Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt has agreed to sell his Beverly Hills headquarters building for $82 million, sources told the Business Journal.
Santa Monica real estate investment trust Douglas Emmett Inc. has agreed to purchase the 227,437-square-foot property at 8484 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills from Larry Flynt Publications Inc. after outbidding other interested companies this month. The deal is expected to close by summer.
Flynt acquired the property in 1994 for $18.8 million, according to CoStar Group Inc.
His publishing company, which is based in the building, agreed to a 10-year lease as part of the deal.
At $82 million, the transaction equates to about $361 a square foot, putting it among the top 10 Class A office sale prices in Los Angeles County on a square-foot basis in the last year.
Douglas Emmett outbid Tishman Speyer Properties LP in New York, which last year purchased Miracle Mile’s 1 million-square-foot Wilshire Courtyard complex, and West L.A. real estate investment trust Kilroy Realty Corp., which owns Hollywood’s 320,000-square-foot Sunset Media Tower office building and is redeveloping Hollywood’s Columbia Square into a mixed-use creative office campus.
Douglas Emmett owns 14.7 million square feet in Southern California and Honolulu, including a 302,423-square-foot office building at 9601 Wilshire in Beverly Hills.
The Flynt property would be the 59th building in its portfolio and the eighth in its Beverly Hills base. It was built in 1972 for Great Western Savings, and a statue of its one-time spokesman, actor John Wayne, is still in front of the building. The property was last renovated in 1993. It is 88 percent leased to tenants including Flynt Publications, the Brazilian Consulate and the Academy of Couture Art Inc. It has an average rental rate of about $2.80 a square foot a month.
R. Brad Sevier, principal at Highland Realty Capital Inc. who represented Flynt, and Stuart McElhinney, vice president of investor relations at Douglas Emmett, both declined to comment.
Hollywood Central Park
The proposal to build a 44-acre park above the 101 freeway in Hollywood has taken a crucial step forward.
Friends of Hollywood Central Park, a non-profit orchestrating the park initiative, hired a team to conduct an environmental impact review of the project, a necessary report required before any construction can begin.
The selection of FirstCarbon Solutions in Irvine was announced last month after a competitive bidding process. The proposed project would cap the 101 at street level on a one-mile stretch between Hollywood and Santa Monica boulevards, where the freeway dips below grade, and establish a green outdoor park with community facilities such as a baseball diamond.
The concept was first evoked nearly 30 years ago, but got off the ground in 2006 when responsibility for its establishment shifted from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to Friends of Hollywood Central Park.
The EIR is funded by a $1.2 million donation from the Aileen Getty Foundation and $825,000 from the city of Los Angeles.
The report will analyze the park’s impact on the community, traffic, noise, air quality and other environmental issues.
The review should begin nearly immediately and be completed within about one year, according to Robert A. Francisco, president of FirstCarbon.
While environmental reviews can sometimes be problematic, Francisco said he thinks a park project will be low impact and embraced by most of the community.
“We aren’t expecting a great deal of controversy and we think it’s largely a great project for the community,” he said. “It really enhances a city that’s been bifurcated by a freeway and has limited park space.”
Northern Deal
American Homes 4 Rent is moving its headquarters to Agoura Hills from Malibu.
The residential acquisition company inked a deal for 43,000 square feet at 30601 Agoura Road with landlord Adler Realty Investments. The company is leaving most of its 22917 Pacific Coast Highway location later this year. It will maintain a small office there.
The lease brings the 120,000-square-foot property to full occupancy.
David Ickovics and Bruce A. Frasco of Commercial Asset Group represented the tenant.
Cassidy Turley Inc. Executive Managing Director Lee Black and Vice President Jared Smits represented the landlord.
Staff reporter Jacquelyn Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.
