Fortress falls out of contract for Fred Sands’ building in Brentwood: sources

Agreed price was $58M, or about $560 per square foot

Fortress executives Fred Sands and Randal Nardone with the property
Fortress executives Fred Sands and Randal Nardone with the property

Fortress Investment Group has fallen out of its roughly $58 million contract to purchase a Brentwood high-rise developed by the late real estate impresario Fred Sands, The Real Deal has learned.

Sources said the deal fell through during renegotiations, when New York City-based Fortress tried to score a better deal for the 103,000-square-foot property at 11611 San Vicente Boulevard.

The property is ground-leased through 2091 by a family trust assigned to Eulalie Ahern, deed records show. Such ground leases are often a sore spot for buyers and likely crushed the deal, sources said.

Vintage Real Estate Group, a private investment firm based in the 10th floor of the building, developed the Class A office building in 1977. The firm was founded and chaired by Sands, a real estate mogul who got his start in residential real estate.

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Rents at the property are upwards of $4.10-per-square-foot, marketing materials show. Tenants include a dermatology center named Skinpeccable and Brentview Medical Urgent Care. One West Bank and Velocity Training Studio lease ground-floor retail space.

Marc Renard at Cushman & Wakefield had the listing.

Fortress, Vintage Real Estate and Renard did not return requests for comment. The family trust also could not be reached.

SoftBank Group acquired Fortress, a global investment manager, for $3.3 billion in December.

The firm has been an active investor in L.A. Last year, a joint venture between Fortress and Ocean West Capital Partners acquired a Burbank office building at Alameda Avenue for $40.3 million.