A real estate investment firm has acquired the 292-unit Lofts at NoHo Commons from J.H. Snyder Co. for about $92 million. Snyder officials said they had not put the residential portion of the project, which opened its doors late last year, on the market for sale, but were persuaded to divest it when the buyer, Redwood Partners Inc., presented itself. “Redwood made an attractive proposal and we decided to take it because it allowed us to proceed immediately with phase three,” said Cliff Goldstein, senior partner at the L.A.-based development company. Goldstein declined to confirm the purchase price. But brokers familiar with the transaction said the purchase price reflected the timing of the sale as well as the upside potential of the apartment units at the property. “Their lease rate per foot is the highest for any new construction in the Valley,” said Gregory S. Harris, president of The Harris Group of Marcus & Millichap. “They’re at least 10 percent to 15 percent higher.” Although some of the area’s streets are still deserted, many investment property brokers believe that North Hollywood real estate values will continue to escalate as the area continues to gentrify. The buyer, Newport Beach-based Redwood, is a firm that includes the former head of acquisitions for BlackRock Realty, a real estate investment company that has been particularly active in the Los Angeles area, recently acquiring Sunset + Vine, a mixed-use project in Hollywood. Officials at Redwood did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story. The opening of The Lofts at NoHo Commons last November marked the completion of the first phase of the mixed-use project. In recent weeks, the project’s first retail tenant and its anchor, Hows Market, opened its doors. The balance of the tenants that will occupy the 60,000 square feet of commercial space in the second phase are set to open in the next two months. They include: Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, California Pizza Kitchen’s CPK ASAP, Cold Stone Creamery, T-Mobile, Daphne’s Greek Caf & #233;, Wells Fargo Bank, Booster Juice and Panda Express. As currently designed, the third phase, located on a three-acre adjacent parcel, will include a seven-screen Laemmle Theatres complex, 100,000 square feet of office space and about 130 condominium units. Phil’s Diner, a North Hollywood restaurant in an old railroad car dating back to the 1950s, has been sold to a new owner and will be relocated and refurbished at the NoHo Commons as well. Goldstein noted that some of the plans for the third phase are still under discussion. Groundbreaking is currently slated for January. “What we’ve done is taken some of the profit from there and invested it in the next phase,” said Goldstein of the residential complex sale. Although the NoHo neighborhood has yet to live up to the promise of an upscale enclave for singles and families that will lead a new generation of Valleyites who opt for public transportation in lieu of the automobile, investment interest is going a long way to reinforcing those expectations. The Hows Market unit that just opened includes some cutting-edge features that the owners designed specifically for the clientele they expect to move into the neighborhood. Hows officials traveled throughout Northern California gathering ideas for the new store, said Mark Oerum, one of the four Hows partners who oversees store operations, and, among other features, came up with the idea of including a wine bar in the new store. The store is the only one in the Hows group that holds wine tastings, and the wine selection available at the North Hollywood unit is far more extensive than that of the other stores in the chain. “One of the things we’re always intrigued with is if we could educate people in wine,” Oerum said. “We saw it in Northern California, but not in supermarkets there. We thought, why can’t we blend it? Here’s an area that’s growing, with the NoHo arts element and it’s got a lot of street traffic.” The wine bar will also give the market the opportunity to launch other special events like guest vintners speaking about wine. “We’re envisioning sushi and sake night,” Oerum said. “It’s kind of a blank slate right now. We’re very happy and excited that we can do it.”
