Engine Real Estate has closed on a 14,500-square-foot retail property at the corner of Glendale Boulevard and Larga Avenue in Atwater Village for around $10 million, picking up a site that includes G-Son Studios, the recording studio where the Beastie Boys laid down tracks in the 1990s. The company already has tenants lined up, including a French-American brasserie and a fitness studio, as it works to turn the block into a hub for food, wellness, creative production and live music.
The off-market purchase, first reported by The Real Deal, came out to about $690 per square foot. Engine Real Estate executive Kevin Walker, who runs the firm alongside his father David Walker, called the buy a long-term hold. The company already owns real estate in Los Angeles and Napa Valley, and the Atwater Village purchase adds another piece to its Southern California holdings.
The deal was not cheap on the tax side either. The city real estate transfer tax, triggered by Measure ULA, came to almost $445,000, according to the same report. Under Los Angeles housing officials' own guidance, transactions exceeding $10 million carry an additional documentary transfer tax of 5.5%, per the city's Los Angeles Housing Department exemptions FAQ.
A Beastie Boys Studio Gets a Second Act
G-Son Studios sits inside the newly acquired property and carries real musical history. The Beastie Boys recorded parts of Ill Communication and Hello Nasty there after Check Your Head, before the building was sold in 2006, according to Flood Magazine. The studio has since evolved well past its hip-hop roots: it now serves as a flexible space for live performances, rehearsals, cultural programming and private events, per G-Son's own account on its website.
Engine signed two new tenants during closing. Maison Atwater, a French-American brasserie from the team behind the Oh La La brunch spot in Pasadena, signed a 10-year lease for more than 3,000 square feet and is slated to open in spring, the real estate report notes. Forme Lagree, a fitness studio, is expected to open around the same time, rounding out the retail block's mix of dining and wellness tenants.
Who Brokered the Deal
Normal Properties brokers Aram Pogosian, Maguire Parsons and Chris Norhadian brokered the sale. On the financing side, Marcus & Millichap's Sharone Sabar arranged an approximately $7 million note through Megabank, according to the same report.
Atwater Village's Broader Retail Push
The acquisition lands amid a wider wave of retail activity along Glendale Boulevard, which sees more than 44,000 cars a day and is becoming a go-to destination for dining and shopping, according to WhatNow. Just down the street, Yunomi Handroll is preparing to open its fourth location inside a former Wells Fargo branch as part of a separate retail project called The Local, which is also set to include Philz Coffee and Nova's Grill, per the same outlet.
The neighborhood's appeal has long rested on more than its shops. The allure of Atwater Village lies not just in the restaurants and specialty stores lining Glendale Boulevard but in its abundant small-town charm, the Los Angeles Times has noted, pointing to the Sunday farmers market as a popular community gathering spot. Engine's bet is that a revived G-Son Studios, paired with a new brasserie and lagree studio, can add to that draw rather than compete with it.
