Ashkenazy Grows Beverly Hills Retail Footprint With Neiman Marcus Buy

Ben Ashkenazy’s Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. acquired the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus site, which spans two city blocks in the prime Golden Triangle section of the city. The price was not disclosed. 

The property at 9700 Wilshire Blvd. is located on the corner of Beverly Hills where Ashkenazy’s property portfolio encompasses the former Barneys building on Wilshire Boulevard, now occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue, and other retail sites. With this transaction, Ashkenazy's holdings in the Golden Triangle come to 350K SF, the firm said. 

The acquisition makes New York-based Ashkenazy the largest owner of retail space in Beverly Hills, according to a release announcing the transaction. 

The city has seen at least one other high-profile retail transaction in the last year and a half. In July 2024, an ownership group including Tinder founder Justin Mateen and his brother, Tyler Mateen, acquired Wilshire Rodeo Plaza, a 300K SF office and retail complex at Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard, from Nuveen for $211M. 

Elsewhere in Los Angeles, Ashkenazy’s retail holdings have seen valuations slide, though properties still have been able to land financing. 

Ashkenazy owns the Beverly Collection, a Beverly Grove shopping center at 100 N. La Cienega Blvd., which saw a 26% discount to its previous value when it was reappraised in December 2024 for $193M, the Real Deal reported. Ashkenazy paid $260M for the mall in 2014.  

In June, Ashkenazy raised $750M to go after retail and hospitality properties with owners that have an urgency to sell.

“We’re excited for it,” he told Crain's New York. “We’ve been tracking these properties for years.”

Over the past five years, Ashkenazy lost control of five high-profile East Coast properties, including the Manhattan office tower 625 Madison Ave., Washington, D.C.'s Union Station and Harborplace in Baltimore. 

Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. holds over 15M SF of real estate, including retail, hotel and office, throughout the country, with a portfolio valued at $12B.