Kaiser adds motel to East Hollywood complex

Kaiser Foundation is adding a motel to its East Hollywood medical complex with the purchase of a decades-old Travelodge.

The healthcare giant bought the 73-room property, located at 1401 North Vermont Avenue, for $30.8 million, according to public records. The deal closed on February 8. The seller was Grubb Properties, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based development firm that has numerous projects in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere.

Kaiser’s plans for the hotel are so far unclear, but the purchase adds another holding for the Bay Area-based group in a stretch of East Hollywood that’s already characterized by healthcare buildings. The Travelodge is located near the corner of Vermont Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, not far from the massive Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, which includes Kaiser Sunset and Kaiser Permanente hospitals. Also near the intersection, across Vermont Avenue from the Travelodge, are Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center.

The nearly 22,000-square-foot, two-story motel was built in 1956 and renovated in 1973, according to records. The $30.8 million deal comes out to about $1,400 per square foot, or about $422,000 per key — a remarkably high price point for a motel. Last summer the Hyatt Regency at LAX sold for about $148,000 per room, for example; a J.W. Marriott in Santa Monica, where rooms go over for $500 per night, also sold for $429,000 per room.

Kaiser’s existing presence in the area, however, likely made the location, rather than the motel itself, extremely desirable. The healthcare player could also be eyeing a short or medium-term rental location for its own staff or traveling nurses, a cohort that has been particularly in demand throughout the pandemic.

A representative for Kaiser did not respond to a request for comment.

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