Done Deals: Avison Young completes land/property sale in Hollywood, CA for buyer, Avon Studio Transportation

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Avison Young completes land/property sale in Hollywood, CA for buyer, Avon Studio Transportation

956 Seward Street, Hollywood, CA

Martin McDermott

Los Angeles, CA – Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, announced today the sale of 956 Seward Street in Hollywood. The property consists of 1.29 acres of land and an historic, two-story, 41,000-square-foot (sf) film vault that will remain in operation.

Avison Young Principal Martin McDermott, based in the company’s West Los Angeles office, represented the buyer, Avon Studio Transportation, which will use the site to enable its vehicles within Hollywood to serve clients more effectively and efficiently.

Supporting the entertainment industry for 36 years, Avon Studio Transportation boasts one of the largest independently owned and operated fleet of vehicles in Southern California and has locations in Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

The property was purchased from Editing Film Center and BENHAR Company, who had owned the property since it was built in 1952. The sellers were represented by Seth Stuart of Zurich Investment Company.

“This transaction closed many years after the search for additional parking space began with my client,” comments McDermott, an expert in owner-user transactions.

“The challenge for Avon Studio Transportation’s specific requirement was that developers had pushed prices beyond what would work for owner-users prior to the economic downturn.

"This property provided the ideal location and was also perfectly timed, as pricing is still favorable and we were able lock in an SBA loan at an interest rate below 4%.”

McDermott adds that Avison Young introduced Avon Studio to its lender on the property, Union Bank. A favorable SBA loan was secured before interest rates began to rise.

“About six years ago after an exhaustive search for a space in Hollywood, Martin identified a small parcel of land that was available.

" Interest rates were at 6% to 7% at that time and I was considering a very high price-per-square-foot for something less than ideal for my business needs because the market was so tight,” says Nelson Silver, founder/owner of Avon Studio Transportation.

“After careful consideration, Martin and I elected to not settle. By waiting, we were ultimately able to achieve a much better deal all around with a considerably lower interest rate and about $100 less per square foot than the previous space. This Seward site is also the size I needed and is in the perfect location.”