Whether George Clooney and Brad Pitt are part of a venture involving a makeover of a popular Laguna Beach gay bar remains a rumor,one their publicists and a real estate agent for the property’s new owner deny.
What’s clear is the Boom Boom Room, on prime space along Pacific Coast Highway, has drawn the attention of some high-powered investors interested in putting the site to a more upscale use than the longtime neighborhood fixture.
Steven Udvar-Hazy,a billionaire airplane-leasing tycoon from Beverly Hills who also has a mansion in Monarch Beach’s Ritz Cove,last month bought the Boom Boom Room, the adjoining Coast Inn and two other parcels in deals totaling $25 million, according to Scott Hook, the real estate agent who represented the sellers of the bar and inn.
Udvar-Hazy swooped in with a $12.8 million offer for the bar and inn, beating out another bidder, Santa Monica restaurant investor John Alderson, said Hook, senior director of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Co.’s national retail group in Newport Beach.
Hook represented the selling group headed by Cary Glenn and Richard Zona.
Hook said that Alderson, president of JAVentures, like Udvar-Hazy, liked the parcel’s ocean view, liquor license and 18,000 square feet of commercial space.
“In Laguna, it’s unheard of,” Hook said.
Udvar-Hazy’s agent, Joe Smith of Monarch Beach Realty, said his client has a plan for the site that includes “an upscale boutique hotel.”
A restaurant or other elements could come into play after Udvar-Hazy sits down with his architect, Smith said.
Alderson had been keying on a restaurant for the site and said he might be associating with Wolfgang Puck Worldwide Inc. in Beverly Hills, according to Hook.
Hook said he made a trip to Hawaii to meet with Alderson and associates. He said he was drawing up the purchase agreement when Smith contacted him on behalf of Udvar-Hazy.
The tycoon’s offer was about half a million dollars less than Alderson’s, but more attractive to his clients because it was in cash and the deal would close quickly, Hook said.
Alderson did not return a call for comment.
Last week, the Business Journal reported Clooney and Pitt were involved in the buy. The paper since has learned they weren’t part of the purchase with Udvar-Hazy. The incorrect report came from a person close to the sellers, though not Hook.
Publicists for the actors denied any involvement with Udvar-Hazy in a follow-up story by the Orange County Register and to the Business Journal.
E! Online reported in August that Clooney and Pitt already had bought the Boom Boom Room. The report said the actor-buddies planned to replace the bar with a chic bed-and-breakfast.
Hook and his clients were aware of the E! Online story. When Smith came to them with an offer on behalf of Udvar-Hazy, they speculated about whether the actors were involved.
They described Smith’s answer to that question as noncommittal, which fueled their suspicion.
Hook said he still suspects the actors could emerge in the redevelopment but conceded that’s speculation.
Hook said he doubted the actors were tied to the earlier offer from Alderson, despite a possible Wolfgang Puck-Hollywood connection, because Alderson seemed very candid in their talks and almost certainly would have mentioned it.
Smith said he has no idea how the Clooney-Pitt rumor started and the actors aren’t involved with Udvar-Hazy, but “nobody wants to believe me.”
Udvar-Hazy is the sole person behind Emerald Financial LLC, the entity that bought the bar and inn, according to Smith.
Meanwhile, the future of the Boom Boom Room also remains a subject of speculation. Hook said the bar’s lease runs until April.
But Smith said the bar should be able to keep operating for at least a year, as getting approvals for redevelopment of the site “will take time.”
Calls to people identified as the owner and manager of the Boom Boom Room were not returned.
Udvar-Hazy also paid $7 million for a beachfront house and $5.2 million for a liquor store across Mountain Road, a side street, from the Boom Boom Room, Hook said.
Hook wasn’t involved in those deals but said he was familiar with them because Udvar-Hazy waited to buy those parcels until he closed on the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn.
Smith said his client intended to “keep the home a home” and “hasn’t even begun to think about” what to do with the liquor store.
Udvar-Hazy did not return a call seeking comment.
