The SLS Beverly Hills luxury hotel has been put up for sale by Sam Nazarian, owner and founder of the hotel's parent company SBE Entertainment Group LLC. The move comes as an effort to downsize on real estate and concentrate on managerial operations.
Nazarian says that the hotel could sell for about $210 million, given its solid performance.
"We are confident the SLS Beverly Hills will sell for more than $210 million if you look at how the property is performing, the possibility to add on development to the existing hotel and the revitalization of that neighborhood," Nazarian said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg.
Nazarian also added that the company wants to shed as many real estate assets it can while the property market is hot.
"Our strategy is to move to the asset-light model. The market is very hot right now. L.A. is trailing some of the bigger cities like New York and Miami, but it is recovering nicely. And Miami is as hot as it can be," he added.
Listing of the hotel lies with Eastdil Secured. It is managed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
According to Real Estate Alert, Nazarian acquired the hotel in 2005 for $90 million. Prior to the acquisition, the hotel belonged to the Le meridian Hotels and Resorts group.
At the time of the buy, Arash Azarbarzin, President of SBE Hotel Group said:
"The Le Meridien Beverly Hills is a spectacular property in a strategic location. It is a landmark destination in an elegant district of Los Angeles and is conveniently adjacent to major business centers, cultural attractions and LA's nightlife. It is the perfect addition to SBEHG's acquisition strategy that focuses on creating unique, lifestyle-driven properties in world-class cities."
About SLS Beverly Hills
The SLS Beverly Hills hotel is located at 465 South La Cienega Boulevard, along the border of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The hotel is a luxury resort designed by startchitect Philippe Starck. It is stacked with several luxury amenities like the "Ciel Spa & Robert Vetica Salon", "Altitude Pools" with cabanas, fine dining, gym and retail centers as well.
The Vegas Glamour
While Nazarian is selling off SLS Beverly Hills, he is now developing the SLSA Las Vegas hotel hoping to cater to "a slightly older, more sophisticated, more well-heeled consumer base with a more global lifestyle mindset and higher service expectations," according to Skift.com.
During the 2008 recession, Vegas's hotel industry took a considerable hit. However, the Sin City's economy has been showing steady growth since the recovery started. Nazarian wants to take advantage of the recovery and build on the city's glamour equity. Speaking of the hotel plans, Mike Pavicich, assistant director of hotel sales at SLS Las Vegas Hotel & Casino told the website:
"Prior to the Great Recession, the cycle in Vegas was bigger is better, seeing who could out-build each other on the Strip. In a large part it created some magnificent mega resorts, but at the same time we also lost that Las Vegas service standard that the city was built on. So Sam's vision with SLS is to make Las Vegas really the traditional Vegas of years past when people were treated like a name and not a number."
