Corinthia Hotels Buys Beverly Hills Office

Corinthia Hotels International is growing its portfolio in Beverly Hills.

An entity affiliated with the Malta-based hotel owner and manager bought the office building at 9800 Wilshire Boulevard and an adjoining parking structure for an undisclosed price, CoStar reported. The deal had backing from investors including The Gores Group and Kuwait-based Action Real Estate Company.

The property spans 60,000 square feet and is occupied by The Gores Group and a members-only social and co-working club.

The buyers intend to keep the property as an office building.

Meanwhile, Corinthia is gearing up to transform a set of buildings at Wilshire Boulevard and Spaulding Drive. The lodging group in March bought the 44-room Maison 140 hotel and 49-room Mosaic Hotel, both adjoining the 9800 Wilshire office building, for $35 million. Maison 140 was built in 1939 as a residence for silent film star Lillian Gish. The Mosaic was built in 1959 and is part of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts network.

Corinthia owns and manages 25 hotels worldwide, including The Surrey in New York City’s Upper East Side, which has 100 hotel rooms and 14 private residences. Late last year, Corinthia completed a $162 million redevelopment of the Grand Hotel Astoria in Brussels and reopened it as the Corinthia Brussels. It also transformed the former Central Bank of Italy headquarters in Rome into the luxury Corinthia Rome hotel. In addition, the company plans to operate a 102-story hotel and residential tower under construction in Dubai.

Beverly Hills’ office market is experiencing a high vacancy rate of 24.6 percent, although premium transactions are still getting done. Tishman Speyer this summer listed Maple Plaza, at 345 Maple Drive, the last property in a portfolio of three buildings for over $200 million. Tishman sold 9242 Beverly Boulevard for $90 million, or $668 per square foot, in December to Jason Illoulian and fashion and hospitality entrepreneur Frank Zarabi, underscoring continued investor interest despite the vacancy pressure.

— Chris Malone Méndez

Correction: This post has been updated to correct the transaction details.