Downtown jewelry mart bought for $144 million
In one of the biggest commercial real estate transactions to close in Los Angeles this year, a New York investor bought the International Jewelry Center in downtown Los Angeles for $144 million.
Moinian Group acquired the 16-story tower at 550 S. Hill St. in the city’s Jewelry District from Hertz Investment Group, said Cushman & Wakefield, the brokerage that represented both parties in the sale.
The 370,000-square-foot Jewelry Center was built specifically for jewelry-related businesses in 1981 and is fully occupied by 370 tenants in the industry.
A handful of other marts -- large buildings serving specific industries such as the gift and fashion businesses -- have changed hands in Los Angeles in recent years.
Investors remain strongly interested in buying properties with predictable revenue from rents, said broker Carl Muhlstein, who represented the seller. “The common business goals of mart tenants and lack of occupancy alternatives make trade marts attractive investments,” he said.
Hertz Investment Group sold California Market Center, a mart serving the fashion industry, for about $135 million in 2002.
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