Hollywood Landowners Selling Off Some Key Properties

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The Bolour family, a large property owner in Hollywood and the surrounding areas, has begun selling off much of its holdings.


The family trust has agreed to sell two prominent tracts of land near Hollywood & Highland to residential developers who are in the early planning stages of large projects.


In December, the Business Journal reported that the Bolour trust had agreed to sell a 2.2-acre site on Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown to Portland, Ore.-based developer Gerding/Edlen Development Co. LLC, which is planning a high-rise residential project.


Also last month, Irving, Texas-based JPI, one of largest apartment developers in the country, was expected to close on a deal to buy a roughly 3-acre lot from the Bolour trust at the corner of Highland Avenue and Yucca Street, where the builder plans a high-density development.


The spot JPI has under contract is at the epicenter of Hollywood’s revival, almost directly across the street from the shopping and entertainment center Hollywood & Highland.


A source close to the deal said JPI is paying close to $40 million, or upwards of $300 a foot, for the land. JPI and Bolour representatives didn’t return calls, and the source said the deal could still fall apart.


A block west from the JPI spot, the Bolour trust sold a 2.3-acre parcel to developer David Schwartzman’s DS Ventures LLC. The site, where Schwartzman said his firm is planning a luxury condo, is behind Hollywood Boulevard, between McCadden Place and Las Palmas Avenue.


Schwartzman, who had the parcel under escrow for more than a year, said he hopes to receive entitlements from the city in 60 days for 218 condominiums. Each unit will be at least 1,500 square feet.


Hollywood real estate sources said Schwartzman paid $19 million, or $200 a foot, for the parcel. He declined to comment on the price, other than to say he paid below what the sources claim.


Schwartzman has spoken with officials at the CRA and at the office of Council President Eric Garcetti, whose 13th District includes the site. However as of last month, neither office said they have heard from JPI officials about their plans.


While the Bolour trust is selling the Hollywood parcels, it will still be involved in the projects.


The trust has rented the lots for surface parking, especially for functions at the Hollywood Bowl. As part of their sales agreements, both JPI and Schwartzman have to replace the surface parking and lease the spots back to the family trust, which will continue renting them out to the public.



Hotel Conversion


In addition to the Hollywood parcel his firm purchased, Schwartzman has closed a deal to buy the Hollywood Metropolitan Hotel, across the street from Tribune Co. studios on Sunset Boulevard.


With its black glass exterior and strip mall shopping plaza on the ground floor, the Metropolitan has 90 rooms and was finished in 1984 to coincide with the influx of visitors to Los Angeles to attend the Olympic games.


Schwartzman said his firm is buying the 12-story hotel, the shopping plaza and a neighboring brick building and surface parking lot. Combined, Schwartzman’s firm will own around two acres.


As with the Hollywood parcel, Schwartzman wouldn’t say how much he paid for the hotel and adjacent properties. The Los Angeles County Assessor valued the building and the land at about $7.7 million in June 2002.


However, the owners put the hotel, shopping plaza and parking lot on the market in early 2005 with a $17 million asking price, according to Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group Inc., a Costa Mesa hotel brokerage and consultancy.


“The hotel and the office component are in high demand in today’s market,” Reay said. “The hotel alone could be worth $9 million, so a total purchase price in the $15-$17 million range wouldn’t be out of line.”


Schwartzman said he is in the early stages of planning for the site, but is considering using portions of the existing buildings as part of a larger residential mixed-use project.


He declined to identify the sellers or any of the brokers involved in the transaction.



Malibu Blockbuster


A Malibu apartment building that traded hands last month set a high water mark for California residential property.


Crown Pacific Properties LLC, a Carlsbad-based apartment investor, formed a partnership with Washington, D.C. investment firm Carlyle Group to buy the 68-unit Malibu Bella Mar for $53 million, or $779,400 a unit.


Only five properties all in New York traded at a higher per-unit price in 2005, according to Walsh Group of Marcus & Millichap, which represented the seller, Palos Verdes Developers Inc., on the deal.


Crown Pacific Properties and Carlyle Group plan to convert the property, which is gated and has exceptionally spacious apartments, into condominiums. Units in the building rent for between $2,800 and $4,500 a month.


Malibu Bella Terra sits about a mile back from the beach, but most balconies have ocean views. The building also has a number of high-end amenities, including tennis courts, a basketball court and a golf practice green.



*Staff reporter Andy Fixmer can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 263, or by e-mail at

[email protected]

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