Music Publisher Notes Popularity of Miracle Mile

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Music publishing company Bug Music Inc., which represents pop stars such as Bruno Mars and holds nearly 250,000 copyrights, is moving its headquarters to the Miracle Mile.

The company signed an unusual six-year lease, valued at nearly $4 million, with landlord Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. for 23,134 square feet of the penthouse and ground floor of 6100 Wilshire Blvd., a 16-story building.

The company plans to convert the ground floor into a recording studio and use the penthouse, which has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, as corporate offices. Bug Music will receive building-top and entryway signage upon its arrival later this year.

The company, which acquired the catalogs of two of the world’s largest independent music publishers – Windswept Music Holdings and Trio/Quartet – in 2007, is nearly doubling its space from its current location at 770 W. Sunset Blvd.

“It’s an expansion and rebirth for Bug,” said Brad Feld, Madison Partners partner, who negotiated on behalf of the tenant with Senior Executive Director Chris Keller.

The company joins many other entertainment businesses on the Miracle Mile, including the Oprah Winfrey Network, which moved into 5700 Wilshire Blvd. late last year.

“We are beginning to see the leasing activity pick up in the Miracle Mile submarket as more creative and entertainment tenants look to relocate here due to its proximity to the Hollywood studios, area amenities and its central access for employees,” said Lisa St. John, a principal at L.A. Realty Partners, who represented Beverly Hills-based Kennedy-Wilson, a publicly traded real estate investment company.

L.A. Realty Principal Peter Best also represented the landlord.

Building Up Infill

The need for an organized and unified voice for infill builders has become increasing apparent as more real estate developers work in existing neighborhoods and downtowns. So a group of 10 local and state infill builders formally launched late last month an association to do just that.

California Infill Builders Association, a statewide organization dedicated to education and advocacy, held its commencement party in Hollywood on March 31.

“We realized there was a missing voice in Sacramento and in advocacy for local governments to talk about the benefits of infill developments,” said association President Meea Kang, co-founder of San Francisco-based Domus Development LLC. “We all believe that in order to keep up with California’s population growth that we need to be building smarter, and in cities and towns to revitalize our cities.”

The association will lobby local and state governments to streamline the approval and development of infill projects, including possibly amending the California Environmental Quality Act.

“The issues they’d like to bring up are all the things that make infill complicated,” said Chris Redfearn, director of USC’s graduate programs in real estate. “They have a different perspective and it’s actually a useful one.”

The group also plans to advocate on behalf of the state’s 425 redevelopment agencies, which Gov. Jerry Brown is seeking to eliminate as part of a budget-cutting plan.

Though the association is based in San Francisco, the group has a large presence in Los Angeles. Three L.A. developers are board members: Mott Smith, principal at Civic Enterprise; John Given, principal of CIM Group; and Michael Dieden, founder of Creative Housing.

Breaking Ground

HOPE STREET FAMILY CENTER

1600 Hope St., downtown Los Angeles

DEVELOPER: Abode Communities, an L.A. non-profit that has built dozens of affordable housing projects across Southern California.

PLANS: Hope Street Family Center is a $15.7 million, 26,500-square-foot community center that will be used by California Hospital Medical Center to provide social services. The building will have a two-story storefront with a stylized yellow frame and will be surrounded by a green fence. Features will include an outdoor basketball court, park and public art.

FINANCING: $10.2 million raised from federal and state grants, and donations. Remaining financing being sought from private and institutional donors.

COMPLETION: The four-story structure broke ground April 1, with construction expected to take 14 months.

LOW INCOME: The project was developed under Community Redevelopment Agency guidelines to serve residents of downtown, Pico-Union and South Los Angeles, an area with low education levels, high domestic violence and high unemployment.

Staff reporter Jacquelyn Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.

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