Hospital lease deal sealed.

CENTURY City Hospital took a step closer to reopening when the new ownership group finalized its lease agreement with landlord David Wilstein.

Century City Doctors Hospital L.P. took the keys to the 175,000-square-feet Century City building with a 26-year lease deal, said real estate attorney Tom Sestanovich, who represented the group.

Financial details were not disclosed, but Sestanovich said the lease is no higher than the market lease rate in the Century City area. He noted that it would have cost a substantial sum to convert into any other use.

"You really can't compare this transaction to any other in Los Angeles County. It is an incredibly unique location." Sestanovich said.

Class A lease rates were running at $3.11 per foot in Century City in the first quarter of the year.

The ownership group, which is led by Beverly Hills-based Salus Surgical Group LLC and includes other doctors, plans to run a full service hospital, to be renamed Century City Doctors Hospital.

Tenet announced last year it would not renew its lease on the facility beyond its scheduled expiration in December. The hospital was not a big money maker and needed a substantial earthquake safety retrofit.

The new lease agreement calls for Wilstein and the ownership group to share in the cost of the retrofit, which is mandated by state law. But the apportionment of the costs was not disclosed.

The new owners hope to reopen the hospital sometime before the end of the year after modernizing and expanding the surgical suites and making other renovations. The seismic retrofit is a separate project.

The state Department of Health Services must inspect the facility and either renew its license or issue it a new one before it can be reopened.