UPDATE: The Center for Early Education, which qualified for a Payroll Protection Plan loan of $2 million to $5 million, has declined to accept it. Instead, its board of directors has created a relief fund to aid its students and their families.
More than 2,000 West Hollywood businesses have received loans from the federal government’s Payroll Protection Program according to data recently released by the Small Business Administration. The loans, which don’t have to be repaid if at least 60% of the amount is used to keep employees on the payroll within 24 weeks of getting the loan, are an effort by the federal government to help ll businesses deal with the financial blow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nine of those loans were for amounts ranging from $2 million to $5 million (the SBA has not made public the exact amounts). The recipients include SoHo House, the private club on Sunset Boulevard, and the Center for Early Education, the private elementary school on La Cienega Boulevard where tuition ranges from $20,710 a year for toddlers to $29,480 a year for sixth graders. SoHo House, which has locations around the world, said it would use the money to keep 458 people on the payroll. CEE said it would keep 129 people on the payroll. All in all, recipients of the largest loans said they would be able to keep 1,905 people on the payroll.
(If you want to search for a particular business, ProPublica, the non-profit investigative reporting organization, provides a tool for that. Just click here and enter the name or address or zip code or lender or business type.). Business that received loans of less than $150,000 aren’t identified by name by the SBA.)
Thirty other businesses received loans of $1 million to $1,999,999, which are supposed to a total of 2,948 people on the payroll. They include The Abbey, the popular restaurant and bar on Robertson Boulevard, which said it would use the loan to keep 151 people on the payroll, and Grindr, the owner of the gay sex hookup app that is headquartered on San Vicente Boulevard and recently was acquired for $608.5 million. Other notable recipients of loans in that range include Gracias Madre, the restaurant at 8905 Melrose Ave., the La Peer Hotel on La Peer Drive, and the Trevor Project, a non-profit whose mission is to reduce and prevent suicide among LGBT young people.
Seven separately registered convalescent and rehab companies that all are apparently under the same ownership each received loans in the $1 million to $1.999,999 range. They include Windsor Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center of Concord, Windsor Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center of Salinas, and Windsor places in other cities, with the address for all listed as Suite 700 at 9200 Sunset Blvd.
The 106 recipients of loans ranging from $350,000 to $999,999 include Mani Brothers, owner of 9200 Sunset and other major office buildings in West Hollywood. Tony Mills, who operates a private medical practice and the non-profit Men’s Health Foundation medical practice, also received a loan.
Many of the recipients of loans in that range were operators of restaurants. Cafe Gratitude received five separate grants for its locations in Larchmont, Newport Beach, San Diego, Venice and Los Angeles. BOA Sunset, the restaurant at 9200 Sunset, also received a loan, as did the Laurel Hardware restaurant and Rayas Paradise. Lisa Vanderpump’s PUMP also was on the list, as was Tortilla Republic and Urth Cafe. Recipients of loans in this category have said they will keep 5,054 people on the payroll.
The 157 recipients of loans ranging from $150,000 to $349,000 are reported to be keeping 4,141 people on the payroll. They also included a number of restaurant owners such as Cabo Cantina, Crazy Tokyo Sushi, the Kahuna Restaurant Group and Melrose Place Coffee Company. The West Hollywood Community Housing Corp. was one of the non-profit recipients. The Sierra Towers Condominium Association, whose building includes some of the most expensive luxury condos in West Hollywood, also qualified for a loan. Flaming Saddles, the bar on Santa Monica Boulevard at Larrabee, also received a loan.
A wide variety of other businesses received loans in the $150,000 to $349,000 category, with many of them medical practices, lawyers, or small firms in the entertainment industry.
The PPP report does not identify the 1,745 West Hollywood recipients of loans of less than $150,000. It does list a total of 6,148 jobs that borrowers say they will fund with the loans. One hundred and eight of those business got loans of amounts between $100,000 and $149,999. Recipients of loans ranging from $50,000 to $99,999 totalled 283. One recipient received a loan of $100, with another getting $87 and another only $80.
As of yesterday, the Payroll Protection Program has resumed taking applications. The deadline for filing for this round is Aug. 8. Information about applying for the loans can be found online.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said that The Abbey was a recipient of a PPP loan of between $2 million and $5 million. In fact, The Abbey’s loan fell in the category of $1 million to $1,999,999. WEHOville regrets the error and has corrected it.
Excellent work, STAFF.
Interesting that some do not depend on revenue from the public, yet got loans
Where do you find the complete list with the companies name that received a PPP loan? I found a spreadsheet but there is no company names listed.
The story has been updated to include a search tool created by Pro Publica that you can use to find any company by name, field of operation and Zip code. The Small Business Administration did not reveal the names of those obtaining loans of less than $150,000. Also, many companies operate behind the shields of LLCs or S Corps or C Corps, which allows them to not reveal the names of the actually businesses.
Great reporting. And if you work for a business that got a handout, make sure you were paid and cause trouble if you weren’t.
$2M – $5M for the Abbey?? Only 60% has to be used for payroll and none of it has to be paid back. Insanity.
What is insanity is fighting $600/week in PUA when this kind of corporate socialism occurs with frequency.