This Week's LA Deal Sheet
Belkin International announced Friday that it is leaving its Playa Vista headquarters for El Segundo.
The consumer electronics company will move into Tishman Speyer’s 555 Aviation. Belkin will take up about 65K SF in the 260K SF single-story development, Belkin Vice President of Global Communications Jen Wei Warren told Bisnow in an email. That represents a notable downsize from its Playa Vista offices, where it has rented about twice that much space in the Campus at Playa Vista as its headquarters since 2010.
In its announcement, Belkin alluded to a rethinking of the office space it needs, noting that the move to El Segundo “marks its commitment to adopting a hybrid and flexible workplace of the future.” Though the design of Belkin’s new space is still in the works, Warren wrote that it will be “designed to increase collaboration, communication, innovation and teamwork” and that there will be no traditional offices or permanent seating.
Belkin’s new home will offer a fitness center, a coffee shop, outdoor lounge areas with fire features, bike storage and ample parking. Tishman Speyer purchased the building in 2015 and redid it after the sole tenant, Xerox, vacated the building in 2017.
Other tenants at 555 Aviation include advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, which signed a lease for 80K SF at the property in fall 2019.
SALES
A double lot multifamily property in Westwood sold off-market for $5.6M. The properties at 1505 and 1515 Veteran Ave. sold to an undisclosed buyer who is “a long-term investor, developer, and asset manager in the Los Angeles market,” according to a statement from Kidder Mathews, whose Michael Monempour represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction. The buildings on the lots currently hold nine units, but lots, which total 17K SF, were bought for their land value — about $267K per buildable unit.
LEASES
Space Investment Partners LLC locked down the first lease at its just-renovated Briggs Corporate Center in Costa Mesa, an approximately 52K SF industrial building. High Performance Nutrition leased a 19K SF unit at the property — nearly double the 10K SF the company is leaving behind at a different Costa Mesa location. JLL Executive Vice Presidents Wade Tift, Byron Foss and Nick Carey represented the landlord, Space Investment Partners, in the lease. High Performance Nutrition was represented by Cushman & Wakefield Director Nathan Demosthenes.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
C.W. Driver Cos. has broken ground on the expansion of Pomona College’s Athletic and Recreation Center. The construction cost of the project is $43M. A mix of renovations and new construction, the 95K SF center will provide 15K SF of additional space for the Pomona-Pitzer athletics program, as well as exercise areas and locker rooms. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2022.
***
Bellwether Financial Group received a development permit from the California Coastal Commission to redevelop the Dana Point Harbor — a move that gives a boost to the $330M plan to renovate the marina, add new shops, restaurants and hotel rooms and keeps it on track to begin construction by the end of 2021. The project is expected to be completed in 2026. Bellwether Financial Group, along with Burnham-Ward Properties and R.D. Olson Development, together make up Dana Point Harbor Partners, a partnership created to redevelop and operate the harbor.
***
Sares Regis Group is developing a 172.5K SF industrial campus in the Conejo Valley, the same submarket where it recently developed, leased and sold the nine-building Conejo Spectrum Business Park. The business park sold in 2019. Vertical construction on the two new buildings, called the Conejo Spectrum Gateway, is underway. Both are leasing and will be ready for tenants to build out by Q3 2021.
