Changes for Belle Gray in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Celebrity boutique Belle Gray is in the market to lease some of its retail space in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
A “for lease” sign was recently posted on the awning of Belle Gray, which is owned by television host and actress Lisa Rinna and her husband, actor Harry Hamlin. A Web site for the property’s broker, Paley Commercial Real Estate Services, advertised a 1,100-square-foot space available at the Belle Gray address, 13812 Ventura Blvd. The listed price was $3,250 per month.
The Belle Gray boutique is housed in two spaces: 13812 Ventura Blvd. and adjacent space 13814 Ventura Blvd. The boutique will continue to do business at the more than 1,300-square-foot space at 13814 Ventura Blvd. address, Hamlin said.
The lease was up for both of Belle Gray’s spaces, Hamlin said. He and Rinna chose to keep the 13814 Ventura Blvd space because it is where most of the boutique’s business took place. “We’re not different from anybody else,” Hamlin said. “We’re doing our best to make it through tough times. We’ve had many loyal customers, and without them we’d be sunk.”
The most recent changes at Belle Gray follow the shuttering of the boutique’s second store in October, leaving only the original location in Sherman Oaks open. The shuttered store, a 1,430-square-foot boutique, was located at the luxury mall The Commons at Calabasas, which is owned by Caruso Affiliated, the company that developed The Grove, a popular Los Angeles luxury retail center.
In October, The Commons at Calabasas LLC filed a lawsuit against Rinna in Los Angeles County Superior Court for breach of contract. The lawsuit contends that Rinna stopped paying rent on the 1,430-square-foot boutique on March 1, 2009. The minimum monthly rent was $7,946. The Commons lawyers asked for damages in the amount of $635,083 from the owner of the contemporary fashion store. The suit was settled out of court in February.—Andrew Asch
