TUCSON, ARIZONA (Nov. 18, 2022) -- Chrome Hearts Real Estate Holdings, an affiliate of Chrome Hearts apparel and accessories of Los Angeles, bought 38.92 acres of industrial land at 8500 S Rita Road for $2.5 million ($64,234 / acre) on November 7, 2022.
Chrome Hearts Apparel has been around since the ‘80s, cultivating an entire biker-inspired lifestyle with premium quality leather, sunglasses, jewelry, and home goods for over three decades. All made in America, the company has been looking to move some of its manufacturing out of California.
Originally founded in 1988 by Richard Stark and leather manufacturer John Bowman in a Los Angeles garage. Stark and Bowman couldn’t find leather jackets on the market that they wanted to wear, so they started to make their own. Sterling silver jeweler Leonard Kamhout joined the operation shortly after. The first big exposure for the brand came from legendary punk rock band, the Sex Pistols. The then-girlfriend of lead guitarist Steve Jones was starring in a low-budget horror comedy from 1989 titled Chopper Chicks in Zombietown and Chrome Hearts designed some costumes for the movie. Jones took a liking to the brand and began wearing it on stage. From there, other big bands like Motley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses started wearing the Chrome Hearts' leather pieces and accessories as well, which began to establish the brand as an essential part of the rockstar uniform at the time.
By the early ‘90s, the fashion world started paying attention to Chrome Hearts too.
The trio of founders would eventually split in 1994 and Stark and his wife Laurie Lynn maintained control of the brand. Two years later, the brand’s first flagship opened in New York City. It has grown into a 28-store operation since, with locations in Los Angeles, Miami, and Las Vegas. Each offers its own unique look and products. The “fuck you” carved into the floorboards is a store signature. Besides flagships, the brand has been stocked at a limited number of luxury stores like Maxfield, Bergdorf Goodman, Selfridges, and Dover Street Market. There is no e-commerce presence (unless you opt to browse the secondary market). Its limited nature adds even more to the brand’s allure. Already established as a staple in rocker's wardrobes, the rap world would eventually take a liking to the brand as well. In the Aughts, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, and Lil Wayne frequently wore Chrome Hearts apparel and accessories like its leather belts donning silver hardware. More recently, it’s been championed by names like Lil Uzi Vert, Kanye West, and Travis Scott.
The Stark children, Jesse Jo and twins Frankie Belle and Kristian have used their LA connections to push the brand into the spotlight for a whole new generation. Other collaborators have included legendary rock group The Rolling Stones, Bape, Rick Owens, and Comme des Garçons. Their silver dagger hardware has donned custom Air Jordan Is and Rolex watches. The brand’s assortment of goods is vast to say the least, but two of its most widely recognizable items these days are probably its trucker hats emblazoned with gothic fonts and $1,750 denim adorned with leather crosses that has become ubiquitous with big name rappers like Drake and Offset.
It isn’t just about the clothing either. Over the years, Chrome Hearts has also been a purveyor of everything from leather and wooden furniture to $6,000 toilet plungers and even truffle shavers. It has been called “an edgy Ralph Lauren”. If you want to live the full Chrome Hearts lifestyle (and have the budget required to do so), then you can. While it began in an LA garage, the brand now occupies three blocks in Hollywood, a 250,000 square foot campus that includes 13 buildings, eight factories, and a new industrial site in Tucson for an undisclosed use.
Steve Cohen with Cushman & Wakefield | Picor represented the seller Arizona Glass Properties of Chino, CA and Gary Emerson of GRE Partners with Robert Cohen of Newmark Knight Frank in Los Angeles represented the buyer.
To learn more, see RED Comp #10295.