L.A.’s Distressed Beverly Connection Lands New 20K-SF Bloomingdale’s Outlet
Debt tied to the complex across from the famous Beverly Center has been managed under special servicing since 2020
By Nick Trombola March 27, 2025 5:25 pm
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A Los Angeles shopping center that has had its CMBS debt stuck in special servicing for years has a new tenant, which may help take the edge off of its debt woes.
Bloomingdale’s Outlet, the retailer’s off-price chain, inked a lease with Ben Ashkenazy’s Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation for 20,000 square feet at Beverly Connection, a 340,000-square-foot retail complex at 100 North La Cienega Boulevard, nestled between Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and L.A.’s Fairfax District. The complex is across the street from the iconic Beverly Center, near one of the city’s most traveled intersections at the heart of the historic TMZ (Thirty-Mile Zone).
The ground-level storefront is expected to open later this year. Both Ashkenazy and Bloomingdale’s were represented in-house in the deal. The firms did not immediately disclose the asking rent or the value of the lease.
The retailer will join other off-price tenants there such as Saks Off Fifth, Nordstrom Rack, TJ Maxx and Ross, among others.
“This world-class fashion brand fits in seamlessly with our curated roster of tenants filling an in-demand niche in the retail market,” Joe Press, Ashkenazy’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.
Ashkenazy acquired the retail center in 2014 from Vornado Realty Trust for $260 million. The firm landed a 10-year, $210 million commercial mortgage-backed securities package at the time from Citigroup, Commercial Observer reported almost 11 years ago. But then the pandemic hit in early 2020, and retail foot traffic dried up for a time alongside it.
The property’s debt, attached to three separate CMBS deals (GSMS 2014-GC24, COMM 2014-CR20, and JPMBB 2014-C23) has been managed under a special servicer since then due to delinquent payments. A fresh appraisal of the property dropped its value to $193 million earlier this month, down from a previous valuation of $214 million, according to a report from Morningstar Credit. A reinstatement agreement was carried out in late 2023, but the debt has remained with the special servicer.
Alongside the senior loans, $35 million of unsecuritized subordinate debt is also tied to the property, per Morningstar.
Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.
