Gucci Building in Beverly Hills Sold for $40m
Gucci has a new landlord on Rodeo Drive. The 13,500-square-foot building the Italian fashion house occupies at 347 N. Rodeo Dr. in Beverly Hills has been sold to Los Angeles real estate group The Festival Cos. for more than $40 million, according to real estate brokers CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield. The price is believed to be one of the highest ever paid per square foot in the history of Rodeo Drive real estate, said Cushman & Wakefield executives.
New York–based Friedman Equities was the previous owner and seller.
The Festival Cos. is an investment partner of investment banker Goldman Sachs. The company last month formed a new investment fund aimed at acquiring and developing regional malls, lifestyle centers, power centers and strip centers in California and beyond.
Festival president Mark Schurgin said the group is planning to invest up to $800 million over the next three years.
Gucci has been a fixture on Rodeo for about 20 years and plans to continue occupying the prime location on Rodeo, where rents average $35 per square foot and have been climbing 5 percent to 10 percent a year, according to the Beverly Hills–based Dembo & Associates real estate company.
Gucci America Inc. is a division of Gucci Group N.V., which markets the Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Sergio Rossi labels, all of which have separate presences on Rodeo Drive as well.
The Festival Cos. include Festival Commercial Real Estate Services, Festival Development, Inc., Landmark Commercial Group and Environmental Investments LLC. The Festival entities have developed or redeveloped and managed more than 110 retail properties nationwide over the last 25 years.
—Robert McAllister
