Do you have a Scrooge McDuck sized bag of money and an equally large addiction to the chocolate covered peanut butter pretzel bites from Trader Joe’s? If so, you might want to head over to a December 3 auction where you can purchase your very own store alongside a distressed luxury apartment complex.
The lender on a defaulted loan tied to The Park Santa Monica, a 249-unit luxury apartment complex at 500 Broadway, has scheduled a foreclosure auction of the property for next month, claiming more than $513 million is now owed, according to a notice of trustee's sale posted on the front of the building.
First American Title Insurance Company, acting as trustee, will sell the property to the highest bidder Dec. 3 at 11 a.m. in the courtyard of the Civic Center Plaza, 400 Civic Center Plaza, in Pomona, the notice states. Bidders must pay in cash or with a cashier's check or similar check from a qualifying bank, credit union or savings institution.
The notice puts the total unpaid balance, including interest, advances, fees and costs, at an estimated $513,689,824.77 as of Oct. 30. That is about $74 million more than the roughly $439.5 million reported owed in November 2025 and about $109 million above the $405 million principal amount secured by the property. The notice says accrued interest and further advances will increase the figure before the sale.
The notice, dated Nov. 2 and signed by David Z. Bark, a foreclosure trustee for First American, names DK Broadway LLC as the borrower and CMTG California 1 LLC as the beneficiary of the loan. Both are Delaware limited liability companies.
According to the notice, the beneficiary previously delivered a declaration of default and demand for sale, and a notice of default was recorded in Los Angeles County more than three months ago, as state law requires before a sale can be scheduled.
The document refers to a deed of trust dated Dec. 16, 2021, and recorded Dec. 23, 2021, and an amended version recorded Nov. 22, 2024, that raised the principal secured by the property to $405 million.
The lender has elected a "unified sale" under the California Commercial Code, meaning the land and building will be auctioned together with the complex's equipment, fixtures and other personal property. An exhibit attached to the notice lists what is included: furnishings and appliances, building systems, the property's leases and rents, insurance proceeds, tax refunds, management and other contracts, trade names and websites, and the borrower's rights under an interest rate protection agreement. Property belonging to tenants is excluded.
The property is being sold "as is," without warranty, and the winning bidder will not assume the borrower's liabilities unless it agrees to in writing, the notice states. The beneficiary reserves the right to change which personal property is included or revoke its election before the sale.
The notice also warns that the sale may be postponed one or more times. Postponement information is posted at foreclosure.firstam.com under Trustee Sale No. 1278460.
The default was first reported in 2025. The initial loan of $324 million was made in 2021 and came due in 2025 without repayment.
In California's nonjudicial foreclosure process, a lender can typically bid the amount it is owed without putting up cash. If no outside bidder offers more, ownership generally passes to the lender.
The complex is owned by a venture of investment firm Pimco and the Witkoff Group.
The Park opened in 2022 at Fifth Street and Broadway. It includes ground-floor retail, a 1-acre rooftop park and underground parking. Retail tenants include Trader Joe's and Kindbody. As a condition of the project's 2016 approval, the developer funded the Arroyo, a 64-unit affordable building at 1626 Lincoln Blvd.
The default is among the largest involving a multifamily property in Santa Monica's history. A conventional sale would trigger the city's Measure GS transfer tax of 5.6% on properties valued above $8 million, though state law generally exempts transfers to a foreclosing lender up to the amount of the debt.