$9.6M Minimum Set for Beverly Hills Land

Brian Dunne in the West LA office of Grubb & Ellis Co. tells GlobeSt.com that the 40,732-sf tract at 9200 Wilshire Blvd. will be sold at US Bankruptcy Court in Downtown Los Angeles, with the minimum asking bid at $9.6 million or $236 per sf.

Dunne is representing Westside developer Steve Crowe, whose BHG Holdings LLC has been in escrow to buy the vacant land from TBO Realty of Beverly Hills since April 1998. During that time, Dunne says, BHG has invested more than $2.2 million in the site, which represents a combination of funds that have been released from escrow and funds that the firm spent to obtain entitlements for the property. The site is now entitled for a four-story, 133-room hotel, Dunne adds. The City of Beverly Hills says it also would welcome a mixed-use housing and retail development, if a new developer so chooses.

Dunne explains BHG Holdings was scheduled to close March 31 on the purchase from TBO Realty. But, BHG's investor, who was lined up to close the deal, backed out at the last minute. The Grubb & Ellis broker explains that filing for bankruptcy was the only way for BHG Holdings to keep the escrow open so it could sell the site to another buyer and recoup the $2.2 million it has spent on the land.

BHG filed bankruptcy March 28. The court has given BHG time to find a substitute buyer who can close on the property. For the deal to work, Dunne says, bids must be in his office by 5 p.m. Aug. 1 in order to be considered at the bankruptcy hearing, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. Aug. 5 in Courtroom 1575 of the US Bankruptcy Court at 255 E. Temple St.

BHG will present the bids to the court and select one that BHG feels is the highest and best, and the court will then ask if there is a higher bid in the room. The winner will have until Aug. 11 to pay the tab in full so the deed can be recorded Aug. 12. Some prospective buyers are already interested, Dunne says, including at least one high-profile hotel company.

Dunne describes the transaction as one of the rarest he's seen in his 24 years in the LA real estate industry. It's doubly rare in that it involves a vacant land parcel in Beverly Hills, where such parcels are extremely rare. The land parcel, which includes a full block of frontage on Wilshire Boulevard, was once the site of a Cadillac dealership but has been vacant for 15 years.