The project I’ve been working on just got published recently. We have a new
York Times article coming soon too. I’ll send it when I get it. Here are
some more images recently taken.
Developer Robert Herscu on revamping industrial LA properties for creative
tenants
Businessman is slated to unveil new project at 720 N. Cahuenga Boulevard
*January 27, 2016 11:15AM*
*By Katherine Clarke
[image: Robert Herscu and a rendering of]
Robert Herscu and a rendering of 720 N. Cahuenga Boulevard
Developer Robert Herscu is betting big on single-tenant office buildings.
The Australian businessman, CEO of HQ Development Group, is set to open yet
another Los Angeles area office property geared towards a single creative
or tech tenant who wants their own quirky flagship building, he told *The
Real Deal*.
The property, which consists of three adjoining former warehouses at 720 N.
Cahuenga Boulevard in the Hollywood Media District, has already been
renovated top to bottom by architecture firm Shubin + Donaldson, which
rejiggered it to include exterior courtyards, mezzanines, a library and
screening room, open offices, kitchens, meeting rooms and a yoga studio.
Herscu hopes the revamp of the 1950s-era prop warehouse is a recipe for
attracting a top-tier tech tenant.
“They call them the compounds,” he said of the types of casual offices he
likes to build. “People want to bring their dogs, plug in their electric
cars, come into an environment that feels like their home rather than going
to a high-rise and getting in an elevator with a bunch of suits.”
[image: HQ 2]
A rendering of 720 N. Cahuenga Boulevard
The 40,000-square-foot building will be the eighth such property Herscu has
bought and renovated since he launched his creative office venture, dubbed
HQ Creative Space, in 2014, using mostly his own capital plus investment
from friends and family.
The developer said he targets old prop warehouses and industrial buildings
in West Los Angeles, Hollywood, West Hollywood and Culver City with
historic elements that can be preserved to enhance the character of the
office space.
At 720 N. Cahuenga, Shubin + Donaldson managed to keep the warehouses’
30-foot bow-trussed ceilings and used materials such as wood, steel,
concrete and metal to maintain the industrial flavor.
Meanwhile, the building has all the modern conveniences one might expect
from a mansion in Beverly Hills, including a Creston system, which allows
employees to control the lighting, music and heat from their iPads, and a
large-scale water feature.
[image: A rendering of 720 N. Cahuenga Boulevard]
A rendering of 720 N. Cahuenga Boulevard
Landscape architect Jay Griffith, who has designed gardens for the likes of
Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz and Cuba Gooding, Jr.,
designed the outdoor areas.
It’s an expensive undertaking but Herscu, a longtime entrepreneur whose
previous projects include running the largest independent shopping mall
gift card company in the U.S., said the business plan makes sense.
“No one is spending what we’re spending,” he said. “We’re putting $300 a
foot into renovation costs and achieving unprecedented rents as a result.
We’re beating our pro formas by 25 to 40 percent. Whenever we go into a new
market, we set a new record nine out of 10 times.”
HQ bought the Cahuenga building for $6.5 million in 2014, records show.
Herscu expects rents to top $4.25 a foot, well over the average county-wide
asking rent of $2.65.
[image: A rendering of 720 N. Cahuenga Boulevard]
A rendering of 720 N. Cahuenga Boulevard
That’s not chump change for tenants but Herscu has succeeded in drawing a
handful of high-profile tech and creative companies to his buildings.
Lin Pictures, the movie production company that produced “The Lego Movie”
in 2014, rents 15,450 square feet at HQ’s Seward House, at 729 Seward
Street. Media company Mashable lease 10,900 square feet at an HQ building
in Culver City, at 9950 Jefferson Blvd. And surfer Kelly Slater’s company
Outerknown is in another building at 9300 Jefferson Blvd, where it leases
7,500 square feet.
The tenants, Herscu said, are less concerned about the price and more with
their ability to attract top talent with a unique work environment.
“When you’re talking about this kind of building, rent becomes an ancillary
conversation,” he said.
Herscu
– See more at:
therealdeal.com/la/2016/01/27/developer-robert-herscu-on-revamping-industrial-la-properties-for-creative-tenants/#sthash.rRbFkvPk.dpuf
