Global Crossing Ltd Chairman Gary Winnick has put the bankrupt company's former US headquarters, an historic Beverly Hills, California, complex known as "The White House," up for sale.
Winnick's Pacific Capital Group Inc investment firm hired Cushman & Wakefield Inc to find a buyer, the property broker's chairman, John Cushman, said. The property has been renamed North Crescent Plaza since its grand opening less than two years ago as Global Crossing Plaza.
The sales effort comes a day after Global Crossing, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, filed a plan to emerge from one of the largest-ever bankruptcies after amassing US$12.4 billion in debt building a 161,000km fiber-optic network. Winnick's personal fortune has dwindled with Global Crossing's troubles, falling to US$550 million according to Forbes magazine, from a peak of US$4.5 billion.
"The Global Crossing building is a magnificent piece of real estate," said Paul Stockwell, corporate managing director at broker Julien J. Studley. "I'm not sure this is the most advantageous time to put a really expensive building on the market." The complex may fetch US$60 million, Rick Hamilton, one of the brokers at Cushman who is handling the sale, said. Stockwell said it will be competing for investors along with several other office buildings in the city that are available for purchase or lease, including one owned by Dreamworks SKG co-founder David Geffen.
"Global Crossing no longer is in the building," said Scott Tagliarino, a spokesman for Win-nick. "The opportunity is there to sell the building and the opportunity came to him in terms of an interest level from entertainment companies, medical companies and possibly a hotel site."
Winnick's Pacific Capital bought the neo-Georgian complex for about US$40 million almost four years ago. The property includes two buildings with 1,152m2 of office space, a cafeteria and gymnasium, facing a landscaped plaza with fountains and a reflecting pool entered through iron antique gates from Scotland.
Global Crossing, which moved most of its executive offices to Madison, New Jersey, had paid more than US$400,000 a month in rent. A Pacific Capital unit made a legal claim in July against Global Crossing for US$496,000 in lapsed rent for April, even though the company gave up the lease on April 2.
The northernmost building was designed by architect Paul Revere Williams for Music Corporation of America in 1938. Its whitewashed brick exterior, curving front driveway and oval-shaped office earned its nickname, "The White House." MCA sold the property to shipbuilder Litton Industries, which added the second building.
Winnick also renovated the complex, including his oval office, once occupied by Hollywood agent Julius Stein of MCA. He set a large-screen television into one African rosewood wall and hung paintings by Cy Twombley and Georges Braque on another.
Winnick hired decorator Alberto Pinto of Paris, whose clients have included French President Jacques Chirac, to help in the renovation.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RSS