LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CIM Group today announced that it has acquired The Desmond, an 11-story, approximately 79,000-square-foot office and retail building in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles. The building offers approximately 28,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, approximately 51,000 square feet of office space on the upper floors, and 67 parking spaces.
Located at 5500 Wilshire Boulevard, the building spans a full city block between S. Burnside Avenue and S. Dunsmuir Avenue. The art-deco building was originally built in 1928 for the upscale Desmond’s and Silverwoods department stores. Desmond’s was the first major clothing retailer on the Miracle Mile when it opened in 1929, with the upper floors of the tower occupied by doctors and professionals.
Designed by prominent architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the building was designated more than 30 years ago as a Historic-Cultural monument. The Desmond was most recently renovated in 1990, and preserves the striking architecture, terrazzo floors, ornate stone lobby, handcrafted gold-painted leaf ceilings, operable windows, and rooftop sky deck, offering an authentic Art Deco experience.
The Desmond is surrounded by cultural attractions such as the LACMA, Academy Museum, and Peterson Automotive Museum; retail options including the popular La Brea retail corridor, The Original Farmers Market, Beverly Center, and The Grove; and is a short walk to numerous cafes and restaurants.
The Desmond is centrally located to Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hollywood, and Korea Town. The property has excellent access to the many public transportation lines operating on Wilshire Boulevard, a primary east – west regional connector in Los Angeles and is four blocks from the La Brea/Wilshire station of the new Purple Line Metro Subway scheduled to be completed in 2023.
Since its founding in 1994, CIM has been an active owner, developer, and operator in Los Angeles, and its headquarters is less than one mile from The Desmond. The company has experience in improving historic properties across North America including the adaptive reuse of three-building former Gas Company headquarters in downtown Los Angeles and 7046 Hollywood Boulevard (known as the Hollywood Professional Building) to residential uses; updating landmarked office buildings such as L&C Tower in Nashville and Central Tower in San Francisco; and currently is repositioning the iconic Chicago Tribune Tower into residential condominiums. CIM is committed to enhancing its properties by increasing sustainability, efficiency, and quality for tenants, residents, and visitors as well as improving the character and value of the communities in which it owns and operates properties.
ABOUT CIM GROUP
CIM is a community-focused real estate and infrastructure owner, operator and lender. Since 1994, CIM has led more than $56 billion of projects in communities across the Americas on behalf of its own account and its partners, co-investors and shareholders. CIM’s broad in-house expertise includes decades of research, acquisition, credit analysis, development, finance, leasing and asset management experience in urban real assets, net-lease assets and other associated credit strategies. Using its disciplined approach and extensive in-house expertise, CIM seeks to create value in projects, which ultimately enhances communities. For more information, visit www.cimgroup.com.
