The Location
10857 Santa Monica Blvd sits in the Westwood Submarket, zip 90025, one of the tightest and most transit-accessible commercial corridors on the Westside. The transit score is
90. The car score is a perfect
What an Operator Sees
$780 a foot for land in Westwood.
Thats the number that caught my attention.
Golden Oil paid $8.5 million for a 10,903 SF corner at Santa Monica and Westwood, one of the busiest intersections on the Westside.
The gas station is the current use. But to me, the more interesting asset is the dirt underneath it and what they valued that at and what they value the business at.
My rough read from nearby land comps puts the real estate somewhere around $3-4 million today. That means the buyer may effectively be paying another $4-5 million for the operating business, location and long-term control of the business.
I dont know the station’s cash flow, so I can’t tell you whether that premium pencils today.
But this is an owner-user purchase, not just a passive land trade. If the business performs, they get the income. If Westwood land appreciates or the site becomes more valuable for another use, they control 10,903 SF at a major intersection. At the peak of the Market I saw Land in this location worth $500-600/SF to give it perspective.
I research these transactions to sharpen my own investment strategy and share what I find so Los Angeles owners, brokers and investors can debate the market with better information.
Know one other LA owner who'd want this deal? Forward this — reply with their email and I'll add them.
Property and transaction data: CoStar Research.