Bank Leases Historic Brown Derby Building

LOS ANGELES-Chase Bank has signed a 10-year lease for approximately 5,845 square feet of the 14,000-square-foot historic Brown Derby building at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd., according to brokers from Lee & Associates who represented the building owner. The property is a circa-1928 landmark that is the only remaining location of the small chain of Brown Derby restaurants in Los Angeles during a bygone era in Hollywood.

The Chase Bank lease is scheduled to begin in June 2011. Lee & Associates principal Duncan Lemmon of the company's Sherman Oaks office represented building owner Hillhurst Los Feliz LLC, with Chase represented by CB Richard Ellis. In a separate lease at the property, current tenant Louise's Trattoria has signed a 10-year, five-month deal for approximately 5,431 square feet that began in June. The combined value of the leases is approximately $5.3 million. Lee is marketing the remaining 2,770 square feet at the building with a focus on a restaurant or specialty retailer.

Hillhurst Los Feliz LLC purchased the structure in 2004 with the intent to re-entitle it for a mixed-use commercial/residential development. However, plans changed when the property was designated a cultural historical building, as it was the last building standing that once housed a Brown Derby Restaurant. A renovation of the building currently is under way.

The Brown Derby restaurants were best known as a destination for Hollywood’s movers and shakers. Like the original Brown Derby on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, the Los Feliz property had the derby-shaped roof, although its structure has been significantly altered since its closing. Film mogul Cecil B. De Mille became co-owner of the Los Feliz restaurant when he bought it in 1940 and converted it from Willard’s Chicken Inn. The Los Feliz Brown Derby closed in 1960 and was the shortest-lived in the chain.