When the Bank Heist building caught fire earlier this month, some may have feared that momentum for the NoHo Business Improvement District went up in smoke with the months’-old restaurant and nightspot. The centerpiece nature of the destination location is reinforced by specifics; such as, the restaurant hosted the reception last month for the grand opening of the BID office, a block south on Lankershim Boulevard. Both the owner of the former bank building and the Bank restaurant have said it will reopen, and no one familiar with the particulars thinks that there is any collateral damage to the BID from that morning fire. Rena Leddy, NoHo BID manager, said the venue was “definitely an addition to the area’s vibrant theater and restaurants,” but the fire and temporary closing doesn’t “change the vibrancy we have here.” “Sad thing, it just opened a few months ago,” Leddy said. “I hope they open again soon.” That was the stated plan from the property owner just following the fire, but before immediate insurance issues resolved. <!– –> Robert Akhavan, building owner and president of the NoHo BID Committee, said he first has “the cleaning process” to undergo, but it will “absolutely” re-open. “My goal as an owner is to get the building back to original condition, better,” he said, sure that the time it will take won’t be long and momentum of the neighborhood’s progress won’t be harmed. “The BID has been very positive. NoHo is constantly changing, improving,” Akhavan said. “The location and profile are very, very high,” and won’t unduly suffer from what he said would be a “few months downtime” of having the destination business closed. “The area is growing very quickly, and there’s always new projects coming in,” Akhavan said. Bank Heist’s owner Jason Feld could not be reached to respond to, or supply details about, the timeframe for the ostensible reopening. The fire damage to the NoHo destination venue isn’t the only hitch in the overall view of the neighborhood. It is literally darker since the NoHo Commons anchor store, the 32,000 square foot HOWS Market, has scaled back its hours no longer open through the night closing from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. for the winter. The third phase of the Commons project, originally estimated as having a January 2008 groundbreaking, has been pushed back to include the addition of a seven screen, approximately 1,100-seat Laemmle Theater. “Hopefully, in six months we’ll break ground,” said Cliff Goldstein, senior partner at L.A.-based J.H. Snyder Co., the project’s developer. New Hire Sam Monempour has joined Encino-based NAI Capital as vice president. Monempour was recipient of the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s Real Estate Awards in 2001 and 2002, and brings over ten years of commercial real estate brokerage experience to the firm where he will focus on tenant and landlord representation throughout the greater Los Angeles area, particularly the Conejo Valley and West San Fernando Valley region. Previously, Monempour was associate vice president with Grubb & Ellis, where he was part of the exclusive listing team representing the 628,000 square foot Trillium in the Warner Center, the 327,000 square foot Westlake North Business Park, the 157,000 square foot Legacy Oaks Corporate Center, the 295,000 square foot Calabasas Tech Center, and the 180,000 square foot Westlake Landmark. New Digs Capital Network Leasing Corporation announced that it has moved its headquarters from Sherman Oaks to Burbank’s Media District. The relocation, arranged through CB Richard Ellis, puts the Business Journal’s 2007 No. 1 Fastest Growing Company into a 14,984 square foot lease. The firm’s fast growth is an issue for Blake Johnson, CapNet president. He said “This move will accommodate us for several years to come.” Theirs is the largest direct lease for a tenant moving into the Media District market this year, not including tenant renewals, CB Richard Ellis’ Nico Vilgiate said. The Media Building that CapNet will call home is at 2600 West Olive Avenue and is owned by Legacy Partners, represented by Madison Partners. The transaction is valued at approximately $3 million. CEO Steps Down Metrocities Mortgage, LLC, of Sherman Oaks, announced that CEO and founder Paul Wylie has decided to step down. Dick Loeffler, COO of Prospect Mortgage Company, will serve as interim CEO upon Wylie’s departure. Executives Lynette Hale-Lee, Virginia Martinez, Anna Ruotolo and Harry Tomlinson will collectively manage the sales organization. Wylie founded Metrocities in 1989 and it is ranked in the top 1 percent of residential mortgage lenders nationwide for closed loan volume. Deals Closed Lee Black, executive vice president with Encino-based NAI Capital, closed three notable transactions before the end of the year. He represented Verizon California, Inc. in its approximately $3 million sub-lease from Amgen, Inc., of 36,000 square feet of office space located in The Arbors complex at 2535 West Hillcrest Dr. in Thousand Oaks. Cushman & Wakefield represented Amgen. In another lease transaction, Black along with Lisa Cracknell of Cushman & Wakefield represented The California State Parks Foundation in its relocation from Kentfield to San Francisco. The Foundation signed a 10-year lease valued at approximately $3 million for an 8,363 square foot suite within Lincoln Property’s Francisco Bay Office Park at 50 Francisco St., San Francisco. Sales Completed Craig Weisman of TOLD Partners, Inc. of Woodland Hills, completed three office/industrial transactions located in the Valley for a combined consideration in excess of $5 million. Weisman negotiated the sale and purchase of a 4,890 square foot office building located at 7013 Owensmouth Ave. in Canoga Park. The two-story building was purchased by Owensmouth Partners, LLC for the relocation of American Landscape. The seller was INC Investment, LLC. In a separate transaction, Weisman again represented INC for their relocation from Canoga Park and to purchase a 13,380 square foot office/industrial building located at 9710 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Chatsworth, which was not on the market for sale. The seller, MAK Realty Associates, LLC was represented by Scott Caswell of Delphi. Weisman, along with Kevin Tamura of Daum represented the Ostrow Partnership in a 32,000 square foot industrial building lease to Ameri-Seal which is expanding within Chatsworth. The freestanding, high clearance industrial building is located in the Chatsworth Industrial Park at 21330 Superior St. Weisman and TOLD’s Terry Adams represented Ameri-Seal. Senior Reporter James Hames can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or at [email protected] .
