LOS ANGELES (December ’10) – Owners of the historic and last standing building that once housed a Brown Derby restaurant have scored two 10-year lease deals with tenants.
The deals are some good news for Hillhurst Los Feliz LLC, which bought the property at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd. in 2004 as a tear-down. However, its plan to build a mixed-use residential building was dashed when a preservationist group successfully appealed for a historic and cultural designation.
There were four Brown Derby restaurants that were hot spots in the ’30s and ’40s with Hollywood luminaries. The original on Wilshire Boulevard, and two others in Hollywood and Beverly Hills were demolished.
Adler Realty Investments Inc., a Woodland Hills real estate investment firm that is the managing partner of Hillhurst Los Feliz, recently signed a 10-year lease with Chase Bank, which will open a 5,800-square-foot branch. The deal is valued at $2.8 million. Italian restaurant Louise’s Trattoria, a longtime tenant, also renegotiated its 5,200-square-foot lease in a 10-year deal worth $2.3 million, said Duncan Lemmon, a principal with Lee & Associates, who represented the landlord in both transactions.
The Derby, a restaurant and nightclub that played off the original name and previously occupied Chase’s space, moved out about one year ago, he said.
The property is being further divided to make more than 2,000 square feet of space for a third retail tenant along Hillhurst Avenue. Lemmon said he’s already fielded interest from prospective tenants.
“It’s being renovated at this point with restoration on the exterior and a new roof, air conditioning – all the components to re-tenant the building and bring it up to today’s standards within the historical guidelines,” Lemmon said.
Tim Bower, a senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis, represented Chase.
Los Angeles Business Journal
