(EDITOR’S NOTE: The asset is located at 8555 Beverly Blvd. According to sources familiar with the deal, the property sold for $96 million, or about $325,423 per key. The buyer was Alon Abady, a local commercial real estate investor and a veteran in the industry. The property totals 295 rooms.)
LOS ANGELES– Top boutique law firm Sklar Kirsh LLP announced that its clients have finalized a deal that puts the iconic Los Angeles Sofitel Hotel, which is adjacent to the Beverly Center and Cedars Sinai Medical Center, in the hands of eager new owners.
According to firm Co-Founding Partner Andrew T. Kirsh, there was significant value creation by the buyer’s ability to purchase both the ground and the leasehold interest in two separate transactions during the pandemic that culminated on the same day.
While initially hired to represent one of the families selling the ground, Kirsh also had a longstanding working relationship with the buyer, a Beverly Hills-based real estate company, who Kirsh separately represented in purchasing the hotel improvements and the financing of the entire acquisition, which was provided by the global investment firm, TPG.
“Because of our significant relationships on all sides of the transaction, the parties were able to gain trust with one another which was critical for this deal as we worked through all the details of the transaction as a team,” Kirsh said.
The ground lease was collapsed on completion of the sale, putting the hotel and the ground below it in the same hands for the first time since the hotel’s construction in the early 1980s. The new buyer has extensive remodeling plans for the property, Kirsh said.
The closing price on the sale is undisclosed.
Sklar Kirsh attorneys Owen Gross, Jessica Demeter, Jim Zhou and real estate specialist Tina Legg-Bellossi were instrumental in the transaction’s success. Other firms involved include: Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (Daniel Leon) on behalf of one of the families selling the ground, Pircher Nichols & Meeks (Jennifer White) on behalf of the seller of the hotel improvements, Cohen Law Group (Marc Cohen) on behalf of the buyer in acquiring the ground, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (Noah Bilenker) on behalf of TPG.
Eastdil Secured was involved in the selling of the hotel improvements.
Sklar Kirsh a boutique law firm that provides sophisticated and expert advice in the areas of corporate, real estate, bankruptcy, and entertainment law as well as commercial, real estate and entertainment litigation.
