Last Night at his Birthday Celebration, David Cooley announced that he had bought back sbe’s stake in The Abbey and Cooley’s. David’s Birthday was a speakeasy theme and a fundraiser for The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
Today, August 12, 2015 - SBEEG Holdings, LLC, parent of global hospitality and entertainment company sbe, announced today an agreement to sell its interest in The Abbey Food & Bar and Cooley¹s to David Cooley, founder of The Abbey Food & Bar.
sbe has had an amazing decade partnering with David and elevating the Abbey to its most impactful and successful years, said sbe Chairman and CEO Sam Nazarian. As we narrow our focus to core hotel, restaurant and nightlife brands and integrating sbe restaurants and bars within our hotels, we feel that it makes sense to hand the reins of The Abbey back to its passionate founder and leader so that he can lead the Abbey’s next exciting chapter.
I am grateful for Sam’s support and friendship these last nine years, which has helped us continue to grow the iconic Abbey brand and has set the stage for an exciting future, including the opening of Cooley¹s and celebrating The Abbey’s 25th Anniversary in 2016, added Cooley.
sbe has focused its future growth on long-term management contracts for its hotel, restaurant and entertainment properties and has announced 13 sbe hotel properties under development, including: SLS Hotel & Residences Brickell, SLS LUX Hotel & Residences Brickell, SLS Seattle, SLS LUX Hotel & Residences Philadelphia, Hyde Hotel & Residences Hollywood, FL and Hyde Hotel & Residences Midtown Miami.
As part of its “asset-light” strategy, sbe recently announced the sales of the SLS Hotel South Beach and SLS Hotel Beverly Hills. sbe continues to run SLS Hotel South Beach in a long-term management deal and continues to oversee the SLS and other sbe brands at the Beverly Hills property. Earlier this quarter, Nazarian announced an agreement to sell the Katsuya and Cleo restaurant brands to The ONE Group and the establishment of a strategic partnership with The ONE Group to open Katsuya, Cleo and other The ONE Group restaurants at new sbe hotels. Nazarian also recently announced the spinoff of sbe’s real estate development arm into a new entity called Dakota Development.
The Abbey Food and Bar is located at 692 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, California, 90069. For more details on The Abbey Food & Bar, visit www.abbeyfoodandbar.com.
