Retail Shops at The Mercury at Wilshire and Western in Los Angeles Sell for $15.75 Million

IRVINE, Calif. - Jan. 30, 2014 - PRLog -- Hanley Investment (HI) Urban Retail Advisors, a division of Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, specializing in the sale and advisory of mixed-use and urban retail properties in dynamic commercial districts across the United States, announced today that Hanley Investment Group's Senior Vice President Eric P. Wohl, along with HI Urban Retail Advisors' President Carlos J. Lopez, negotiated the sale of The Shops @ The Mercury at 3800 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, Calif. The purchase price was $15.75 million.

“The retail condos at the newly built Solair project, caddy corner to The Shops@ The Mercury, sold for $250 per square foot in December 2013," Wohl said. "The Shops @ Mercury retail condos closed less than 60 days later at $675 per square foot, representing a 170% increase.  This significant increase can be attributed to the highly effective marketing platform of HI Urban Retail Advisors, along with a strong credit tenant mix at the property and easily accessible parking."

Originally known as the Getty Oil Building, The Shops @ The Mercury is located at the iconic intersection of Wilshire and Western in the heart of Koreatown and was renovated in 2007 to include 23,328 square feet of retail and commercial space on two-levels located beneath 238 luxury residential condominiums. The historic building is located adjacent to the famous art deco Los Angeles landmark Wiltern Theatre and directly across the street from the Los Angeles Mass Transit Authority (MTA) Purple Line Subway Entrance connecting The Shops @ The Mercury to Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood and other cities. The Shops @ The Mercury retail tenants include Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Jamba Juice, T-Mobile, Wells Fargo Bank and United Dental Group. The retail property was 89% occupied at the close of escrow.

According to Lopez, “The Shops @ The Mercury is truly one of a handful of high profile retail buildings to transact to date in the city. The multiple offers generated from our marketing efforts is truly indicative of the nature of the intersection of Wilshire and Western in the heart of Koreatown, one of the few 24-7 districts in the City of Los Angeles.”

"The Shops @ The Mercury offers this all-cash buyer a quality mixed-use investment with strong upside potential in one of the most vibrant commercial districts in the City of Los Angeles," said Wohl. "The buyer hasthe opportunity to charge for daytime and event parking, significantly increasing cash flow." According to Wohl, the buyer plans to use the vacant office space for his own purposes.

The buyer, a private investor from Dallas, TX, was represented by Anna Li of Better Homes & Garden Real Estate | Mason-McDuffie in Berkeley, Calif.  The seller, a private investor from Los Angeles, was represented by Wohl and Lopez.

This sale marks the 10th sale in 12 months that Lopez has brokered in Los Angeles County.  As a specialist in the sale of urban retail/commercial buildings in the Los Angeles area, Lopez has sold more than $124 million in retail properties in Los Angeles County in the last year.

According to Lopez, Hanley Investment's Urban Retail Advisors recently acquired the listing to market a rare signage purchase opportunity at Hollywood and Vine at the Broadway Hollywood mixed-use building located at one of the most famous intersections in the world – Hollywood and Vine. The 10-story Broadway Hollywood is immediately across and adjacent to the Pantages Theatre, W Hotel & Residences, Hollywood Vine Metro Station (Red Line), BLVD 6200 development, the iconic Capitol Records building and a potential future development known as the Millennium Development project. More than 112,000 cars per day pass through the well known intersection of Hollywood and Vine, Lopez reports.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a fully-entitled, 36' x 36' neon sign with no existing lease or access agreement in place allowing the owner/investor to execute a lease at market rates or erect their own signage," Lopez stated. "Signs are very difficult to obtain in both the City and County of Los Angeles and there are very high barriers to entry."

Lopez currently has two high profile properties in escrow in Los Angeles County, The Shops at Library Court in Downtown Los Angeles' Financial District and The Pasadena Collection in Pasadena. Co-listed with Eric Wohl of Hanley Investment Group, The Shops at Library Court, which was marketed for sale for $7,075,000, is located at the busy intersection of 6^th and Hope streets. Built in 2006, the 100% occupied retail opportunity consists of 9,903 square feet of ground floor retail beneath 90 spacious lofts. Tenants include Ocha Mexican Grill, Loose Leaf, Subway, Mitaki, Library Bar and Sixth Street Tavern. The property is immediately adjacent to popular hotels in Downtown Los Angeles including The Westin Boulevard Hotel, The Millennium Biltmore Hotel and the Standard Hotel.

The retail portion of The Pasadena Collection, located at the intersection of South Lake Avenue and Cordova Street in Pasadena, was listed for $10.75 million. The Pasadena Collection is a mixed-use development consisting of 110 units of luxury lofts and condominiums, as well as 20,425 square feet of commercial retail units occupied by Vitamin Shoppe, Sharky's Woodfired Mexican Grill, T-Mobile, Jimmy John’s, Oregano Fresh Greek, National University and Cham Korean Bistro. Lopez notes that the building also includes access to parking spaces in the garage for the ground floor retail tenants and customers."There is a strong daytime population from the surrounding 2 million square feet of Class A office buildings, which provides a steady customer base to the tenants of The Collection and the other 600 businesses along South Lake Avenue," said Lopez."The property also benefits from the outstanding demographics with annual household income in excess of $95,000 within a 3-mile radius."

"Well-located retail condominiums continue to represent a tremendous opportunity to own and operate real estate in some of the most dynamic and sub-markets in the country," said Lopez. "The retail condos are now becoming a recognized retail investment product in the Southern California marketplace -- as common as a multi-tenant shopping center or a single-tenant investment, and we expect that the activity on these retail condominiums will become a more prevalent type of real estate investment product as more high density residential developments continue to be built in urban markets into the future."

Hanley Investment Group will be in attendance at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Southern California Idea Exchange held on February 5th at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.hanleyinvestment.com or call (949) 585-7610.