Fashion Nova founder and CEO Richard Saghian just paid $118 million for a new Beverly Hills headquarters as he bets big on the local office market.
The 175,000-square-foot building at 407 North Maple Drive, bought off market from Tishman Speyer, pencils out to about $675 per square foot. It places the online fashion company’s future home just outside Beverly Hills’ Golden Triangle, the tony retail district home to a raft of luxury flagships within its borders of Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive.
“It’s all about investing in the right submarkets, and Beverly Hills has remained resilient through economic cycles,” Saghian told The Real Deal. “It is also strategically located near many of our employees and brand partners. Traditional office is undergoing a significant transformation, yet amenity-rich buildings in highly-desired destinations will thrive. And that is what Beverly Hills, and this building, represent.”
Buildings of that size within the city are hard to come by. Saghian would appear to have also nabbed a deal. A smaller building about a mile away from his new office, and the priciest currently listed in the city, is asking just under $2,000 per square foot. The next priciest listing, just under two miles away from Fashion Nova’s new headquarters, is going for $933 per square foot.
Tishman represented itself in the deal, while Mike Condon of Cushman & Wakefield represented Fashion Nova.
The building spans four stories with three levels of subterranean parking.
Social club
A new Fashion Nova Social Club will be built out with a fitness space, juice bar and other amenities available on an invite-only basis for influencers and creatives. There will also be a Nova Founders Lab, which will act as an incubator and accelerator program for startups to tap the company’s marketing, logistics, content creation studios and provide access to executive mentors.
The building’s second floor is occupied by talent management firm Mosaic Media Group and Citi Private Bank, with both of those tenants expected to remain in place.
Fashion Nova staff will occupy the top two floors, which had previously been Fandango. That space has the capacity for more than 600 workers.
The company currently counts about 500 people in its Vernon offices, located just south of Downtown L.A.
The CEO underscored Beverly Hills’ proximity to Century City and West Hollywood, which places it closer to the influencers and other businesses it regularly works with.
The move into the new space could come as early as the end of this year once renovations, including Herman Miller furnishings, are completed.
Expanding portfolio
Future plans call for new Fashion Nova satellite offices in London, Hong Kong, Sydney and New York. One or two of those offices may open as early as the end of this year and could include a social club component similar to Beverly Hills.
Saghian’s family office is also expected to launch and be based out of the Maple Drive location as he looks to press the gas pedal on his real estate portfolio.
“I’ve always viewed real estate as a long-term generational investment, especially architecturally significant buildings in world class locations,” Saghian said.
He added, specific to the Maple Drive acquisition, that, “As the recent interest rate climate reduced institutional demand, this was a great opportunity to build my portfolio and acquire another high-quality, well-located asset at an attractive valuation.”
He views the market as being near the bottom and said he’s open to all kinds of asset classes, from commercial to residential.
Saghian’s portfolio is already large with two homes in the Hollywood Hills, two Malibu beach houses and The One in Bel-Air. The latter, totaling 105,000 square feet, is currently under renovation and is expected to be completed next year. It was developed by Nile Niami and following a high-profile bankruptcy was ultimately sold at auction for $141 million to Saghian in 2022.
Fashion Nova’s new headquarters are symbolic of its evolution from its 2006 start as a store in the Panorama Mall in Panorama City. SInce then, it has leveraged social media marketing and influencer partnerships to scale to about $2 billion in annual sales.
“I’ve always been focused on doing what’s best for Fashion Nova, our employees and our customers,” Saghian said. “As we have grown into a global operation, the opportunities for our new HQ were endless.”
The CEO added the building provides “ample room for growth for years to come.”
