BEVERLY HILLS, CA-Office REIT Douglas Emmett Inc. has acquired the 73,753-square-foot 150 S. Rodeo Dr. office building from New York City-based Brickman for $42 million in a sale arranged by the Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets Group. Cushman & Wakefield executive managing director Marc D. Renard, who led the C&W team, tells GlobeSt.com that investors from Indonesia Greece, Korea, Germany and the Middle East all pursued the property because of “the irreplaceable nature of the asset combined with the high barriers to entry in this market.” The bidders included REITs, pension funds, wealthy private domestic investors and others, including a number of international billionaires.

The $42 million price, approximately $570 per square foot, “is reflective of the location and the interest that a place like Beverly Hills commands today,” Renard said. “There are only two institutional quality office buildings in the world that have a Rodeo Drive address, and this is one of them.” Bruce Brickman, president of privately held Brickman, also cited the quality and location of the building, and commented, “We are very pleased with the results that Marc and his team achieved."

Located within one block of the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, near the Golden Triangle, 150 S. Rodeo was built in 1991 and is 75% occupied. It features a 53-seat screening room, a rooftop deck with views of Beverly Hills and Century City, and other amenities. The property is within walking distance of the luxury retailers and restaurants of Beverly Hills.

The sale of 150 S. Rodeo illustrates that “Investors are interested in the top coastal cities in the US, such as Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York City, San Francisco and Boston—and then, obviously, the top-tier buildings in those markets,” Renard said. Top-tier buildings in Beverly Hills command some of the highest rents in Southern California, about $4 to $4.50 per square foot per month.

With this acquisition, Douglas Emmett now owns and operates seven office properties in Beverly Hills totaling more than 1.4 million square feet and approximately 19% of the class A office space in the submarket, according to an announcement by the REIT.