Gabays’ Charles Company looks to sell 13 acres in North Hollywood

Charles Company, the development firm run by Mark and Arman Gabay, has listed about 13 acres in North Hollywood for sale — land that could be slated for new apartments, The Real Deal has learned. 

Five Points LLC, which is controlled by the firm, is selling about 561,000 square feet of commercially zoned land at the intersection of Victory Boulevard and Laurel Canyon Boulevard, according to a listing on LoopNet. Darrell Levonian at Kidder Mathews is marketing the plots for sale. 

A developer could build 920 units on the site, plus self-storage and retail, according to the listing, which cites an analysis from Gensler. The sites have not yet been entitled for multifamily development. 

“That’s not the only plan it can be,” Levonian said, adding other opportunities include condos or affordable housing. “It comes down to arithmetic.” 

Levonian said the portfolio has already garnered interest, mostly from local and regional developers. 

Charles Company bought the 22 sites in a portfolio sale for $27 million in 2015, according to property records filed with L.A. County. The company could not be reached for comment. 

As of now, the properties are a mix of low-level offices and retail. 

The properties are tied to a $160 million term loan from Wells Fargo — as are a number of other LLCs controlled by the Charles Company. Mark and Arman Gabay are named as guarantors on the loan. 

Arman Gabay is currently serving four years in federal prison on a bribery charge, court records show. He started his sentence in May. 

Gabay had paid an official in L.A. County’s Real Estate Division $1,000 a month in exchange for county leases, plus other benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He also offered to buy the official a home for $1 million — in exchange the county would spend $45 million to lease one of his commercial properties in Hawthorne.