A prominent collection of buildings on the southwest corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Westmount, housing everything from the Trevor Project to Fresh Corn Grill to Eddie’s Barbershop, has been sold.
The sale was brokered by Cushman & Wakefield. The firm’s Manfred Schaub said he could not reveal the price and would only identify the purchaser as a East Coast family that invests in real estate. The property was purchased from PICOA Inc. (formerly Portland Investment Company of America), a Los Angeles-based real estate investment company.
The buildings run from 8700 to 8714 Santa Monica and include 33,640 square feet. On the eastside is See Materials, a vendor of interior design products. Fresh Corn Grill, a popular fast food stop, is on the west side. In the middle is the four-story building at 8704 Santa Monica. It houses Eddie’s Barbershop on the first floor. Other tenants include the Trevor Project, a non-profit devoted to preventing suicide by LGBT young people, and Pacific Lyons Care, a case management service that identifies itself as a “’one stop shop’ connecting those with cancer, hepatitis C, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other medical conditions with care.
Pacific Lyons Care has become controversial because its primary shareholder is Ben Ho, known formally as Benjamin Nguyen Ho and who also goes under the name Xiem Van Trung. Ho has been indicted by the U.S. Attorney of the Central District of California for alleged involvement in narcotics trafficking and illegally laundering money from countries that included the United States, China, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Mexico and Switzerland through Saigon National Bank in Westminster, which since has changed its name to California International Bank. Ho also has been a backer of the Brotherhood Impact Fund, an HIV support group that was sharing the 8704 Santa Monica office space. Its founder, Kevin Stalter, is involved in a lawsuit against his former employer, alleging that he was improperly fired because of his methamphetamine addiction.
Fresh Corn Grill is indeed popular, but definitely not fast food (that’s a term for McD, KFC, etc.). Fast Casual is the industry term for restaurants like Fresh Corn where you order at the counter and servers bring the food to your table.