Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to report that the West Hollywood planning department has not yet received a proposal for the site at 8920 W. Sunset Blvd.
Hustler’s retail store at 8920 W. Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood will soon pack up its sex toys and move.
Larry Flynt Publications, a Beverly Hills adult entertainment empire founded by Larry Flynt that owned the building, closed on the $18.3 million sale to New York firm VE Equities last month.
The 20,500-square-foot mixed-use building traded for roughly $900 a square foot.
VE plans to develop a mixed-use property on the site as part of a joint-venture project with investment and development firm London & Regional Properties and private membership club Arts Club, both of London, said Zachary Vella, who heads VE along with Justin Ehrlich.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is a minority partner in Arts Club and, it was reported in April, will be directly involved with opening a private members club on the site, similar to the Arts Club locations in London and Aspen, Colo. London’s Arts Club charges an initiation fee of $2,000 plus annual dues of $2,000.
The balance of the property will likely be a hotel, Vella said.
“Ground-up development is our intention but we have to see what the city approves,” he said.
Plans for the site have not yet been submitted, said Jennifer Alkire, a senior planner for the city.
Larry Flynt Publications felt the offer from VE was too good to turn down, said Arthur Sando, head of communications for the company.
The 10,250-square-foot Hustler store will downsize and move to a 6,000-square-foot retail storefront in Hollywood at 6538 Hollywood Blvd. later this year.
Flynt bought the property in 1998 for $4.7 million, or $230 a square foot.
It is the latest divesture for the media mogul, who in 2013 sold his Beverly Hills headquarters building at 8484 Wilshire Blvd. to Santa Monica real estate investment trust Douglas Emmett Inc. for roughly $80 million.
Larry Flynt Publications agreed to a 10-year lease as part of that deal.
