HBC Properties and Investments — Hudson’s Bay Company’s real estate and investments portfolio business — is embarking on a five-year plan to revitalize and redevelop properties affiliated with Saks Fifth Avenue around Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
The 9600 Wilshire project will bring a pair of office buildings, apartments, retail and dining to the six parcels.The plan envisions a total of four commercial structures fronting Wilshire Boulevard.
The two-block area, which totals 3.4 acres, is currently comprised of the following: the historic Saks Fifth Avenue Building, currently home to the Saks Women’s Store, which was first constructed in 1938 and designed by architects Parkinson & Parkinson and Paul R. Williams; a single-story addition to the Saks Beverly Hills building, completed in 1995, which houses Saks’ shoe department; a vacant retail location, formerly home to Barneys New York, completed in 1993, at the southwestern corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Camden Drive; and two surface parking lots to the rear of the existing commercial buildings and one fronting Wilshire Boulevard.
The 9600 Wilshire project will include the restoration of the Saks building façade; the adaptive reuse of the Barneys building as the new home of Saks Fifth Avenue Women’s store; the construction of two class A office buildings – one on the unused Wilshire Boulevard parcel next to the former Barneys and the other on the one-story Saks shoe department parcel; the development of residential apartment units on the surface parking lots; and new retail, dining, membership club, and related commercial uses on the remaining portions of the site. Underground parking garages, improved vehicle circulation, and public spaces are also being planned to enhance the properties and surrounding areas.
Saks Fifth Avenue will be located in the former Barneys building. The Saks Men’s store will remain at its location on the southwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Bedford Drive in the former I. Magnin building.
“Beverly Hills remains an important market to Saks Fifth Avenue and we have enjoyed a strong relationship with the community for nearly 80 years,” Larry Bruce, president of Saks Fifth Avenue and its 41 stores, said in a statement. “
