Hollywood Hotel Makes Room for New Owner

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Hollywood’s Redbury Hotel has been the subject of a red-hot sale.

The 57-room inn at Hollywood and Vine has been sold to Seattle’s Vulcan Inc. for $40.9 million by Pebblebrook Hotel Trust of Bethesda, Md.

The Redbury, a boxy, brick-colored building that houses swanky Mediterranean restaurant Cleo, will continue to operate under the management of SBE Entertainment Group.

“SBE has a strong partnership with the new ownership, and we are looking forward to continuing the legacy of this extraordinary asset,” SBE Chief Executive Sam Nazarian said in a statement.

Nazarian opened the hotel in 2010 under a management contract with CIM Group, which had bought the property out of foreclosure from developer Avi Brosh for just $16.8 million. The building had been pegged for condos, but CIM switched direction to launch a boutique hotel with rooms designed as small apartments that included kitchens and washer-dryer units. Other Redbury outposts from SBE followed in Miami and New York.

Pebblebrook, which bought the property from CIM three years ago for $34 million, reported that the Redbury brought in $1.7 million in net income over the past year.

The deal comes just weeks after SBE bought Morgans Hotel Group for $82 million, picking up the Mondrian and Delano brands and properties in Miami’s South Beach, New York, and San Francisco. Other than adding those properties, Nazarian said he would stick to his plan of focusing on hospitality management rather than ownership. His SLS Beverly Hills hotel, with 297 rooms, sold last year for $195 million.

The Redbury becomes the only holding outside Seattle for Vulcan, run by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The company is best known for developing that city’s South Lake Union neighborhood.

Fashionable Co-Working

Downtown L.A. residents are about to get another spot where they can plunk down a laptop next to strangers.

IgnitedSpaces has just signed a lease for the entire 12th floor – about 42,000 square feet – at the California Market Center in the Fashion District.

Working with building owner Jamison Properties Inc., IgnitedSpaces plans to install offices, conference rooms, event spaces, and lounges as well as a photography studio and theater.

The center is a hub of L.A.’s fashion industry, home to hundreds of wholesale showrooms and the host of numerous trade shows each year. Jamison bought the building for $128 million in 2005, and is in the process of spending what it said would be millions into a renovation that will triple the capacity for creative office space. The upgrades will also add a 35,000-square-foot gym with spa, rooftop deck, and revamped food court, along with buildingwide Wi-Fi.

“We are making significant changes to accommodate a 24-7 lifestyle for the benefit of our showrooms and design studios as well as creative office users,” said Jaime Lee, Jamison’s head of leasing, in a statement. IgnitedSpaces is the center’s first major office tenant.

The site would be the second outpost for IgnitedSpaces, which opened its first spot in a Jamison-owned Hollywood building in 2013, and has plans to expand there. It charges $300 a month for a co-working membership or $800 a month and up for private office space.

Heading South

BLT Enterprises of Oxnard is seeking greener pastures in Los Angeles.

The real estate investment company has moved its headquarters to Santa Monica and is emphasizing its focus on commercial and industrial acquisitions in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.

The firm has spent $65 million over the last year on a portfolio of properties in West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Lake Forest in Orange County, and Kearny Mesa in San Diego.

“Reinvesting in these three core markets presents a strong opportunity for the future of BLT,” said President Bernard Huberman in a statement.

Staff reporter Daina Beth Solomon can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.

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