This Week's LA Deal Sheet

Champion Real Estate snagged The Vines, a 164-unit, Class-A apartment community in Oxnard, for $55.5M or more than $338k/unit. According to Berkadia, the sale price is the highest in Ventura County on a per-unit basis over the past 10 years, for apartment communities with 100 or more units. Adrienne Barr, a partner in Berkadia's West LA office, negotiated the transaction as The Vines' exclusive listing agent. She says the deal underscores the strong investor appetite for new product in retail-oriented locations. The location (3040 N Oxnard Blvd) near Pacific Coast Highway and SR 101 is within walking distance to high-end retail shops, dining and entertainment.

The Vines was built in two phases in the master-planned community of RiverPark in 2013 and '14. Adrienne expects the combo of job growth, high home prices and an abundance of new apartment product will draw investors to Ventura County throughout 2015. The sellers were Corona Riverpark Promenade LLC and Corona Riverpark Luminaria LLC. RSF Partners' Tony Koeijmans also acted on behalf of the selling entities.

SALES

Kennedy Wilson bought Montiavo at Bradley Square, a 208-unit luxury townhome-style apartment community in Santa Maria, from AEW Capital Management/Holland Partners for $47M. The community (2460 S Rubel Way) was built in the master-planned community of Bradley Square in 2004.

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A fund advised by CBRE Global Investors bought Gateway at Burbank (25-113 E Alameda Ave), a 74k SF neighborhood retail center located next to what will be the largest IKEA store in the US (currently under construction). Gateway at Burbank consists of two buildings: a free-standing grocery store and a multi-tenant retail building anchored by a drugstore. Besides the gravitational pull that will result from IKEA, the property features a hard corner location, signalized entrance and direct frontage along San Fernando Boulevard and East Alameda Avenue. Acquisitions director Brad Cummings oversaw the transaction for CBRE Global Investors. Colliers International's El Warner and Tom Lagos repped the seller.

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Interstate Equities Corp bought Citra Apartments, a 34-unit multifamily property one mile east of downtown Burbank (700 S 6th St), for $6.7M in an off-market deal. According to president Marshall Boyd, the property was built in 1958 and has never been renovated. The complex will undergo a series of improvements that IEC hopes will enable it to raise rental rates by $500/unit in three to six months. Improvements include filling in the outdated swimming pool and replacing it with a lounge, and creating a rooftop deck. However, he says the firm doesn't specifically target lounge-loving Millennials, instead buying "well-located, run-down product" and converting it into quality housing for renters of all ages. ARA Newmark's Bryan Schellinger and Tyler Martin repped IEC. The seller was a second-generation family owner. 

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Oxnard Art Lofts, an 18-unit live/work condo complex in Oxnard (2201 Statham Blvd), traded for $2.9M in a short-sale transaction. The industrial adaptive reuse project was built in 2009 and was 90% vacant at the time of sale. The combined outstanding loan balance was over $6M, according to NAI Capital's Ziv Kozaski, who repped the buyer along with Michael Dixon. The buyer, 2201 Statham LLC, intends to rent the vacant condos with a potential to sell them at higher prices.

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Capital Square Realty Advisors bought a 37k SF retail building in West Covina (1530 W Covina Pkwy), bringing its portfolio to 23 properties with a total value exceeding $260M. A 24 Hour Fitness "Sport" facility occupies the two-story building on a long-term, NNN lease; the 1.6-acre property includes a three-level, free-standing parking garage. TFS Properties (TaxGuard1031) served as Capital Square’s broker in the off-market transaction.

LEASES

Kinetic Content, a creator and producer of TV shows (Married at First Sight, Little Women: LA, The Taste) inked a pair of leases totaling 57k SF of creative office space in West LA. The company, which already occupies 18k SF on the 20th floor at 11755 Wilshire, is expanding to the 19th and 20th floors, or an additional 37k SF. CBRE repped landlord CalSTRS. The company also leased 20k SF feet at 12100 Wilshire; landlord Hines repped itself. Avison Young's Jacob Bobek and Jeff Vertun repped Kinetic Content in both deals.

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Segal Commercial Properties leased 57k SF of industrial space in Carson to an international company that manufactures adhesives, solvent cements, and plumbing and roofing items. According to president Lee Segal, the company will use the building for warehouse and printing activities, in an expansion of an existing building in the same area. The lease consideration is in excess of $2M. The tenant is based in Compton with operations in Tennessee and China.

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Planet Fitness signed a 10-year retail lease valued at $5.7M for more than 21k SF near Downtown LA (1000 E Washington Blvd). The location is in a densely populated area just south of the 10 Freeway. Charles Dunn Co's George Russell repped landlord Miracle Mile Properties, while SRS Real Estate Partners repped Planet Fitness, which is replacing a furniture store.

FINANCE

Quantum Capital Partners Jonathan Hakakha and Mike Yim secured a $33M short-term bridge loan for LA-based Illusion Holdings and Ocean Blue Investments to refinance The Medallion, a luxury apartment and retail development in DTLA. Located at Fourth and Main, the project consists of 96 units, 80k SF of street-level retail and a 275-car parking garage. Jonathan says the sponsors needed to refinance the existing debt, which was in maturity default, within a short time frame and struggled to stabilize the retail space, making it difficult to find a lender. That said, he and Mike completed the assignment in 10 days. Once the street-level space is stabilized, the sponsors will move forward with development of Medallion 2.0 on an adjacent two-acre site that's fully entitled for 300 units.

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Grandbridge Real Estate Capital closed a $14M first mortgage secured by a SoCal marina resort and RV park. The loan, which was arranged on behalf of a TIC consisting of two privately held real estate investment companies, was originated by Shelley Magoffin and Max Sauerman.

CONSTRUCTION/DEVELOPMENT

Oakbrook Shopping Center, located at Erbes Road and Avenida de los Arboles in Thousand Oaks, began a façade renovation as part of a revitalization of the 89k SF, 34-year-old grocery-anchored center. The makeover designed by Wolcott Architecture Interiors includes new stucco, stone and building colors, seating areas, storefronts, and drought-tolerant landscaping. Recently, anchor tenant Vons remodeled its store and Bank of America, The UPS Store, Pegasus Fashion Lounge and Price Club 4 Pets signed renewals. CBRE oversees leasing of the center, which is managed by Tiarna Real Estate Services. Invesco Real Estate is the investment manager.

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Klorman Construction was selected as the concrete subcontractor for the Accelerated Charter Elementary School in South LA. The new campus will include classrooms as well as a multipurpose room; cafeteria and lunch shelter space; admin support space; and a subterranean parking structure, along with surface parking and student drop-off area. GKK Works is the architect and Pinner Construction is the GC.

Mole-Richardson Co, a manufacturer of entertainment lighting equipment, selected H. Hendy Associates and Calvert Architectural Group to design its new HQ in Pacoima. The company is relocating from 937 N Sycamore Ave in Hollywood, its home for 88 years, making it one of Hollywood's oldest businesses. The new location (12154 Montague St) will include private offices, workstations, conference rooms, collaborative break-out areas and a showroom. Additionally, it'll feature a museum highlighting Mole-Richardson’s landmark technological innovations and commemorate milestone productions that used the company's lighting.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

American Realty Advisors reduced water consumption by 27% at its South Tryon Square property, a 236k SF, 15-story office building in Charlotte, NC. Measures such as replacing water fixtures with low-flow versions and installing automated water faucets and soap dispensers saved 1.4 million gallons of water annually. The firm, which achieved significant cuts in water and energy use at nine additional properties, was recognized as a leader in water conservation by the EPA.

EXECUTIVE NEWS

Matthew Renshaw and Mark O’Brien, a veteran CBRE office brokerage team based in downtown LA, joined the Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance as managing principals. They'll spearhead the launch of a new DTLA office for CBC, augmenting the NYC-based brokerage firm's offices in Glendale and OC. The dynamic duo has completed more than 9M SF of lease and sale transactions over their careers.

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Storm Properties Inc hired Joseph Kim as director of finance, responsible for financial reporting, capital markets, tax, investor relations and financial planning and analysis. Before this, he was head of regional accounting at Invitation Homes, a Blackstone Group company. Storm, a developer, owner and manager of residential, industrial and commercial properties, has a current development pipeline of more than $100M.