This Week's LA Deal Sheet
After a 17-year escrow, Optimus Properties and an affiliate snapped up Juanita Tate Marketplace, a 77k SF retail center in South LA (1040 E Slauson Ave) for $24.3M. The center opened last year, anchored by a 42k SF Northgate Gonzalez Market and a 14k SF CVS.
Brothers Joseph Shabani and Kamyar Shabani (flanking their father, Houshang), principals in the LA-based private investment firm, tell Bisnow that Optimus and its affiliate, Infinity Redevelopment, were the project's pre-designated buyers. The urban infill redevelopment project spent over 17 years in the making through a partnership between Infinity; Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles, a nonprofit public benefit corporation; and the former CRA. The seller, Regency Centers, assembled the 6.5-acre site and developed and leased the center, which brought a full-service grocery and other retail uses to an underserved area of the city.
Besides the anchor buildings, the Nadel-designed center includes two freestanding buildings totaling 20k SF. The multi-tenant buildings were designed to look like separate structures, giving the center a main street feel. Tenants include Starbucks, Panda Express and Little Caesar's Pizza. The center also features a public art installation of three 25-feet-tall metal dandelions titled Wish by artist Heath Satow. Joseph and Kamyar say Optimus has some additional upgrades in mind, such as adding trees to block out some nearby industrial buildings. George Smith Partners' Shahin Yazdi secured $22M in acquisition financing.
SALES
Glen Garden Apartments, a 32-unit multifamily property in Van Nuys, was bought by a private investor for just over $5M. The property (15225 Victory Blvd) fetched an $80k premium over its listing price, according to Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura's Warren Berzack, who repped the seller and was joined in the deal by Lee's Stephen Geiger. The buyer, who also owns the property next door, plans to remodel the 1964-vintage building.
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Pinelock Properties bought a 10-unit apartment property in Thousand Oaks (90 N Oakview Dr) from HH Sugar Shack LLC for $4.3M or $432k/unit. Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura's John Battle, who repped the seller with colleague Matt Benwitt, says the deal reflects the demand for quality properties in suburbs with high barriers to entry (like TO). The property was under contract in less than 30 days. First Property's Ben Silver repped the buyer.
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Stepp Commercial completed two multifamily sales in one of the hottest areas of Downtown Long Beach: the East Village Arts District. NNC Apartment Venture LLC bought 425 Lime Ave, a 20-unit property, for just over $2.5M. Robert Stepp and Michael Toveg repped the buyer as well as the seller, a Palos Verdes private investor. Meanwhile, Keely Partners LP bought 138 Elm Ave, a 24-unit property, from a local private investor for $2.8M. Robert, who repped both sides, says the buyer plans to launch a major renovation of the property, transforming it into an art deco-style building with a rooftop deck that will appeal to young professionals seeking a hip, urban environment.
LEASES
The US government renewed its 22k SF lease for the entire fourth floor at 12121 Wilshire Blvd in Brentwood for another 10 years. Madison Partners' Mitchell Stokes and Bob Safai repped landlord Douglas Emmett in the deal, which is valued in excess of $10M. The GSA has been a tenant in the building for more than 10 years.
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Globe Con Freight System leased a pair of buildings totaling 170k SF in Rancho Dominguez (18301 and 18420 Broadwick St) from the Carson Cos for an expansion. The five-year leases are valued at $5.8M. Lee & Associates' Don Smith repped the tenant, while Carson was represented in-house by Todd Burnight.
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Crunch Fitness leased a 26k SF anchor space in Foothill Village, a mixed-use retail center in San Dimas. The center, which includes a Red Roof Inn Hotel, fit Crunch’s rollout plan of clustering its gyms and then offering tiered membership privileges, according to Progressive Real Estate Partners' Paul Galmarini, who repped the landlord. Morris CRE's Gary Morris repped the tenant.
FINANCING
Eagle Group Finance provided a $3.1M first mortgage loan for the acquisition of Vista del Sol, a skilled nursing and assisted care facility in Culver City (11620 Washington Blvd). Eagle, a private money lender, funded the non-recourse IO loan within 10 days of application, allowing the investor to jump on the off-market deal. The loan includes an initial term of 12 months, with a one-year extension to provide the borrower time to obtain permanent financing through the HUD/FHA Insured program. Mansfield Equities' Philip Cohen arranged the financing.
CONSTRUCTION/DEVELOPMENT
Klorman Construction was chosen as the design/build contractor to oversee a two-level, 410-car parking structure at Tishman Speyer's Playa Vista complex. The additional parking will accommodate the increased density resulting from Yahoo, which recently leased 130k SF in the project. Slated for completion in late 2015, the structure will feature tandem stalls to maximize parking a curved/crescent-shaped floor plan, and a special methane abatement system. The project's GC is Turner Construction.
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Bernards is wrapping up construction on the 303-unit Camden Glendale (formerly Glendale Triangle) for developer Camden USA. Designed to appeal to Gen X professionals, the seven-story, mixed-use project opened its doors last month at 3924 San Fernando Rd. Bernards is also under construction for the same developer on The Camden, a 287-unit, mixed-use urban infill project at 1540 N Vine St in Hollywood. Both projects were designed by TCA Architects.
