Brian M. Grossman, General Counsel and head of legal and business affairs for Samson, Investment Group, LLC, announced today that he successfully negotiated the buyout of a 550 unit HUD portfolio in the greater Los Angeles area for a Samson private client. This was the initial transaction of the newly formed Samson Private Client Group, an entity dedicated to structuring private investment vehicles for high net worth clients.

F. Michael Brovsky head of the Samson Merchant Banking division, announced that Neqtar Wines PTY, located in the Murray Darling wine region of Victoria, Australia and acquired by agreement March 13th of 2008 by Samson, has been sold to a United States publicly traded company. .A Designation, Assignment and Assumption agreement was negotiated and executed assigning all rights in exchange for shares and warrants in the public company.

Samson Vista, LLC real state investment and development group based in Austin, Texas, announced today they had received their approved Shoreline Ranch PDD document from the City of Lago Vista for 568 units, a golf course, clubhouse, boat dry stack and waterfront park in a unanimous vote in late October. Christian Johnson, Managing Member of Samson Vista, said “this will be a premier resort development on the north shore, and one the city and residents can be proud of. We thank the city for their vision and cooperation during the long entitlement process”.

F. Michael Brovsky head of the Samson Merchant Banking division, announced today October 12, that their client Opportunity Funding, LLC, had successfully sold their interests in the El Escape real estate development project near Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Investors in the Costa Rican resort development through Opportunity Funding, LLC, experienced a substantial return on their original investments made in late 2005. Mr. Brovsky indicated that Samson will continue to explore unique opportunities for investment in Costa Rica and other Central American countries.

Michael Brovsky, Director of Finance and Corporate Development for Samson Investment Company, announced today that the Merchant Banking Division has signed a definitive agreement with The General Electric Company to purchase their wholly owned subsidiary Springer Mining Company, a 2800 acre Tungsten mine and processing facility near Winnemucca, Nevada. This asset, whose replacement value exceeds $100,000,000, was acquired to be the genesis of a natural resource division for a publicly traded corporate client. The negotiations for the acquisition were successfully concluded by Brovsky and Paul J. Kalocsay of General Electric.

Samson Investment Company has entered into an agreement to acquire the 360 acre property known as “Marshall’s Vista” located on the north shore of Lake Travis near the city city of Lago Vista. The property is a major portion of the original Marshall Ranch project, a partially developed 1,400 acre master-planned lakefront golf community halted in 2001 due to disputes between the original developer and lenders which eventually led to a bankruptcy filing and lender foreclosure. The site features dramatic panoramic vistas of the lakes and Texas Hill Country and will be will be reconfigured for 360 units.

Mike Minder, President of Samson Investment Company, announced Friday the acquisition of “Ryan’s Ridge”, a 509 home planned subdivision located north of Austin, Texas. Jeff Boysen has been appointed Project Manager and will oversee the entitlement and approval processes. “The Austin economy is strong and real estate prices are in a definite uptrend. This is our first project in Austin, and we intend to explore additional opportunities in the market”, said Minder.

By DANNY KING
Staff Reporter

A Calabasas developer is proposing a $40 million mixed-use project to wrap around the House of Blues in West Hollywood.

Samson Investment Company has owned the 1.7-acre property, bounded by Sunset Boulevard, Olive Drive and De Longpre Avenue through their Gold Mountain Enterprises LLC for three years, and had considered developing a hotel at the site before committing to mixed-use. The company plans to make a formal proposal for 35,000 square feet of retail and office space, 138 apartments and a 600-car garage by mid-summer.
The complex would replace an empty retail building just east of the nightclub that used to house Butterfields restaurant, a seven-unit apartment building on the property’s south side, and an 80-space parking lot used by the House of Blues, which would remain part of the project.

By Roger Vincent
Times Staff Writer

The little tin roadhouse on the Sunset Strip may soon get a lot bigger.

Landlords for the House of Blues obtained a $14.8-million bridge loan last week to help fund a hoped-for expansion of the popular West Hollywood nightclub.

Their proposed $60-million development would include 125 apartments or condominiums and 35,000 square feet of boutique-style shops. A 700-space underground garage would provide public parking for one of Southern California’s most congested night-life districts.

Gold Mountain Enterprises of Calabasas, which owns the 2-acre complex at Sunset Boulevard and Olive Drive, hopes to receive approval from the city of West Hollywood in time to start construction by spring, said Mike Minder, managing partner.

Plans call for substantially enlarging the 30,000-square-foot nightspot founded in 1994 by Texas nightclub impresario Isaac Tigrett, actor-comedian Dan Aykroyd and other investors.

The hillside property that once belonged to matinee idol John Barrymore also contains a nine-unit apartment building and a restaurant that once was part of the actor’s guesthouse. Those buildings would be razed to make way for the project.

The three-story Sunset Strip nightspot is the flagship of the seven clubs operated by Hollywood-based House of Blues Entertainment Inc. To bring a taste of the Deep South to the nightclub district popularized by generations of Los Angeles rock bands, the builders imported corrugated siding from a former cotton gin in Clarksdale, Miss. Founder Tigrett also had two truckloads of Delta dirt dug up and installed under the main stage.

The dirt came from the very spot where, it is said, legendary bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil, who granted the guitarist fame and genius — and eternal torment. The blues metaphor of torment also may extend to parking at the club, which Minder of Gold Mountain acknowledges is “a nightmare on Friday and Saturday nights.