The one-time home to a world-famous Brown Derby Restaurant location is the subject of a $2.95 million lease arranged by Lee & Associates’ Sherman Oaks office. Hillhurst Los Feliz LLC is leasing the historic property located at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd., in Los Angeles. Chase Bank takes over the circa-1928 asset via a 10-year lease set to begin in June 2011.
Lee & Associates Principal Duncan Lemmon represented Hillhurst Los Feliz LLC in the 5,800-square-foot transaction of the 14,000-square-foot building the last Brown Derby still standing of the famed Los Angeles-based chain. Chase Bank was represented by CB Richard Ellis. The lease was signed with Chase Bank and current tenant Louise’s Trattoria Restaurant for more than 80% of the building. The total combined lease value is $5.3 million. The remaining 2,770 square feet is being marketed by Lee & Associates 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 underway.
The Los Feliz location has the distinction of being one of a small chain of world famous Brown Derby restaurants in Los Angeles that thrived during the golden age of Hollywood. The 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 famous derby-shaped roof, though 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 purchased 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.
Posted 12/15/10.
