Billionaire developer Charles Cohen, of the Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, which owns the Pacific Design Center (PDC) in West Hollywood, has recently secured a significant refinancing package for the famous tri-colored glass structure. The Real Deal reports that the refinancing package, which was obtained from Goldman Sachs, amounts to $265 million and covers the Green and Blue buildings at the 8687 Melrose Avenue property. The new loan replaces a previous $145 million loan from Wells Fargo, which was set to mature in July 2024.
The Pacific Design Center is a highly valued asset for Charles Cohen, and the refinancing package is a testament to its continued success. The two buildings covered by the new loan, total approximately 1 million square feet and are home to a number of well-known tenants, including Grinder, Wolfgang Puck, Mosaic Floral Design, and the Society of Interior Designers. The Green building is home WeWork, Trion Properties, and Cedars-Sinai. WeWork also has a lease for space in the Red building, which spans 400,000 square feet.
According to The Real Deal, as of September 2019, Cedars-Sinai was paying $3.1 million in base rent and occupied about 114,000 square feet at the Green building. WeWork was paying about $1.1 million in base rent.
The property is currently struggling with with vacancies–a problem that has plagued the building since before the pandemic. In 2018, the Green and Blue buildings were only 55 percent occupied after advertising firm IPG vacated about 21 percent of the buildings, reports DBRS Morningstar. However, by December 2021, occupancy jumped to 70 percent.
The owners of the building are currently requesting an amendment of the PDC Specific Plan originally approved in 2003 to allow more flexibility in the tenant mix. No expansion, addition, or physical change to the existing buildings are proposed. They held a meeting to inform the community in advance of submitting an application to the City of West Hollywood to amend the PDC Specific Plan.
The PDC – a multi-story ghost town.