This Week's LA Deal Sheet

The county of Los Angeles inked a 15-year lease for just over 207K SF at an office building in Long Beach for the Department of Public Social Services.

The deal was outlined in a memo to the LA County Board of Supervisors, which approved the plan earlier this month. The county is consolidating three DPSS locations — two in Rancho Dominguez and one in Inglewood — into this one, designed to become a “one-stop shop” and a regional center for the department. The new location at 1500 Hughes Way is owned by Omninet Capital, public records show.

The estimated first-year rental cost is approximately $7.2M. Over the entire 15-year term, the county expects to pay roughly $166.7M, including build-out costs and other expenses associated with making the space ready for move-in. The department will move in phases throughout early 2025 as existing leases expire.

PEOPLE

Cushman & Wakefield appointed Executive Director Marques Williams to lead tenant representation in Greater Los Angeles — a newly created role that reports to C&W Regional President and acting Managing Principal for LA Matt Chatham. Williams will lead the firm’s local occupier business in Los Angeles, the Inland Empire and Orange County. He has been with C&W since 2014. 

SALES

Decron Properties has acquired Margo at the Society, a 240-unit apartment complex at 201 Del Sol Drive, near Hotel Circle in San Diego, for $125.5M. The acquisition was facilitated through a 1031 exchange. Decron sold two properties in Thousand Oaks for $69M and reinvested a portion of those funds into Margo at the Society. This is Decron’s second acquisition in San Diego but its first since 2015. Decron wants to acquire 500 to 1,000 additional units in San Diego County over the next two years.

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A vacant 99K SF commercial building at 2400 Conejo Spectrum in Thousand Oaks sold to the county of Ventura for an undisclosed price. The county of Ventura will use the building for its fire department administrative headquarters. 

Newmark co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon and Vice Chairmen Ken White, Rob Hannan, Laura Stumm and Michael Moll represented the seller and announced the sale. Newmark didn't disclose the seller, and the sale isn't yet reflected in property records, but records show that the last sale was to an LLC connected to TPG Real Estate Partners. 

LEASES

Daum Commercial Real Estate Services Executive Vice President Chuck Brill, Executive Vice President Casey Mungo and Vice President Nate Ortega leased an approximately 116K SF industrial warehouse in Rancho Dominguez on behalf of the landlord, JCQ Industrial. The site at 3040 E. Ana St. was leased for a total consideration of just over $10M. 

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Best Choice Products, an e-commerce company whose products include indoor and outdoor furniture, signed a headquarters lease for approximately 53K SF at Granite Properties’ 100 Bayview in Newport Beach. The company will occupy the first floor of the building, which is LEED Gold and Fitwel certified. BCP was represented by Scott Wetzel and Jeff Ingham of JLL, and Granite was represented by CBRE’s Justin Hill and Dean Chandler.  

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Upscale grocer Bristol Farms inked a 15-year lease for 23K SF of retail at Modera Argyle, a 276-unit apartment complex at Selma and Argyle avenues in Hollywood. Kennedy Wilson Brokerage Executive Vice President and Director of Retail Lee Shapiro represented the landlord, Mill Creek Residential. The property will be Bristol Farms’ 14th location in SoCal.

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World Surf League has moved its headquarters to about 16K SF at 2201 Rosecrans Ave. in El Segundo. Savills identified the sublease option at the site, home to the headquarters of the National Veterinary Association. Savills Senior Managing Director Michael Shuken, Los Angeles Region President Josh Gorin and Senior Managing Director Shannon Woodcock worked on the deal for WSL. 

FINANCING

A Walker & Dunlop team arranged $68.5M in construction loan proceeds to finance 1457 N. Main St., a new 376-unit affordable and workforce housing project in Chinatown. Walker & Dunlop’s capital markets team led by Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz,  Keith Kurland and Michael Diaz arranged the financing on behalf of the client, Thrive Living, and the lender, JPMorgan Chase.

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A JLL Capital Markets team recapitalized an approximately 25K SF content and entertainment studio in the Arts District, paying off bridge financing and preferred equity investors. The JLL Capital Markets team led by Managing Director Matt Stewart, associate Ace Sudah and analyst Jacob Michael represented the borrower, Mack Sennett Studios, in securing a $7.5M loan from a foreign bank with regional offices throughout the United States.