MOVING IN; QUAKE-WRECKED COMPLEX RISES ANEW.

Byline: Melissa Schmitt Daily News Staff Writer

To the legion of young people who toured the swank Woodman Avenue apartment complex Wednesday, the advertising pitch for ``resort living'' had its appeal.

Inside the $25 million complex, called the Premiere, a movie theater, mini-market, putting green, gym, steam room and sand volleyball court are part of the plush extras that push rents to $750 a month for studios and $1,000 a month for one-bedroom units.

Most are blind to its history as the largest apartment building devastated by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, the ravaged heart of Sherman Oaks' ghost town.

Standing on the steps outside the newly rebuilt Premiere - known as the Oakwood until the quake destroyed it - Carl Iskandar gaped at the upscale apartments.

``I assume the building is a new building, more earthquake-conscious,'' said Iskandar, 24, from Northridge.

``It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my whole life.''

The fact that hardly anyone asked about earthquake safety after the tour was just the way the folks in Sherman Oaks wanted it.

With the grand opening today of the Premiere, a 372-unit complex, the section of the community devastated by the Northridge Earthquake looks more like itself than it has in years - and in some eyes, even better.

Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, said the area is better than ever and the Premiere a prime example.

``It was kind of a mediocre apartment building before,'' Close said. ``Now it is a state-of-the-art building - a luxurious deluxe apartment complex.

``I think that's what happened all over Sherman Oaks,'' Close said. ``When people rebuilt, we made it better.''

The 1994 quake drove away about 25 percent of the Sherman Oaks population. Many built homes or relocated in different communities.

Though the 1994 temblor is known as the Northridge Earthquake, it damaged 167 buildings in Sherman Oaks and caused $27.8 million in damage to the area.

Many of those buildings remain scarred and uninhabitable. According to Sherman Oaks leaders, some may never be rebuilt.

In 1994, Jim Giorgio, then the former executive director of the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce, estimated the total loss to the Sherman Oaks business sector at $211.7 million.

But after more than four years, Sherman Oaks has made a comeback.

New residents are coming back to the new buildings; customers are returning to shops and restaurants.

The post office has slowly watched its mail routes grow back to size, according to Joe Clifford, a U.S. Postal Service supervisor.

Today, Clifford said, Sherman Oaks' two post offices are delivering 90 percent of the mail they were delivering before the tremor.

Even the people forced to move away are seeing the community's rebirth.

John Goy's home was lost in the earthquake, but his insurance paid for him to rebuild but, unfortunately, not in Sherman Oaks.

``The government wouldn't help me buy there,'' he said, explaining the reason was a fear of liquification along the river. ``The water table is very high.''

But Goy still eats dinner regularly at a Ventura Boulevard restaurant in Sherman Oaks and says the community has recovered very well.

``I think it's wonderful,'' he said. ``It looks much, much, much better.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Leasing consultant Jimmy Krikelas takes Rosie Casillas on a tour of the Premiere apartment building in Sherman Oaks. The refurbished complex will be holding its grand opening today.

(2) The new Premiere apartment building will open to tenants Aug. 3.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News