LONG BEACH, Calif., Dec. 15, 2004 -- Urban
Pacific Builders, LLC and Phoenix
Realty Group today announced the close of escrow on a historic 1890s-vintage building in downtown Los Angeles, which will be converted to 40 live/work loft homes.

The six-story building, located at 249 South Broadway at the corner of Third
Street, is within a few doors of some of downtown's best-known landmarks,
including the Million Dollar Theater and the Grand Central Market, and across
the street from the world-famous Bradbury Building.

UPB managing partner Scott
Choppin said the project, to be called CityView
Lofts, will begin seismic retrofitting over the next several weeks, with construction
of the lofts to follow early in 2005.

"The 'adaptive re-use' of this structure continues the growing trend
of converting under-utilized buildings in the urban core to housing," Choppin
said. "The
market for professionals who work downtown remains deep and relatively underserved,
while at the same time, the benefits and amenities of downtown loft living
are becoming more and more popular."

Added Choppin's partner, Managing Partner Mark
Tolley, "The trend toward more
people living in the urban core, closer to their work, can only have a positive
effect on the socioeconomic well-being of the city and, in fact, the entire
region. If you think about Pasadena's Old Town, San Diego's Gas Lamp district
or San Francisco's South of Market area, that's exactly what we're trying to
create."

Phoenix Realty Group managing director Jay
Stark said CityView Lofts represent
the future of the real estate industry. "Phoenix, through the Genesis Workforce
Housing Fund, is providing both the equity capital and expertise to spur investment
in workforce housing so middle-income households can buy their own homes close
to employment centers such as down-town Los Angeles. Our investors receive
a competitive return on their capital and the community is enriched by stakeholders
whose presence spurs retail, schools and cultural amenities," he said.

Residents of CityView Lofts will have convenient access to the financial district,
the Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall, Seventh Street Marketplace and
other shopping, as well as the Civic Center and other downtown attractions.
It will also be among the few downtown loft conversions that will offer units
for sale as opposed to rentals. Choppin reported that the lofts will range
from 800 to 1,400 square feet in a variety of floor plans, including several
penthouse units with their own internal mezzanines and private rooftop decks.
The units are expected to start in the low $300,000s.

Santa Monica-based Donald Alex Barany Architects is designing the project.
Total development cost of the project is $16 million, Choppin said.

In addition to CityView Lofts, UPB currently is converting the historic 12-story
Brockman Building, located at 530 W. Seventh Street in downtown Los Angeles
into 76 loft homes, and is also building or converting urban loft communities
in Long Beach and San Pedro.

For more information regarding CityView Lofts, phone UPB at (562) 590-5600
or visit www.urbanpacific.com/cityview1a.shtml .

Headquartered in Long Beach , UPB (www.urbanpacific.com) was founded
in 1999 to provide urban housing through the development of premier infill
residential communities throughout Southern California . Its mission is to
offer innovative, high-quality, value-priced urban housing to consumers, and
a solid, secure opportunity to investors.

Phoenix Realty Group (www.phoenixrg.com) is a private real estate
firm with offices in New York and California that creates and manages smart
growth equity funds. These funds finance the development of middle-income workforce
housing, urban infill development and low-income tax credit housing, each of
which links housing and commercial development with centers of employment.

CityView Lofts is the second workforce housing project for Phoenix Realty
Group, manager of the Genesis Workforce Housing Fund, with several additional
projects in the pipeline which are due to close by early 2005. When fully invested,
the Genesis Workforce Housing Fund will supply 2,100 housing units across greater
Los Angeles at a total development cost of $610 million. Phoenix is also the
manager of the $60 million San Diego Smart Growth Real Estate Fund.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos of the project are available
electronically on request.

Related Link: Phoenix Realty Group

For more information contact:

Francie Murphy
Phoenix Realty Group

Phone: (858) 350-5152
Email: [email protected]