A Depression-era former post office in Venice that had previously been planned as headquarters for Joel Silver’s movie production and financing company has sold to a United Kingdom-based investor.
Silver Pictures Entertainment CEO Hal Sadoff controls the entity that sold the building at 1601 S. Main Street in Downtown, property records show. Sale price was $22 million.
The new owner is an entity tied to Allied Commercial Exporters Limited, a London-based real estate investment firm. It was founded by the late Jack Dellal, a U.K. investor. It is now by his grandson, Alex Dellal. Allied Commercial could not be immediately reached for comment.
Joel Silver had purchased the post office in 2012 and immediately started on a renovation. Three years later, Silver formed Silver Pictures Entertainment with Canadian billionaire Daryl Katz to independently finance productions.
The old post office was to be the headquarters of the new production house. But the project encountered problems. Some residents mounted a campaign to stop any redevelopment of the property, and in 2015, Variety reported that “several contractors” filed liens against the property.
In March, new plans were filed with the city to convert the 80-year-old building to an office.
A representative for Silver Pictures could not be immediately reached for comment on the sale.
The Louis Simon-designed post office was completed in 1939 and built as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal. Simon also designed the Santa Monica Post Office.
Neither are L.A. Historic-Cultural Landmarks. The interior of the Venice post office includes a mural by Edward Biberman depicting the early history and founding of Venice, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy.