This Week's LA Deal Sheet

DivcoWest completed a JV with Maguire Investments to own Water’s Edge, a 260k SF Class-A office campus in Playa Vista, and to develop a third and final office building at the complex, dubbed WE3.

Rob Maguire (with DivcoWest's Mike Provost, who worked on the deal) tells us DivcoWest bought most of the campus' first two buildings (though he's retained an ownership interest). He calls the deal, which brings DivcoWest's real estate interests in the LA market to more than 1.3M SF, a "positive move" that provides the capital he needs to develop the new building. "It'll be one of the real trophy assets on the West Coast." Rob, who developed Water's Edge in 2002, has high expectations for the new building, noting Playa Vista is the only market on LA's Westside that offers significant blocks of space. As everyone knows, he built much of Downtown LA's skyline with his previous company, but this will be his first ground-up project in a long while.

Rob expects WE3 to be popular with tech and entertainment companies, which largely make up the tenant base at the two existing buildings at Water's Edge. The new one will boast 14-foot ceilings, large operable windows, ocean views and lots of color, he says. He anticipates the fully entitled, spec project will get underway in mid-2015. That's not all. Rob's also considering converting a huge parking garage his firm owns next to LA Live into small apartment units for Downtown workers, and is building hangars at Van Nuys Airport, home to numerous corporate jets.

SALES

Costco bought 23 acres in Torrance from The Rockefeller Group with plans to build a 164k SF store. The location (2740 Lomita Blvd, between Crenshaw and Hawthorne boulevards) is adjacent to an existing Costco that is in a leased building. The new property fits Costco's goal of owning its facilities, according to The Klabin Co's Todd Taugner, who repped Rockefeller along with the firm's David Prior and Frank Schulz. Costco plans to break ground in Q1. Completion: Q4 2015.

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California may be getting a new player on the supermarket scene. Haggen Inc, a Pacific Northwest grocery chain based in Bellingham, WA, has agreed to acquire 146 stores as part of the divestment process stemming from the Albertsons-Safeway merger. The deal, which is subject to FTC approval, includes 83 Albertsons, Pavilions and Vons stores in SoCal. The transaction is expected to close in early 2015, after which the stores will be converted in phases to the Haggen banner. The company currently operates 18 stores in Washington and Oregon.

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Jamison Properties sold a three-story office building in Torrance (22939 Hawthorne Blvd) to a private investor for $5.5M. The building was completely vacant, which made financing difficult, according to Colliers International's Geoff Ludwig. He repped both sides along with Colliers' Eric Lastition, who says Jamison is carrying back part of the mortgage. Another hurdle--the building, which contains more than 27k SF, is larger than traditional office users in Torrance are used to seeing. The buyer plans to occupy a portion of the building and lease out the remainder.

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MT Real Estate bought an industrial building in Downey (11899 Woodruff Ave) from The Prichard Family Trust for nearly $3.8M. The building, which contains nearly 27k SF, will be used for automobile storage. Heger Industrial's John Bowman and Charles Dunn’s Dennis Slattery repped the seller. Voit's Joe Winklemann repped the buyer.

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Lurel LLC bought a 23-unit multifamily property in North Hollywood (6859 Laurel Canyon Blvd) from Anthony Mersola Jr for $2.7M. Warren Berzack of Berzack Investment Property Advisors, a multifamily specialty group of Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura, repped both sides.

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Lee & Associates' L. Thomas Morgan, Thomas Smith and Gary Friesen closed the sale of an 8,971 SF church in Riverside (3669 Madison St) for $1.3M. The trio repped both buyer First Baptist Church of Norco and seller Family Praise Fellowship.

KUDOS

We asked for your Movember pics, and here's the winner: American Realty Advisors. Nearly a quarter of the employees--both male and female--participated in the firm's effort to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues. (The ladies didn't grow mustaches, however.) Shown above are Jason, Ed, Ted, Joseph, Seth, Rey, Chris, Cameron and Peter, with Albert and Jeff on the screen. Once Movember was over, all the participants went back to their clean-shaven selves except for the team captain, who liked the additional facial hair. The Movember team challenged senior management to match or double their support, resulting in the team surpassing its monetary goal.

CONSTRUCTION/DEVELOPMENT

The Janet L. Witkin Center, a 17-unit, low-income senior housing project developed by Affordable Living for the Aging, has opened in West Hollywood (937 N Fairfax Ave). Killefer Flammang Architects designed the community to LEED Gold standards. To integrate the project with the community, a “front porch” patio links the building with a direct connection to the street, and a fifth-floor community garden encourages social interaction.

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McCarthy completed construction of the $480M, 390k SF Melanie and Richard Lundquist Tower at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. The project came in more than four months early and $10M under budget. The GC used a combo of delivery systems: design-assist for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, structural steel and framing; and design-build for the exterior skin, elevators and fire protection system. Designed by HMC Architects, the Lundquist Tower replaces Torrance Memorial’s original facility built in 1971, which no longer meets state seismic regs for acute-care facilities.

BROKERAGE

Charles Dunn Co was tapped to market a seven-acre production facility and office complex in Simi Valley (101 W Cochran St), a growing hotbed for the entertainment industry. The property consists of a two-story office building (above), two studio production stages, post-production editing suites and warehouse space. Seller Adventist Media Center, which is owned and operated by the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, used the facility for its worldwide broadcasting activities. Charles Dunn's Dennis Slattery, who is selling the property with colleague Stacy Vierheilig-Fraser, notes the complex sits within the "30-mile studio zone," a 30-mile radius used by union film projects to determine per diem rates and driving distances for crew members.

EXECUTIVE NEWS

HLW International named two new managing directors who will jointly run the architecture, engineering and design firm's Santa Monica office. Rhonda Curliss, principal in charge of global communications, most recently was based in HLW's London office. Mark Zwagerman, who recently returned to HLW, has more than 25 years of experience in project management and design for major entertainment, hospitality, corporate and retail clients.

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Total Realty Group/KW Commercial Downtown LA promoted multifamily specialist Frank Grennie to assistant VP and sales manager.