8500 Sunset Blvd features Fred Segal shop and 178-stall parking operation

THE REAL DEAL- JAN. 9 at 11:00 a.m.:

Regal Ventures has bought 37,900 square feet of ground-floor shops and a 178-stall parking garage at 8500 Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood.

The purchase by Regal Ventures of the property’s curbside shops includes a 22,000-square-foot flagship location for Fred Segal, a locally based upscale apparel brand. Other tenants in the 100-percent occupied storefronts include Kith, a New York-based apparel and footwear retailer; Rumble, a boxing fitness chain; Tesse, a Bill Chait-branded restaurant and wine lounge; and Tia, a female-focused healthcare firm.

The deal is the latest sign of demand along the 1.7-mile Sunset Strip, a Los Angeles-area hotspot for nightlife, shopping, hotels and restaurants.

Celebrity Kim Kardashian is opening a store down the street at 8569 West Sunset Boulevard.

—Dana Bartholomew of The Real Deal

Investment sales in the sector have been impacted by the same volatile forces as other commercial real estate assets, but potential long-term returns remain attractive.

Regal Ventures provides insight on the current state of street retail and the positive trends on the sub-segment of retail assets.

The Pittsburgh Business Journal highlighted the transaction, as the owner of master plan on the South Side sold the anchor restaurant to Regal Ventures as it continued to redevelop remaining parcels of mixed-use development.

$35,250,000 Purchase of 897 Eighth Avenue Includes Acquisition of 21,272-Square-Foot Parking Garage Condo

In close proximity to Columbus Circle, the property is anchored by Gristedes supermarket and several established retail tenants

NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Regal Ventures, a real estate investment firm headquartered in New York City, has acquired a 37,165-square-foot, grocery-anchored retail and parking condo at 897 Eighth Avenue in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood on Manhattan’s West Side.

The property’s retail component is 15,893 square feet in size, while the parking portion measures 21,272 square feet.   

The company, formerly known as Regal Acquisitions, purchased the property from Prudential Financial last month for $35,250,000.

The site, located four blocks south of Columbus Circle, spans the full block between 53rd and 54th Street on the west side of Eighth Avenue.

The Hell’s Kitchen property’s retail component includes several well-established, neighborhood outlets, including the Gristedes supermarket anchor, Pick a Bagel, Da Tommaso Ristorante, and Metro Cleaners. It also features Blank Street Coffee and the Mega Nail Spa.

“Regal Ventures is discovering sound investment value in high-population neighborhood, urban retail settings,” said Alex Smith, the firm’s co-founder and managing partner. “While the overall pace of retail sales has slackened considerably over the past few years due to the disruption from ecommerce, we’re seeing neighborhood retail in dense population areas continue to thrive and grow.”

“We’re particularly excited about this asset because the tenant mix is well diversified and poised to succeed, even in today’s uncertain economic environment.”

Joey cohen, co-founder & managing partner

“A strong grocery anchor like Gristedes brings stability to the block and neighboring tenants.”

“Despite turbulence in the economy, the underlying fundamentals of America’s retail sector are showing considerable strength,” said Sean Dainese, managing partner of Regal Ventures. “Regal Ventures perceives this strength in carefully selected, urban retail assets that we feel have been overlooked and undervalued by the market.”

• Morrison Street Capital provided a portion of the equity for the acquisition of the Eighth Avenue site.
• The site’s retail portion is capped by a 253-unit, 25-story residential condo tower.   
• In July, Regal Ventures secured a 46-percent mark-up in value by selling a portfolio of office buildings in Mt. Laurel, NJ for $51 million. The company had purchased it in September 2021 for $35 million.

A Regal Ventures transaction was recently highlighted on MPA Magazine. The firm sold a five-parcel portfolio of office buildings in Mt. Laurel, NJ for $51 million after buying it late last year for $35 million – representing a 46% boost in value in a mere eight-month period.

The Commercial Observer highlighted Regal’s IPO on CRE exchange LEX of this iconic Harlem building on Lenox Avenue:

The Real Deal highlighted the transaction in South Beach, noting that the New York City-based investment firm bought the two-story retail at 2000 Collins Avenue and the retail at the garage at 237 20th Street from an affiliate of PGIM Real Estate and Madison Capital, records show. Regal took out a $22.1 million acquisition loan from JPMorgan Chase Bank to finance the purchase of the 35,482 square feet of retail.

Real Estate Weekly noted the 2021 transaction in Brooklyn, writing that “Rockpoint Group and Kushner Companies have sold the retail condominium at 184 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for $11.7 million. Matthew J. Marshall of Marshall Real Estate represented the sellers and the buyers, a joint venture between Regal Acquisitions and The Jackson Group, LLC.  According to Marshal, a key component to the deal was that Rockpoint and Kushner provided seller financing for the deal.”