The LA Deal Sheet

Langdon Street Capital has purchased LA's Grand Central Square, which includes Grand Central Market, the 100-year-old food hall. The purchase also included the historic Million Dollar Theatre, Grand Central Square Apartments, Grand Central parking structure and other assets from the Grand Central Square partnership.

The purchase, for an undisclosed price, makes Langdon the fourth owner in the history of Grand Central Market. The real estate investment company plans to invest significant capital in the Market and update the hospitality experience.

“Our goal is to continue the incredible improvements the Market has implemented over the past half-decade and the legacy that precedes us,” Langdon President Adam Daneshgar said in a statement.

Beverly Hills-based Langdon has a portfolio of core and value-added urban infill retail, multifamily and creative offices in California, Nevada, New York and Texas.

Christophe Farber, founder of consulting firm Monkeyfoot International, advised the principals in the deal. Langdon was represented by The Passman Group's David Passman and advised by The Brighton Group's Julian Chicha.

SALES

Swift Real Estate Partners has bought a Class-A, 74K SF office building at 4640 Lankershim in North Hollywood for $23.5M. Seller Curo Enterprises renovated the building, which is 100% leased to multiple tenants, before the sale.

CBRE’s Todd Tydlaska, Mike Longo, Sean Sullivan, Matt Heyn and Troy Pollet represented Curo Enterprises.

“North Hollywood has become one of the hippest submarkets in Los Angeles,” Tydlaska said in a statement.

The purchase is Swift's second office buy in the North Hollywood market in the past 12 months. The other acquisition was the nearby The Academy Tower, a 176K SF office and retail project.

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Hanley Investment Group arranged the $2.65M sale of a 25K SF single-tenant net-leased retail property at 2101 East Palmdale Blvd. in Palmdale. The property is occupied by Harbor Freight Tools, which has more than 11 years remaining on its primary lease term with 10% rental increases and multiple five-year options. Hanley Executive Vice President Jeremy McChesney represented the seller, Sage Investco. Colliers International Senior Vice President Mehran Foroughi represented the buyer, a private investor from Newport Beach.

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Balboa Retail Partners, an LA-based real estate investment firm, purchased two grocery-anchored centers in separate transactions. The first was Lincoln Center in Santa Monica, and the other property was Carlsbad Village in Carlsbad. Both are 100% occupied with long-term leases. Colliers International's Tom Lagos and Michael Asarch negotiated both sales. The sellers were not disclosed, nor was the amount of either sale.

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Hek Realty Group purchased 5820 Palo Verde and 10751 South St. in Cerritos in an off-market deal. The retail buildings, totaling 12K SF, sold for $2.6M. Lee & Associates' John Son represented the buyer.

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Marcus & Millichap arranged the sale of three multifamily properties:

• A five-unit apartment building at 908 Hyperion Ave. in Los Angeles for $1.85M. Ford Noe, an associate in Marcus & Millichap's West Los Angeles office, had the exclusive listing to market the property for the seller, a personal trust. Noe and Senior Vice President Lane Schwartz secured and represented the buyer, a limited liability company.
• A four-unit apartment building at 1388 East Orange Grove Blvd. in Pasadena for $1.1M. Associate Edward Chao and Vice President Investments Filip Niculete, both of Marcus & Millichap's Encino office, had the exclusive listing to market the property for the seller, a personal trust. Chao and Niculete also secured and represented the buyer, Cabe LLC.
• A nine-unit apartment complex at 2806 Piedmont Ave. and 3923 La Crescenta Ave. in Glendale for $2.55M. Vice President of Investments Filip Niculete and Associate Rick Ramirez, both in Marcus & Millichap's Encino office, had the exclusive listing for the property for the seller, a personal trust.

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Stepp Commercial arranged the sale of the six-unit The Ocean Park Apartments at 1007 Ocean Park Blvd. in Santa Monica for $400K/unit at a 3.8% cap rate.

FINANCING

Quantum Capital Partners arranged a $32.8M CMBS loan on a six-story, 107K SF office building at 12301 Wilshire Blvd. in West Los Angeles. The 10-year, interest-only loan will be used to retire existing debt and for equity for the owner, a local partnership of tenant-in-common investors that acquired the building in 2014. The building is 96% leased to office and medical office tenants. The nonrecourse loan was originated by Wells Fargo Bank. Quantum Managing Directors Jonathan Hakakha and Mike Yim led the team representing the borrower.

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NorthMarq Capital secured the $18M refinance of a 355K SF industrial property at 1444 South Alameda St. in Los Angeles. NorthMarq arranged the financing with a life insurance company. The new loan was structured on a five-year term with a 25-year amortization schedule, but with less than three years remaining on the lease term. 

LEASES

Lucky Brand denim company has renewed its 25K SF lease at 1245 Factory Place in downtown LA's Arts District. The five-year renewal is worth around $4M. The company has had its garment manufacturing operations at the two-story industrial building since 2014. Savills Studley Senior Managing Director Bart Pucci represented Lucky Brand. He said the facility is close to the company's headquarters at 540 Santa Fe Ave. two blocks away. Pucci also represented Lucky Brand in securing space in the creative office building about eight years ago.

OPENINGS

Warner Pacific Properties has converted a former Albertsons-anchored shopping center in Monrovia, and is celebrating the grand opening of a T.J. Maxx/HomeGoods combination store. The real estate investment and development company purchased the 98K SF Monrovia Landing retail property in February 2016. In addition to the redevelopment and addition of the T.J. Maxx/HomeGoods store, Aldi is scheduled to open in the center in December and Ulta Beauty will open in the second quarter.

KUDOS

TruAmerica Multifamily founder and CEO Robert Hart received the Spirit of Life Award from the LA Real Estate & Construction Industries Council of The City of Hope for his professional and philanthropic contributions. The award was given at the annual event, held this year in Santa Monica, which raised more than $2.5M for the City of Hope. Past recipients of the award include Hudson Pacific Properties' Victor Coleman, The Ratkovich Cos.' Wayne Ratkovich, Kilroy Realty Corp.'s Catherine and John Kilroy Jr., American Value Partners' Richard Ziman and Majestic Realty Co.'s Edward Roski.

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The Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los Angeles awarded 2000 Avenue of the Stars at Century Park the 2017 Outstanding Building of the Year for projects of 500K to 1M SF. The property, managed and leased by CBRE, was recognized for excellence in building management and operations. It is an 817K SF Class-A LEED Gold office building.

EXECUTIVE NEWS

Andrew McDonald has been named president, West Region for Cushman & Wakefield. McDonald will lead operations for the western U.S., including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. He was previously executive managing director and regional managing principal for the Greater Los Angeles/Orange County, where he oversaw that market's eight offices and more than 500 employees. He began his real estate career as executive assistant to John Cushman III in 1999.

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CBRE has hired the office leasing team of Jacob Bobek, Scott Steuber and Jeff Vertun from Avison Young. The team will be part of CBRE's Occupier Advisory & Transaction Services group and be based in downtown LA. Bobek joins as executive vice president, Steuber as senior vice president and Vertun as first vice president.