Aerial image: Dezeen. Interior image: Johnson Fain.
Sherman Oaks' former Sunkist headquarters could have residents living behind its familiar concrete walls. IMT Residential plans to convert the landmark at 14130 Riverside Drive into 95 apartments, with architecture firm KFA designing the new homes inside one of the Valley's most recognizable buildings along the 101 Freeway.
Apartments inside the former headquarters
The plans would put the building's unusually tall interiors to residential use. Proposed apartments range from 516-square-foot studios to three-bedroom homes measuring 2,316 square feet. On the podium level, 19-foot ceilings would accommodate mezzanine lofts, with walk-out patios also planned for those units.
Spaces once occupied by Sunkist's printing and laboratory operations would become resident amenities. The developer describes coworking space, a wellness spa and private garages among the planned features.
Earlier Citrus Commons rehabilitation views
A Valley landmark built for the citrus industry
Completed in 1970, the headquarters was designed by A. C. Martin & Associates for Sunkist Growers. The Library of Congress identifies it as an important example of Brutalist architecture and a physical reminder of the citrus industry's place in Los Angeles history.
Its shape helps explain why the building is so memorable from the freeway: the upper floors project outward over a narrower base, with deeply recessed windows and angled concrete supports. The LA Conservancy compares its inverted form to an orange crate, an appropriate association for a cooperative whose identity was tied to Southern California citrus.
The Los Angeles City Council designated the headquarters a Historic-Cultural Monument on February 25, 2026. The recognition adds a formal preservation milestone to a property that has been part of the Sherman Oaks streetscape for more than half a century.
Historical views
The landmark, inside and out
The next phase of Citrus Commons
The headquarters conversion follows the development of its surrounding parking lots into Citrus Commons, which already includes 249 apartments and a Trader Joe's. The proposed 95 homes would be additional residences within the original Sunkist building.
This blog covered the earlier development plans around the Sunkist building in August 2014, when the project was known as ICON Sherman Oaks. More than a decade later, the focus has shifted from what would rise around the headquarters to how the historic building itself could be occupied again.
Johnson Fain handled the earlier restoration and seismic upgrades, as well as the site's master plan and new buildings. KFA is responsible for the residential conversion now being pursued inside the headquarters.
The surrounding Citrus Commons development
How the site changed
Conversion plans still need city approval
The project is pursuing Los Angeles' expanded citywide adaptive reuse process, which opens more opportunities to turn existing buildings into housing. The LA Conservancy recorded the 95-unit conversion as being in plan check in February 2026.
In its August coverage, Dezeen reported that IMT intended to begin construction after the city approved KFA's plans. The proposal would give the former corporate headquarters a residential use while retaining the concrete landmark that has long identified this stretch of Sherman Oaks.
Street View
Sources and Credits
- Taylor & Company on Facebook: historical Sunkist headquarters photographs — source for the two historical images.
- Valley Village: Sherman Oaks Redux — source for the interior images.
- Dezeen: KFA set to transform 1970s brutalist LA office into apartments — August 25, 2026; supplied story, design team and conditional construction timing.
- IMT Residential's announcement, reproduced by Building Design + Construction — August 14, 2026; proposed apartment layouts and amenities.
- LA Conservancy: Sunkist Headquarters — architecture, preservation history and conversion chronology.
- Library of Congress: Sunkist Building, HABS CA-2944 — original architect, 1970 construction date and historical significance.
- Los Angeles City Planning: Historic-Cultural Monuments List — February 25, 2026 designation.
- IMT Residential: Citrus Commons Grand Opening — June 6, 2025; 249 apartments and Trader Joe's in the completed surrounding development.
- SFV Blog: New Rendering for Development Plans Around Sunkist Building in Sherman Oaks — August 13, 2014; earlier coverage of the development then known as ICON Sherman Oaks.
- SFV Blog: Architecture: Casa de Cadillac's Sensitive Sherman Oaks Renovation — January 9, 2013; related Sherman Oaks architecture coverage.
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