Madison Marquette Transforms La Brea Block into Destination for Urban Retail and Creative Offices

Restoration of 11 buildings on Los Angeles Block to host emerging designers and artists

Los Angeles, CA (October 6, 2011) - Madison Marquette announced today the redevelopment of the historic Continental Graphics building in Los Angeles into a new creative collective destination called District La Brea. The project features eleven buildings encompassing 85,000 square feet between 1st and 2nd Street on South La Brea Avenue. Madison Marquette first acquired the property in 2008 as part of the Madison Marquette Retail Enhancement Fund.

“We’re looking to expand a little bit of SoHo that has existed on La Brea,” said Tom Gilmore, Executive Vice President of Madison Marquette. The area already hosts an eclectic mix of galleries, retailers, and restaurants including La Brea Bakery and Pinks Hot Dogs. The project’s focus is to revitalize the historic 1930’s era compound of buildings into the newest shopping destination for the fashion forward that already frequent the popular retail boutiques across the street such as American Rag, Union, Stussy, and Undefeated.

Madison Marquette has already signed and opened several retail concepts at District La Brea.
Feal Mor, a retail concept showcasing a collection of French and Japanese menswear, vintage military, and highly curated collections opened a 1,200 square foot flagship this past summer.
Madison Marquette also signed on famed vintage purveyor, What Goes Around Comes Around (WGACA) early this summer for the boutique’s only West Coast location.

Also coming to District Labrea is a new bakery cafe concept from Karen and Quinn Hatfield called Sycamore Kitchen. Chefs Quinn and Karen Hatfield currently own an elegant dinner restaurant, Hatfield's on Melrose. Sycamore Kitchen will be a full-service restaurant for bakery fare and seasonally-focused cuisine and will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“Now that we’ve established leasing momentum, we will work with the city to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment that better connects District La Brea with neighboring retail,” said Mr. Gilmore.

District La Brea includes a 125-space, three-story parking structure on the corner of Second Street and La Brea Ave., as well as a 44-space parking lot on First Street. The parking is an added asset to the project and neighboring businesses.

About Madison Marquette
Madison Marquette is a Washington, D.C.-based investor, developer and operator of retail and retail mixed-use real estate throughout the United States. The company specializes in creating unique retail destinations that respond best to consumer preferences. With regional offices in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Charlotte, San Francisco, Boca Rotan, Seattle and San Diego, Madison Marquette seeks investment opportunities in growing markets. The company maintains a sophisticated in-house operating capability and oversees 18 million square feet of retail real estate. This diverse national portfolio includes many properties that Madison Marquette manages and leases on behalf of third-party owners. For more information about the company, please visit http://www.madisonmarquette.com.