Palladium Sold to OC Firm

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After several stalled deals, the Hollywood Palladium has been sold to Newport Capital Advisors for about $68 million, the Los Angeles Business Journal has learned.


In a sale that closed April 19, Newport Capital purchased the concert venue from Palladium Investors Ltd., according to real estate sources. The transaction closed a week after Palladium Investors inked a 20-year lease deal with Live Nation Inc. to manage and restore the landmark venue.


The Newport Beach-based real estate operating company’s purchase of the venue, which sits on three and 1/2 acres, was contingent on the lease agreement, said John Tronson, a principal in the Hollywood office of Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services, who represented Newport Capital in the deal.


“We couldn’t think of a better way to transfer ownership of the Palladium and keep it from turning into something that it shouldn’t be,” Tronson said. “It will be a re-creation of a historic gem with modern adaptation of it.”


Live Nation plans a major renovation of the 4,000-seat hall and plans to reopen it in September 2008. The renovation will cost about $12 million, Tronson said.


The Palladium parcel has long been eyed by developers who figured the parking lots surrounding the venue would make for a perfect development opportunity. The concert venue sits on about 60,000 square feet of land and is surrounded by about 100,000 square feet of developable land.


Preservation groups and city redevelopment officials have sought to have the concert hall retained in any development at the site. Newport Capital will eventually build on the property around the venue with housing, office and hotel development options all in play though the Live Nation deal gives the firm flexibility to take its time.


“They aren’t in a hell bent hurry to build it,” Tronson said. “They want to take their time and do it right and do something the neighborhood and city feels good about.”


Newport Capital has another development slated for the Hollywood area an unentitled residential project at Argyle Avenue and Yucca Street. The venue, which opened in 1940, was almost sold to Combined Properties Inc. for about $65 million last August but that deal broke down.


Timothy L. Bower, first vice president in CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.’s Century City office, represented Palladium Investors in the deal. Newport Capital was also represented by Ramsey-Shilling founding partner Paul Ramsey.

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