CaliforniaMart Sold to Hertz InvestmentGroup.

Business Editors & Real Estate Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2000

Los Angeles-based Hertz Investment Group has purchased CaliforniaMart, the largest wholesale apparel mart in the country, from Equitable Life Assurance Society of America.

The sale

includes the four-building CaliforniaMart complex at 110 E. Ninth Street and the Mart South Building at 124 E. Olympic Blvd., a total package of nearly 3 million square feet. Deborah Lee, managing director of Hertz Investment Group, managed the purchase for Hertz and Carl Muhlstein, vice president of Cushman Realty Corp., represented Equitable.

Equitable Life Assurance Society acquired CaliforniaMart in 1994 when it foreclosed on a $250 million equity loan to the building's original owners. Since taking control, Equitable has invested $55 million in capital improvements and is credited with revitalizing the wholesale center.

Located at the center of the Los Angeles fashion industry, CaliforniaMart is recognized as an international buying destination for the apparel industry and serves as the major anchor to downtown's Fashion District. CaliforniaMart houses nearly 10,000 apparel, accessory and textile lines and is the producer of Los Angeles Fashion Week, the Los Angeles Junior & Contemporary Market and the Los Angeles International Textile Show.

"We are committed to continuing the legacy of CaliforniaMart and have plans to fill the Mart to capacity and bolster its status as a premier building," said Judah Hertz, owner of Hertz Investment Group. "Our hands-on management approach has been very successful for our other properties and we intend to take the same approach with CaliforniaMart," Hertz continued.

Other properties in the Hertz Investment Group real estate portfolio include Los Angeles landmarks such as the Oviatt Building, the Standard Oil Building, the Wiltern Theater and the Park Plaza Hotel.

Hertz Investment Group is currently in a renovation process that will return the Park Plaza Hotel to a boutique hotel with historical landmark status. Other properties in the Hertz Investment portfolio include the International Jewelry Center at 550 S. Hill Street, the California Jewelry Mart, and buildings in the historic district of Spring Street.

"We are very excited about the purchase of CaliforniaMart. The complex represents a significant addition to Hertz's real estate portfolio, which will continue to grow as Hertz is looking to add major properties in California and Nevada to its portfolio this year," said Kit Marchel, president of Hertz Investment Group.