Saks Fifth Avenue Beverly Hills Project Gets Planning Nod

New York-based Saks Global, parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, is one step closer to seeing its mixed-use project in Beverly Hills become a reality.

Last Thursday, the Beverly Hills City Planning Commission voted in favor of the company’s 3.7-acre 9600 Wilshire project with some amendments made in response to issues raised in the July commission meeting.

One was about the 64,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

“At the last meeting, there were questions about the retail and restaurant distribution to clarify this issue and move the project forward, we’re prepared to accept a limit of 15,088 square feet of restaurant use, as shown on the concept plan, exclusive of the hotel and private club,” Douglas Adams, senior vice president at Streetworks Development, the real estate development division of Saks Global, said at the Aug. 14 meeting.

In addition, his team made logistical changes to the plans in response to prior commission recommendations, he noted, including creating a full pedestrian walking street and reconfiguring vehicular circulation.

Designed by Sawtelle-based Marmol Radziner, Saks’ plans call for 76 apartments, a boutique hotel, a spa, a social club, 45,000 square feet of offices, plus the 64,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space in an area bounded by Wilshire Boulevard and Bedford and Camden drives.

“It is the redevelopment of four underutilized blocks into a vibrant development anchored by a rehabilitated historic former Saks Fifth Avenue women’s store,” according to the project website.

“The original 1930s vintage Saks Fifth Avenue building was showing its age. When Barneys went out of business and closed, we saw a rare opportunity to relocate the store to an adjacent property and restore its former home without disrupting operations in one of our most important markets.”

The Saks women’s store relocated from 9600 Wilshire into the former Barneys building at 9570 Wilshire Boulevard in 2024.

Construction of 9600 Wilshire is expected to take over four years to complete.

Approval from the commission came despite mostly criticism during the public hearing portion of the meeting.

“This was our fourth Planning Commission hearing,” a spokesperson for the project told The Real Deal via email. “The first meeting (in May) was primarily hours of public comment. Since then, we have asked our supporters to stay home so the Commission could use meetings to deliberate.”

9600 Wilshire isn’t the only big mixed-use project in the works on Wilshire Boulevard.

Cain International and OKO Group are constructing a 17.5-acre development at 9850, 9876, 9900 and 9988 Wilshire Boulevard. They announced the groundbreaking in February 2024.

The site was once occupied by a Robinsons-May department store and gas station.

The project will include the first Aman Hotel on the West Coast, Aman-branded residences and renovated Beverly Hilton, as well as more than 10 acres of botanical gardens and other open space. Retail and restaurants will also be in the mix.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect a recent merger that changed some of the entities involved and added a comment from a project spokesperson.