Fred Segal on Melrose Sells for $43 million

The original location of high-end fashion retailer Fred Segal on Melrose Avenue has been sold for $43 million to CormackHill, a Vancouver, British Columbia, retail real estate investor. Beverly Hills real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson brokered the deal for the 29,000-square-foot, ivy-coated shopping landmark.

Fred Segal opened at the site in the early 1960s, gathering a number of cutting-edge clothing designers in a single, low-slung building. It later expanded to Santa Monica, and, since its acquisition by New York-based Sandow in 2012, has opened outposts at Los Angeles International Airport as well as in Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan.

Ed Sachse, executive managing director for Kennedy Wilson’s brokerage, represented both the buyer and the seller, 8100 Melrose Associates. He said the sale represented the first time the property had been on the market in more than 40 years.

“We experienced incredible interest from all types of buyers – local to international and private capital to institutional,” Sachse said. “CormackHill was drawn to this property for its prime retail location in the famed Melrose Heights shopping district and iconic location as the original epicenter of high fashion in Los Angeles.”

CormackHill’s plans for the property, which includes more than 100 parking spaces, could not be determined and it was not clear whether Fred Segal would stay at the location. It’s longtime Santa Monica outpost recently decamped for Playa Vista.

Source: Fred Segal on Melrose Sells for $43 million | Los Angeles Business Journal

Update: March 24, 2016

I received the following update today from The Hoyt Organization, the public relations firm that works with Kennedy Wilson, the broker in the transaction:

We work with Ed Sachse, executive managing director of brokerage at Kennedy Wilson, who negotiated the deal.The following statement from Ed clarifies the confusion on the buyer’s plans for Fred Segal.

‘The new ownership plans to continue operating Fred Segal at 8100 Melrose as a high fashion retail location to service the community with outstanding retailers such as Ron Herman and Ron Robinson. ‘