Conventions and meetings knocked out of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina have skipped Los Angeles so far, but local officials remain optimistic that several could land here.
Atlanta and Chicago are top choices for relocations. Other cities that have picked up conventions include Orlando, Fla., San Antonio, Washington, D.C. and San Diego, according to an analysis by Raymond James & Associates Inc., a firm that tracks the hospitality industry, among other sectors.
The New Orleans Metropolitan Conventions & Visitors Bureau has announced that conventions will be cancelled until March 31, 2006, and it’s unclear when the city’s infrastructure will be ready for visitors after that.
Michael Krouse, vice president of convention sales at L.A. Inc., the city’s convention and visitors bureau, said planners often want to stay within the region. He pointed to one association, which he declined to name, that considered L.A. but decided on Kansas City because its membership had stronger geographic ties there.
“It has nothing to do with L.A. It has nothing to do with Washington, D.C. It has everything to do with their wanting to be in the region,” he said.
Still, Krouse said he has fielded serious inquiries from 11 associations that are considering using the L.A. convention center, and eight groups that could host meetings at L.A. County hotels.
Event organizers remain concerned about the potential for more hurricanes.
“We are finding a great many are looking at other options that don’t have that same risk,” he said.
Filling Gerry
LaeRoc Partners Inc. has launched a marketing campaign to woo fashion showroom tenants to the Gerry Building, which the Hermosa Beach-based real estate firm recently acquired.
Kim Benjamin, president of LaeRoc, said the idea is to fill 30,000 vacant square feet at the Gerry Building, which has 110,000 square feet of showroom space. The campaign, which Benjamin said would cost several hundred thousand dollars, will include flyer distribution and visits to tenants in rival showroom buildings.
The Gerry Building has one of the highest vacancy rates in the Intersection, a group of four wholesale showroom buildings at the corner of Los Angeles and Ninth streets in downtown’s Fashion District. Rents for showroom space in the Gerry Building go for $1.40 to $1.85 per square foot, according to Benjamin.
Leasing has been hurt by fears that LaeRoc, which bought the Gerry for $14.3 million from MJW Investments, would turn the property into residential condominiums.
Benjamin and Larry Hudson, who was retained as director of leasing after working under MJW, have tried to assure potential tenants that the building isn’t changing.
“It is designer showroom space (and) has got great potential. I have no intention of doing residential condominiums,” Benjamin said.
In 2001, MJW transformed the building from an underused manufacturing facility into fashion showrooms to compete with the nearby California Market Center.
Jumper Claimed
Los Angeles-based private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners LP has acquired a majority stake in CWN Management Inc., which operates the Claim Jumper restaurant chain, for over $200 million.
Craig Nickoloff, president of CWN, told The Deal, which first reported the acquisition, that Leonard Green will give the family restaurant chain the financial flexibility to grow beyond its base in Western states.
CWN has been searching for a buyer for at least several months. Piper Jaffray & Co. conducted the auction for the Irvine-based company, which attracted the interest of many private equity firms.
There are 34 Claim Jumpers in California, Colorado, Washington, Nevada and Arizona. CWN also licenses the Claim Jumper name to frozen food manufacturer American Pie LLC.
Privately held CWN generated an estimated $200 million in revenues in 2003, up 8.1 percent from the prior year. In 2003, the company had 5,000 employees.
Leonard Green targets investments of between $50 million and $250 million. The firm’s portfolio includes Los Angeles-based Asian language media company, AsianMedia Group LLC, Downers Grover, Ill.-based Internet florist FTD Group Inc., Phoenix, Ariz.-based pool supplies retailer Leslie’s Poolmart Inc., and Camp Hill, Penn.-based drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp.
This and That
The Levi Strauss & Co. store in Beverly Hills opened last week. Levi Strauss signed a 10-year deal to be at the 316 N. Beverly Drive location, which has 3,000 square feet on the ground floor and 1,400 square feet on the second floor, according to Jay Luchs, a vice president with CB Richard Ellis Inc. The company is paying $10 per square foot monthly for the ground floor space Jewelry retailer Graff will be opening across from the Harry Winston Inc. store at 317 N. Rodeo Drive. Luchs, who handled the deal, said Graff signed a 15-year lease and will pay in the range of $345 per square foot annually.
*Staff reporter Rachel Brown can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 224, or by e-mail at
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