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Los Angeles

Ian Schrager, Ed Scheetz close purchase of former Standard Hollywood hotel

Deal delayed for months by billboard lawsuit

Ed Scheetz and Ian Schrager with the Standard Hotel
Ed Scheetz and Ian Schrager with the Standard Hotel (Getty, Google Maps)
By
Feb 2, 2023, 11:00 AM

Hotel moguls Ian Schrager and Ed Scheetz have closed their purchase of the former Standard Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard, after legal fights about the billboard on the property delayed the deal by months, The Real Deal has learned.

Schrager and Scheetz, through a limited liability company named 8300 Sunset Owner, closed on the deal Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter. The seller, Randy Garitty of Rittersbacher Sunset LLC, declined to comment, while Schrager did not respond to a request for comment. CBRE brokered the deal on behalf of the seller.

The duo purchased the property at 8300 Sunset Boulevard, which shuttered in 2021, almost a year after signing an initial contract. The deal closed for less than the original purchase price of $120 million, because of the delays, the source added.

About $30 million of that price stemmed from signage rights attached to the billboard above the hotel. Though pricey, the billboard came with its own set of issues. In June, Rittersbacher Sunset filed a lawsuit against Osik Media, an advertising company that manages the billboard, alleging it wouldn’t give up the sublease and was complicating the deal. The suit is still ongoing.

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Schrager and Scheetz will not keep the property under the Standard brand. Both have their own respective hotel brands — Schrager with the Edition and the Public, Scheetz with the Chelsea hotels. L.A. only has one of those brands; in 2020, Schrager scored a deal to brand the 190-key hotel at 9040 West Sunset Boulevard as an Edition.

Potential buyers of the property, including Amar Lalvani, the executive chair and former CEO of Standard International, have said any new owner would have to substantially redevelop or demolish the building for the deal to pencil out.

“With a property of that size, you can only make so much profit,” Lalvani said in April last year. “To make more of a profit, you have to make it more luxury or build something with residences.”

The property also has historic designation from the city of West Hollywood, making future redevelopment challenging but not impossible.

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HollywoodIan SchragerLA Hotels