Sparks Plan $150M El Segundo Practice Facility: The Los Angeles Deal Sheet
The Los Angeles Sparks WNBA team is spending $150M, a WNBA record, on a new training facility in El Segundo. The 55K SF, Gensler-designed facility will hold two WNBA-regulation basketball courts and locker rooms, as well as an outdoor spa pool for "recovery and pre-hab/rehab," nap rooms, and spaces for yoga and meditation.
El Segundo has become a hub for professional sports teams' practice spaces. The Lakers, Kings and Chargers have all built practice facilities in the coastal city.
PEOPLE
Cresa hired Will Adams as a managing principal to lead Cresa’s Century City office. He joins Cresa from Newmark, where he was an executive managing director and previously held senior positions at CBRE and Savills.
***
Colliers hired multifamily and land broker Aaron Bove and the Bove investment team. The three-person team will work out of Colliers’ San Diego office. Executive Vice President Bove, Senior Associate Emily Jones and Senior Client Service Specialist Casey Sanders were previously at Marcus & Millichap.
SALES
MetLife Investment Management purchased the East and West Towers of Koll Center Newport in Newport Beach for $70M by assuming a $108.5M debt on the property, The Real Deal reported.
***
Legacy Partners and venture partner PGIM acquired University Village, a 320-residence garden-style apartment complex at 801 E. Alosta Ave. in Azusa. The seller, Azusa Pacific University, used the property as residence halls for students. The community will be rebranded as Citrus Place Apartments and available for leasing by the end of September 2025.
A CBRE team led by Rachel Parsons and Derrek Ostrzyzek represented Azusa Pacific in the transaction. Jenny Eng, Ryan Greer, Troy Tegeler and Trevor Breaux of CBRE’s debt and structured financing team arranged financing for PGIM and Legacy.
Mesa West Capital originated $68.5M in short-term financing: a five-year, interest-only, floating-rate loan.
***
Integral Communities and partner Lennar Corp. bought a 21-acre residential development site in Long Beach for $13M with plans to develop River Park, a gated community with 226 residences. Dwellings will include single-family detached homes and row-style townhouses in two- and three-story varieties. The housing will span approximately 15 acres with the remaining space utilized for green and open space, including walking trails and a soccer field.
A Marcus & Millichap team led by Matthew Wenzel brokered the sale.
***
CBRE’s Eric Chen represented First Roxy International Realty in the purchase of a multifamily development site at 253 South Los Robles Ave. in Pasadena. First Roxy acquired the property for $11.1M.
The 0.8-acre site is fully entitled for 90 residential units with a unit mix of 64 one-bedroom and 26 two-bedroom apartments.
LEASES
Heart Aerospace, a Bill Gates-backed hybrid electric airplane manufacturer, has leased 30K SF at 1830 W. 205th St in Torrance. The company plans to use the facility to work on its new regional airplane prototype.
***
Media agency Canvas Worldwide has expanded into 68K SF at 2330 Utah Ave. in El Segundo. The company was previously in approximately 36K SF in Playa Vista. Like the last location, the new El Segundo location will serve as the agency's West Coast headquarters.
FINANCING
JLL Capital Markets arranged $130M in first-lien financing for Sukut Real Properties' 21-property, 1.1M SF industrial portfolio across Southern California.
The JLL Capital Markets team, led by Senior Managing Director Greg Brown, Associate Allie Black and Analyst Nick Englhard, worked on behalf of the borrower to secure a five-year, fixed-rate loan through an insurance company.
Sukut’s industrial-focused portfolio has 17 industrial assets, one self-storage facility, one industrial outdoor storage property, one medical property and one flex office and industrial building.
