About the Building
425 Palm occupies the northwest corner of Beverly Boulevard and Palm Drive, in the multi-family blocks that sit north of Santa Monica Boulevard on the eastern side of Beverly Hills. It was developed by Etco Homes, a Beverly Hills based builder, designed by Kevin Tsai Architecture, and finished in 2023. Urbanize LA and LA YIMBY both covered the project through construction, which makes it the best documented building in this group by a distance: five storeys, twenty residences, a two-level basement garage with 62 spaces, and a glazed terra cotta facade. The discovery data gave four storeys; both construction reports say five.
The architecture is contemporary rather than referential, and the material choice is the point. A glazed terra cotta rainscreen is a durable, colour-stable cladding with a long service life and a well-understood repair path, and it reads very differently in Beverly Hills light from the stucco and stone that dominate the surrounding blocks. The Los Angeles Business Journal described the design as contemporary classical with organic accents, which is a fair summary of a building that uses a modern envelope system without adopting a fully glazed skin. Windows are set within a solid wall, so the homes have framed openings rather than continuous glass.
Inside, the product is deliberately large. Twenty single-level flats across five floors averages four homes per level, and published plans run from a 1,752 square foot one-bedroom through a 2,820 square foot two-bedroom to a 3,574 square foot three-bedroom, with a 3,252 square foot two-bedroom on the first residential level. These are house-scale flats. Etco's vice president of sales told the Business Journal the target buyer was the empty nester downsizing from a larger Beverly Hills house who did not want to leave the city, and the plan sizes make that strategy legible. Select residences open from private elevator foyers.
Shared space is compact and modern rather than extensive: a lobby with on-site concierge, a fitness centre, and a rooftop lounge with a spa and seating, with key fob access throughout the building and a living green wall along the Beverly Boulevard elevation. The parking allocation is the outlier. Sixty-two spaces for twenty homes is roughly three per residence, a ratio almost no older Beverly Hills condominium can match, and the developer states that every space carries electric vehicle charging. For a buyer with more than one car, or with an electric car and no interest in negotiating a charger retrofit with a board, that is a substantive advantage.
On how it trades: the Business Journal reported an offering range of $2.7 million to $6.7 million at launch, and the building sold as a developer offering rather than through resale. That means the questions in front of a buyer today are new-building questions. Has the developer handed control of the association to an owner-elected board, and on what terms? What did the first reserve study assume? Where does the project sit inside California's ten-year statutory window for latent construction defects? Those answers matter more here than anything about the neighbourhood, which is already well understood.
Amenities & Services
The Residences
Twenty residences across five storeys works out to roughly four homes per level, and every residence is a single-level flat rather than a townhouse or a duplex plan. That count keeps corridors short and gives most homes more than one exposure. Published plans include one, two and three bedroom configurations. Because the building is small and recent, the recorded condominium plan is the reliable source for the exact area, balcony allocation and storage attached to a given residence; verify it rather than working from a marketing sheet, particularly on the corner and top-floor homes.
The published plans are large by any measure: a one-bedroom at 1,752 square feet, two-bedrooms at 2,820 and 3,252 square feet, and a three-bedroom at 3,574 square feet. That is deliberate. Etco's sales lead described the target buyer to the Los Angeles Business Journal as an empty nester leaving a larger Beverly Hills house, and the plans are sized so that furniture from a house fits. It also means the price per square foot looks different from a small-format new building, and that running costs scale with the area you are heating and cooling.
The developer describes private elevator foyer access for select residences rather than for all twenty, which is an important distinction when comparing homes. A private foyer removes the shared corridor and changes both the arrival experience and the acoustic separation from neighbours. Confirm from the recorded plan whether the elevator serves your home alone or is shared with the adjoining residence, and check where the service and refuse route runs, since in a small building the same core often handles both residents and deliveries. Ask too whether the foyer is common area or part of your deeded home, since that determines who may store or display anything in it and who cleans it.
The exterior is a glazed terra cotta facade rather than a glass curtain wall, which is a meaningful difference for an owner. Openings are punched into a solid wall, so you get framed windows and better thermal performance than a fully glazed skin, with fewer linear metres of sealed joint per floor. Terra cotta rainscreen systems are durable and colour-stable but they are a specialist repair scope when panels or the supporting rail system eventually need attention. Ask what the reserve study assumes for the facade and what warranty documentation exists.
Both construction reports describe a two-level basement garage with 62 spaces serving twenty residences, which is about three per home and far above what older Beverly Hills condominiums provide. The developer states that every space includes electric vehicle charging. Confirm from the title report how many spaces are deeded to the specific residence, whether any are tandem, and how the charging is metered, since the allocation of electricity cost between the owner and the association is a common point of friction in new buildings and should be documented. Ask also how guest parking is handled in a 62-space garage on a corner with little on-street relief nearby.
The building's principal shared outdoor space is a rooftop lounge with seating and a spa, described by the developer, with construction reports also referring to a rooftop deck and pool. Sources differ on whether the water feature is a pool or a spa, which is worth checking on site. In a twenty-home building a roof deck is genuinely usable rather than perpetually occupied. Ask about hours, whether the space can be reserved, and how the association handles the occupied roof membrane below it in its maintenance schedule. Ask whether the spa runs on a separate service contract and what the reserve study assigns to its plant and to the deck surface above the membrane.
Due Diligence
In a building completed in 2023 the central governance question is whether the developer has transferred control of the association to an owner-elected board, and what came with the handover. Ask for the transition documents, the as-built drawings, the warranty assignments, the operations and maintenance manuals and the punch list of common-area items still open. Ask when the first owner-elected board was seated and whether an independent engineer reviewed the common areas at transition, which is the standard protection and is frequently skipped.
California's right to repair law creates a ten-year limit for latent construction defect claims running from substantial completion, with shorter periods for specific components. For a 2023 building that window is open now and will not be open indefinitely. Ask whether the association has commissioned any investigation of the building envelope, the roof, the plumbing or the garage waterproofing, whether any notice has been served on the builder, and whether any tolling agreement exists. Board minutes are the place this appears first.
Civil Code section 5550 requires a reserve study with a visual inspection at least every three years, reviewed annually. In a new building the first study is entirely projection: nothing has failed yet, so every remaining useful life is theoretical. Read it for what it assumes about the terra cotta facade, the roof membrane under the occupied deck, the elevator, the garage and the charging infrastructure, and ask whether the current dues are set to fund those assumptions or set low to support the developer's sales.
Civil Code section 5551 requires inspection of exterior elevated elements by a licensed structural or civil engineer or architect, with findings incorporated into the reserve study. For buildings permitted after 1 January 2020 the first inspection must occur within six years of the certificate of occupancy rather than by the general January 2025 date, and every nine years after that. For a 2023 building that means the first inspection is coming. Ask the association whether it has budgeted for it and scheduled it.
No published source states this association's leasing rule, and new buildings often adopt tighter restrictions early to protect financing eligibility. Ask for the recorded provision and every rule adopted since. Civil Code section 4741 sets the outer limits: a rental cap cannot be set below 25 percent of units, but tenancies of 30 days or less may be prohibited, and restrictions adopted after 2020 must be recorded to be enforceable. Ask separately how many of the twenty homes are currently owner-occupied.
Small, recently completed projects face the most scrutiny in condominium eligibility review. Since 2021 lenders must ask associations about critical repairs, deferred maintenance and special assessments before delivering a loan to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Ask the management company whether the project is currently warrantable, whether any single entity still owns more than the permitted share of units, whether the developer retains any unsold homes, what the delinquency rate is and whether the required fidelity coverage is in place.
Request the association's annual insurance summary and read the master policy limit against the current replacement cost of a five-storey terra cotta-clad building, not against its 2023 construction cost. Construction cost inflation since completion is the most common reason new associations find themselves underinsured. Ask whether earthquake coverage is carried and at what deductible, then size a loss-assessment endorsement on your own HO-6 policy against a realistic share of that deductible rather than a default limit.
Sixty-two spaces with electric vehicle charging is a genuine amenity and also a shared system with a cost structure. Ask how each charger is metered, whether electricity is billed to the individual owner or absorbed into common expense, who maintains the units and their software, and what the reserve study assumes for their replacement. Ask also how many spaces are deeded to your residence, whether any are tandem, and what the rules are on guest parking in a building with a 62-space garage and no on-street relief.
Everything above is drawn from public records, city permit data and published sources. The association’s statutory disclosure package is the only authoritative answer on dues, rules, reserves, insurance and litigation — Ben will request it and read it with you before you remove contingencies.
Common Questions
Keep Exploring
More about the neighbourhood: Beverly Hills
Off Market & Coming Soon
Residences here reach the open market rarely, and some never do. Ask Ben to tell you when one is coming, including quietly.
Work With Ben
Units here often trade before they are ever listed. Tell Ben what you are looking for and hear first when something opens up, including off market.
Start the ConversationOff Market & Coming Soon
Residences here reach the open market rarely, and some never do. Ask Ben to tell you when one is coming, including quietly.
Ben will reach out shortly to set up your tour.