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The LA Deal Sheet

A former retail shopping center in Arcadia will be transformed into a mixed-use residential and retail community.

Lennar Homes has purchased the former retail center along with the entitlements and architectural drawings from The Olson Co. for $36.6M. The Hoffman Co.’s Justin Esayian brokered the deal.

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A former shopping center that will be converted into a residential community at 17 Las Tunas Drive in Arcadia

Esayian said Lennar plans to repurpose the site at 17 Las Tunas Drive into a mixed-use community with 80 units consisting of detached homes, two- and three-story townhomes and live/work lofts. Prices for the new homes are expected to range from $800K to the low millions.

“This transaction represents a rare opportunity to achieve early 2020 deliveries in a highly desirable infill location in the supply-constrained San Gabriel Valley, where listing prices have increased 14% year-over-year,” The Hoffman Co.’s Senior Vice President Justin Esayian said in a news release. “Transactions of this size are extremely rare in this location, and we predict this community will be particularly successful as there is very little new product available to compete with it.”

Olson Homes Senior Vice President of Land Acquisition Aaron Hirschi said the property is an example of the changing retail environment.

"The buildings are not well suited for the demands of today’s retailers and the property has been underperforming,” Hirschi said in the release. “It is a pleasure working with the City of Arcadia to design a mixed-use project that ‘right sizes’ the retail for today’s market and provides much needed quality new housing.”

Olson has already demolished the former shopping center and graded the property for development. Lennar plans to build a gated community with the main entrance at the northwest corner of Las Tunas Drive and Live Oak Avenue off Santa Anita Avenue.

The community will offer 12 two-story detached condominiums, 44 three-story attached townhomes, 21 two-story attached townhomes and three three-story live/work attached townhomes, according to the press release.

The site plan also includes a retail component.

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Apartment building at 1239 12th St. in Santa Monica

SALES

A China-based private investor has purchased a 12-unit apartment property in Santa Monica from an undisclosed family trust for $4.8M. Built in 1961, the three-story apartment building at 1239 12th St. includes six two-bedroom units, five one-bedroom units and one studio. The cap rate was 4.2%. Stepp Commercial’s Kimberly R. Stepp represented the buyer and seller.

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A private investor has purchased a seven-unit multifamily building in Valley Village from an undisclosed seller for $2.8M. The property at 11565 Riverside Drive sold with a cap rate of 3.29%. Marcus & Millichap’s Rick Raymundo represented the buyer and seller.

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A private investor has purchased a six-unit multifamily building in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles from an undisclosed seller for $2.2M. The property at 613 South Detroit St. sold at a 2.84% cap rate. Marcus & Millichap's Filip Niculete, Glen Scher and Nicolas Aiello represented the buyer and seller.

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MJW Investments has acquired a 14-unit multifamily building in Glendale from a private investor for an undisclosed price. The property at 624 West Wilson Ave. features 14 one-bedroom units, on-site parking, on-site laundry and a pool. Realty Investment Advisors' Ben Hsiang assisted the buyer.

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The Bangladesh government has sold an 11,547 SF office building in Los Angeles to an undisclosed buyer for $8.3M. Built in 1959, the office building at 501 South Fairfax Ave. served as the Bangladesh consulate office. IREA's Clark Everitt, William Everitt and Michael Pfeiffer represented the buyer and seller. Bogari Agency's Farideh Bogari served as a consultant for the government of Bangladesh.

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Majestic Asset Management has purchased an 84K SF office building in Westlake Village from Kilroy Realty Corp. and the Johnston Group for $18.25M. Built in 1990, the Westlake Plaza Centre 2 is a three-building office park at 2829 Townsgate Road. Newmark Knight Frank's Sean Fulp, Ryan Plummer and Mark Schuessler represented Kilroy Realty.

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A multifamily building at 84-88 North Catalina Ave. in Pasadena

A private investor has purchased a six-unit multifamily building in Pasadena from an undisclosed seller for $2.7M. Built in 1924, the two-story building at 84-88 North Catalina Ave. recently underwent a complete renovation, including new plumbing, electrical wiring and windows. The average unit size is 839 SF. CBRE's Eric Chen represented the seller.

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An undisclosed seller has sold two senior active-living apartment buildings in Riverside to two separate buyers for a total of $6.87M. In the first deal, a private investor purchased Orangeville Senior Living at 1054 North Orange St. for $4.43M. In the second deal, another private investor acquired the Madison Villa Arms at 3628 Madison St. in an all-cash, 1031 exchange for $2.45M. CBRE's Blake Torgerson and Eric Chen represented the buyers and seller, who was described as the original developer of both properties.

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A private developer has sold four tri-level townhouses in Venice to an undisclosed San Francisco-based co-living developer for $5.4M. The property at 2432 Penmar Ave. is newly constructed and sold for $1.32M per unit — one of the highest per-unit prices for a fourplex in Venice, according to the brokers. Stepp Commercial's Kimberly R. Stepp and Mark Ventre represented the seller.

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A private investor has purchased a 2,200 SF single-tenant retail building in Los Feliz from an undisclosed seller for $3.8M. Built in 1915, the building at 1824 Hillhurst Ave. was a former house that was converted into a retail building. Ample Hills Creamery occupies the building. SRS Real Estate Partners’ Ara Rostamian, Patrick Luther and Matthew Mousavi represented the seller. SVN's Sharon Carz represented the buyer.

LEASES

Chuze Fitness has signed a lease with an undisclosed landlord to occupy 45K SF of retail space at the Morningside Marketplace shopping center at 14574 Baseline Ave. in Fontana. Chuze will be occupying a former Ralphs Grocery store. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Progressive Real Estate Partners' Paul Su represented the lessor. Cushman & Wakefield's Chad Ifrate represented Chuze Fitness. 

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NEP Group has signed a lease with Prologis to occupy a 108K SF industrial building at Van Nuys Distribution – Center 2 at 7850 Ruffner Ave. in Van Nuys. NEP will house its mobile units and Bexel divisions in the building. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. CBRE's Bennett Robinson represented the landlord.

FINANCING

Parkview Financial has provided a $16.5M construction loan to 5050 Pico for the development of Kentish Town, a new five-story, mixed-use residential and retail project at 5050 West Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles. Kentish Town will be a 60,100 SF project with 79 residential units, 2,100 SF of ground-floor retail and subterranean parking with 67 spaces.

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Urban Land Institute Orange County/Inland Empire District Council Chair Denise Ashton

EXECUTIVE NEWS

The Urban Land Institute Orange County/Inland Empire has appointed Denise Ashton as the incoming District Council chair. Ashton previously served as the ULI OC/IE assistant chair and has been active in various leadership roles at the District Council for more than 20 years. Ashton is a senior principal of community planning and design at William Hezmalhalch Architects. ULI OC/IE also appointed Eric Herro as assistant chair and Yolanda Sepulveda as the assistant chair of Mission Advancement. Herro is a director at Northwestern Mutual. Sepulveda is a principal at Spectacle Design.

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Jan Hood has joined Extensia Financial as a business development officer. Extensia is a credit union service organization specializing in commercial real estate lending. Hood will be responsible for expanding the company's lending footprint. Hood is a former vice president at George Smith Partners.