CIM Signs Zara for Vintage Building

According to Shaul Kuba, principal and co-founder the CIM Group, Zara will occupy half of the first two floors of the three-story 6904 Hollywood Blvd. building, which is the latest in a series of Hollywood-based CIM Group's acquisitions there. Kuba adds that Zara is among a handful of top apparel retailers being courted by retail developers across the country.

Kuba says that the CIM Group plans a full renovation of the 6904 Hollywood Blvd. building, which was built in the 1920s and is adjacent to the restored El Capitan and the historic Masonic temple. The CIM Group will strip the 6904 building to its original façade and will complete what Kuba calls "significant structural upgrades" to convert it into two floors of modern retail space topped by 22,000 sf of dlass A office space.

Zara is expected to open in summer 2008 near retailer H&M, which CIM signed for a 10,000-sf store at 6914 Hollywood Blvd. that is set to open this fall. Both retailers are directly across the street from CIM Group's Hollywood & Highland Center, which features 387,000 sf of national and local fashion and luxury retailers, along with clubs, restaurants and the 3,400-seat Kodak Theatre.

Also at Hollywood & Highland, the CIM Group recently signed two other popular fashion retailers, Guess and the new XXI concept from Forever 21. Jeff Kreshek, a principal at CIM Group, says that the new retailers underscore Hollywood's emergence as one of the fastest growing commercial districts in Los Angeles, with major retailers investing in the area, abundant clubs and restaurants, new housing and steady demand for office space.