Faring Secures $35M Loan for Hotel-Office Project in WeHo

Faring has landed $35 million in refinancing for a 400,000-square-foot hotel and office building project in West Hollywood.

The locally based developer led by Jason Illoulian secured the loan to build the 123-room luxury hotel and seven-story office building at 645-681 North Robertson Boulevard, the Commercial Observer reported.

The project would include an adaptive reuse of the historic Factory Building, with ground-floor shops and restaurants and an underground garage for an unspecified number of cars.

Centennial Bank, based in Arkansas, provided the $35 million loan. Priority Capital Advisory arranged the financing.

“It’s not often you come across development opportunities like this,” Illoulian said in a statement. “This is a generational asset in one of the strongest submarkets of Los Angeles and we are excited that Centennial Bank shares our vision.”

The project is slated for eight contiguous lots on nearly 2 acres, just south of Santa Monica Boulevard near West Hollywood Park and the Pacific Design Center.

The West Hollywood City Council approved Faring’s original plan for the project called Robertson Lane in 2018. It attracted attention for incorporating the historic former nightclub The Factory, which is on the California Register of Historic Places.

The developer has made numerous changes to its project, which at one time was slated for 241 hotel rooms. In 2021, it filed plans for a 109-room hotel, with a 12,500-square-foot hotel gym.

A timeline for the project was not disclosed.

The WeHo market continues to attract investors for both multifamily and nightclub assets. In January, CityView paid Blackstone $63 million for a six-building portfolio of apartments in Los Angeles and West Hollywood. In April, tech executive Tristan Schukraft spent $27 million on two WeHo watering holes.

— Dana Bartholomew