heights | Active | 9,074 | 18 | Previously RTI | $1,100,000 | $121 | $61,111 | ~109 |
Pricing Recommendation
The comp set frames the value of the site as it stands today — an unentitled parcel carrying an advanced, code-based design package:
Recommended Pricing
Strategic note: at $3,495,000 the subject is priced squarely on the closed per-door evidence — between the Soto closing ($26,829/u) and the Koreatown LIHTC closing ($27,417–$29,579/u) — while undercutting the approved 51-unit Whittier competitor on a per-door basis ($31,373/u after 100+ days on market). The marketing story writes itself: more than double the by-right density already designed by a name architect, a programmatic county approval path, zero required parking with 101 stalls provided, and I-5-visible frontage in a hospital-adjacent workforce corridor. The price also stands comfortably above the 2026 assessed value of $2,514,601.
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The LA Apartment Advisors Team
LA Apartment Advisors (LAAA) is a Marcus & Millichap investment sales team specializing in multifamily and land/development transactions across Los Angeles County. With 458+ transactions and over $1.46 billion in closed volume, we help property owners make confident investment decisions — whether buying, selling, or exploring the market.
(Trailing 3 Years)
Filip Niculete is a Senior Managing Director at Marcus & Millichap and co-founder of the LAAA Team. Born in Romania and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Filip studied Finance at San Diego State University and began his career at Marcus & Millichap in 2011. Known for execution, integrity, and relentless work ethic, Filip and the LAAA Team consistently lead the market in active inventory across Los Angeles.
Glen Scher is a Senior Managing Director at Marcus & Millichap and co-founder of the LAAA Team. A UC Santa Barbara graduate in Economics, Glen launched his career in 2014 and earned Rookie of the Year from the SFV Business Journal by 2016. A former Division I golfer, he captured three collegiate titles and was named UCSB Male Athlete of the Year.
Team Members
LAAA Active Development Inventory
Every development site LAAA currently has on the market — 11 active listings totaling $53.2M and 1,147 buildable units across the LA region. Listing 3965 E Olympic with this team means immediate access to the developer-buyer pool already engaged across this portfolio — including the affordable-housing sponsors active on our ED1 and density-bonus sites.