Tight retail market sparks Los Angeles city to back Starpoint's redevelopment plans
Marcelo J. Canel, I sell Properties in Los Angeles
Coldwell Banker Commercial Multi-Family Real Estate-Investment sales. & Leasing DRE Lic. 01131904 NMLS 882636
December 9, 2024 | 12:20 P.M.
A property owner in one of the country's wealthiest zip codes plans to convert a portion of a parking garage into chic boutiques to tap moneyed tourists and locals in a popular shopping destination within Los Angeles.
The city of Beverly Hills Planning Commission approved plans from developer Starpoint Properties to convert the ground floor level of an existing parking structure in the city's Golden Triangle shopping district into about 6,800 square feet of retail space.
The plan is "the only opportunity to enhance the pedestrian experience" along North Roxbury Drive, according to Thomas Levyn, partner and chair of law firm Glaser Weil's land use and government regulations practice, who represented Starpoint Properties.
"The city is lucky that we have an owner that has the imagination, the creativity and the capital to do this," Levyn said during the November council meeting.
The project would be a rare chance to add new retail space to Beverly Hills, a city that commands some of the highest rental rates in the country and that has a tenant roster full of the world's leading luxury brands. Retail inventory shrank by 12,000 square feet in the past five years, and the pipeline of new space is empty, according to CoStar data.
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Storefronts would also dress up what one city planning commissioner called a "stretch of concrete." The property at 450 N. Roxbury Drive is on the same parcel as a 10-story medical office tower with a bank branch on the main floor.
Plans call for eliminating 29 existing parking spaces and adding 6,797 square feet of retail space split into four shops with floor areas ranging from 1,397 square feet to 1,841 square feet.
Despite the tight supply of new space, the city's luxury retail scene has faced headwinds in recent months due to price sensitivity, economic uncertainty and a tourism decline, sending Beverly Hills retail vacancy up 1.7 basis points to 6.9% in the past year.
The Starpoint project goes before the Beverly Hills City Council for final approval next month. The developers have already spotted another building in the posh city's Golden Triangle at 462 N. Linden Drive that could benefit from a similar parking-to-retail makeover if the current project moves ahead.