Meridien Changes Hands in $90 Million Deal

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Budding nightlife impresario Sam Nazarian is buying the 297-room Le Meridien hotel for more than $90 million, according to sources close to the deal.


Nazarian’s company, SBE Entertainment Group LLC, has the luxury hotel at 465 S. La Cienega Blvd. in escrow. Sources said the deal is expected to close within several weeks. SBE spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the company had no comment.


At $90 million, the sale would work out to $303,000 a room a relatively high price but well below the $404,000 a room Sunstone Hotel Properties Inc. agreed to pay for the Westin Century Plaza, which is being re-branded a Hyatt Regency.


Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts Ltd., based in London, has been sorting through bailout proposals since declaring bankruptcy two years ago. Earlier this year, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. bought the Le Meridien chain for undisclosed terms.


Separately, Starwood Capital Group LLC, a closely held real estate firm run by former Starwood Hotels Chief Executive Barry Sternlicht, and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. acquired Le Meridien’s real estate assets. SBE is buying the Le Meridien property from that group.


Nazarian, the 29-year-old owner of L.A. celebrity hotspots Shelter and Prey, wants to build a single-branded nightlife empire that spans restaurants, nightclubs and hotels. Besides the Le Meridien, the company has purchased the Ritz Plaza Miami Hotel and plans to grow the chain to between 10 and 15 locations during the next four years.


In January, SBE hired hotel veteran Arash Azarbarzin, a former general manager of the Century Plaza and W hotels in New York, to run its hotel division. Nazarian also has a deal with famed French architect Philippe Starck to design the various concepts his company is rolling out.


In a profile in the Sept. 26 issue of The New Yorker, Nazarian alluded to the Le Meridien hotel and said it would become the flagship of his new hotel line. “I think as far as building this new luxury brand, this is where it gets exciting,” Nazarian said in the piece.


He also is discussed installing a rooftop pool and selling some of the hotel’s rooms as condominiums. “That would push us over the top as far as an investment,” he said.


SBE is a partner with the Kor Hotel Group, which owns the trendy Viceroy hotel in Santa Monica.

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