Rodeo Drive Real Estate Still Fetching Big Prices
Location is king for retailers, and it translates well for real estate companies, too.
Owners of the Hugo Boss building at 414 N. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills closed escrow recently with a buyer from Hong Kong for $28 million, or $2,470 per square foot, according to brokers associated with the transaction.
Lladro Realty, a division of the Spanish porcelain company, sold the 11,333-square-foot building to Hong Kong–based investor Allied Golden LLC, according to broker National Equity Advisors Inc., based in Encino, Calif.
The buyer paid cash for the property to avoid interest cap rates, which are hovering around 12 percent.
Lladro more than doubled its investment, having paid $14.8 million for the property plus another building at 408 N. Rodeo in 1994. The 408 building houses a Lladro boutique. Hugo Boss will remain a tenant in the 414 building.
Bruce Dembo of real estate company Dembo & Associates in Beverly Hills said the huge price tag was not entirely surprising.
“The party that purchased it saw the value of Rodeo Drive real estate,” Dembo said. “You can get better returns on investments elsewhere, but there’s only one Rodeo.”
In addition, sales on Rodeo are rare. The last big sale took place in 2007 when the Max Mara building, located one block down, sold for $4,000 per square foot.—Robert McAllister
