The LA Deal Sheet

George Smith Partners has secured $266.8M in financing for a four-property multifamily portfolio in Los Angeles.

The portfolio, owned by G.H. Palmer, has 1,359 units. The owner decided to refinance at current rates, said George Smith Partners principal and co-founder Gary Tenzer, who arranged the financing.

“While nobody likes prepayment penalties, oftentimes it behooves the borrower to absorb the prepay cost to liberate trapped equity and lock in lower rates going forward,” Tenzer said in a statement.

G.H. Palmer has put energy- and water-saving technology into the properties for an anticipated 35% operating expense reduction in energy costs and 28% water cost savings.

“We were able to utilize the positive cash flow these savings create to negotiate with the lender to achieve an 18 basis point rate reduction on the loans, and a 5% increase in proceeds,” Tenzer said.

The refinancing was for seven-year, fixed-rate interest-only nonrecourse loans priced at 3.54% at a 65% loan-to-value. Over the years, Tenzer has closed more than $1.5B in debt transactions for G.H. Palmer.

The four properties are Skyline Terrace Apartments at 930 Figueroa Terrace and Pasadena Park Place at 101 Bridewell St., both in Los Angeles, and River Ranch Townhomes and Apartments at 18005 Anne's Circle and The Terrace at 21311 Alder Drive, both in Santa Clarita.

SALES

Avison Young brokered the $14M sale of Walnut Place, a fully occupied 28-unit apartment property with two retail units in the Playhouse District of Pasadena. The five-story property at 712 East Walnut St. was built in 2004 and includes 21 two-bedroom units, seven three-bedroom units and 3K SF of retail space. Avison Young Vice President Andrew Berk represented the seller, Walnut Place LLC. The buyer was a private investor from San Fernando Valley. The sale had a 3% cap rate and sold for nearly $467K/unit. The property received multiple offers.

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Marcus & Millichap arranged the sale of two three-story, 15-unit Westside apartment buildings for $13.3M. The properties were both built in 1964. The 1477 South Canfield Ave. property sold for $6M, or $400K/unit. The 1480 South Canfield Ave. property sold for $7.31M, or more than $487K/unit. Marcus & Millichap associate Steven Goldstein represented the seller of 1480 South Canfield Ave. and found the buyers for both properties.

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Waypoint Property Group sold an office building at 588 Atlas St. in Monterey Park to In Christ Community Church for $10M. The 86K SF two-building office complex was recently renovated into a two-story corporate headquarters property. CBRE's Mark Shaffer, Gary Stache, Anthony DeLorenzo and Doug Mack represented the seller. The buyer was a Korean-American Christian church.

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Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors handled the sale of Lancaster Triangle, a 36K SF multi-tenant shopping center in Lancaster, for $5.75M. Hanley Investment Group Executive Vice President Bill Asher and associate Jeff Lefko and The Morgiewicz Co.'s Rosanne Morgiewicz represented the seller, Calabasas-based Lancaster Triangle LLC, as well as the buyer, a private investor. Lancaster Triangle, built in 1980 on 3.4 acres, was 100% occupied at the time of the sale.

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SVN-Rich Investment Real Estate Partners handled the sale of 900 South Orange Grove Ave. in Los Angeles for $3.06M. SVN's Ford Timberlake and Rob Zaharia represented the seller and 900 S Grove L.P., the buyer. This was the first time the property, with eight one-bedroom/one-bathroom units, was on the market in more than 30 years. The buyer plans to renovate and hold the building long term.

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Marcus & Millichap arranged the sale of:

• a six-unit apartment building at 1213 South Orange Grove Ave. in Los Angeles for $1.6M. Senior Vice President of Investments Matt Ziegler in Marcus & Millichap's Encino office had the exclusive listing for the seller, a limited liability company. Ziegler and Executive Managing Director of Investments Jeff Louks secured and represented the buyer.
• a nine-unit apartment building at 1034 West 109th Place in Los Angeles for $1.3M. First Vice President Sevak Keshishian and associate Sean Kameli, both in Marcus & Millichap's Encino office, had the exclusive listing on the property for the seller and secured the buyer.
• a four-unit apartment building at 10725 Bloomfield St. in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of LA for $1.35M. Marcus & Millichap associate Glen Scher had the exclusive listing for the seller, a private investor, and secured and represented the buyer.

LEASES

Cushman & Wakefield is the first office tenant at Wilshire Grand Center. The firm relocated its downtown LA headquarters to 900 Wilshire Blvd., where it will house 180 employees in offices with a focus on employee wellness, collaboration and technology. Cushman & Wakefield will occupy about 35K SF on floors 24 and 25. Wilshire Grand Center is the first new office building in downtown LA in 25 years and the tallest west of the Mississippi; it was completed in June.

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G.P. Johnson Co. renewed its lease for the Torrance building it has occupied for more than 20 years in the South Bay. The five-year lease is valued at $3.5M. The event and experiential marketing agency signed a lease renewal for 99K SF within the 306K SF industrial building at 4242 West 190th St. It uses the property to store trade show displays for major U.S. consumer product companies. The Klabin Co. Senior Managing Principal David Prior, Managing Principal Frank Schulz and Executive Vice President and principal Todd Taugner represented property owner Z/A Torrance Associates. Cushman & Wakefield's Jon Gorczyca represented GPJ.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

The Newport Harbor Medical Plaza, a 26,500 SF Class-A medical facility near Hoag Hospital, has broken ground in Newport Beach. Completion of the facility at 330 Old Newport Blvd. is scheduled for fall 2018. Office spaces will range from 2K SF to 16,500 SF. C.W. Driver Cos. affiliate Driver SPG, a division that specializes in shorter completion times for tenant improvement, renovation and new construction projects, is working alongside developer Shaoulian Properties and designer Bundy-Finkel Architects.

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Hackman Capital Partners has selected Gensler to design its latest creative office conversion in El Segundo. The former Northrup Grumman industrial site has four existing buildings on more than 30 acres across from the Lakers new practice facility. The buildings total about 550K SF. The conversion project is scheduled to break ground in Q1 with delivery planned for 2019. CBRE’s Bill Bloodgood, John Ayoob and Jeff Pion have been retained as the property’s listing brokers.

KUDOS

Cox, Castle & Nicholson has been recognized as the 2018 National Tier 1 Law Firm of the Year for Land Use and Zoning Law in this year's U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers' rankings. The firm has offices in LA, Orange County and San Francisco. The firm also was recognized for environmental law, real estate law, environmental litigation and natural resources law.

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Allen Matkins founding partner Michael Matkins is being honored as "Los Angeles Leader of the Year" by the Multiple Sclerosis Society. He will be recognized at this year's Dinner of Champions, which raises money to help those affected by MS and support research, on Nov. 30.

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Camden Property Trust was recognized as one of the Best Workplaces in Southern California by Great Place to Work and Fortune magazine. The company ranked No. 11 on the list.

EXECUTIVE NEWS

Kidder Mathew's Los Angeles office has hired Shelby Dopps, who will specialize in retail tenant representation. Dopps was previously with Present Value Properties in Tustin.