Live Nation’s Hollywood exit leaves big hole for LeFrak

Live Nation Entertainment, one of the world’s largest concert promotion companies, plans to leave its Hollywood digs next year, leaving brokers scrambling to backfill its soon-to-be vacant office space.

Patrick Church, a broker with commercial real estate firm JLL, said that Live Nation plans to downsize, vacating seven floors at 7060 Hollywood Blvd., by late 2020. It will continue to lease four floors at the 12-story Hollywood building, which is owned by New York-based real estate firm LeFrak.

JLL is in discussions with multiple tenants to take over the space, but Church declined to disclose their identities.

“It’s a very tight market in Hollywood. This is one of the larger spaces to come available at this time,” he said.

As it leaves behind space in Hollywood, Live Nation plans to expand into a total of 195,000 square feet of space in two other office complexes in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, where the concert promoter is headquartered.

In total, Live Nation — which has a market capitalization of roughly $14.5 billion — will give up 91,000 square feet of space at the 175,000-square-foot Hollywood Boulevard property by the end of 2020, according to Church.
As part of a multi-year agreement with LeFrak, LiveNation will retain about 52,000 square feet in the bottom four floors.

LeFrak paid $50 million to acquire the building in 2007, after the prior owner unsuccessfully attempted to convert the building into condos. LeFrak performed a full gut-renovation and in 2009 fully leased the property out to Live Nation, I.D. Media and Buffalo Wild Wings.

These days, the average rent for Class A office space in Hollywood is $5.37 per square foot, with total vacancy estimated at 10.6 percent, according to JLL’s third-quarter statistics. It’s a pricier and more desirable submarket than the Mid-Wilshire District, where rents average $3.19 a foot and the vacancy rate is 19.1 percent.

LeFrak, a family-run business headed by President Trump’s friend Richard LeFrak, owns scores of real estate across the U.S, including more than 30 office buildings. Office holdings include 40 West 57th Street in Manhattan and 9701 Wilshire Blvd., the tallest building in the Beverly Hills triangle.

In January, Live Nation said it would lease nearly all of the Worthe Real Estate Group’s under-construction post office in Beverly Hills – taking 95,000 square feet at the 105,000-square-foot property at 325 Maple Dr.

Live Nation is headquartered at UTA Plaza and the Ice House, an office campus in Beverly Hills owned by Rockefeller Group Investment Management. It’s unclear whether Live Nation will remain there.

Last month, Live Nation signed a lease to take up 98,000 square feet at developer CIM Group’s 1041 Formosa Avenue – the still under-construction Courtyard Building at The Lot office complex in West Hollywood.

A Live Nation spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment, nor did a representative for CIM.