This Week’s LA Deal Sheet
Local architectural firm KFA has named three new partners. Joining founders Wade Killefer and Barbara Flammang as partners are John Arnold, Lise Bornstein and Jonathan Watts. Lise and John are longtime KFA principals, and Jonathan is a former principal of Cuningham Group Architecture.
Wade (here with Barbara) says the new positions set up company leadership for the next decade and beyond, and lauds the partners as innovators in many different architectural disciplines. "They are poised to create more places that help make Los Angeles one of the world’s great cities,” he adds. KFA has worked on a number of LA's most exciting adaptive reuse projects, including the Old Bank District, Eastern Columbia building, Broadway Hollywood, Taft Building and many more.
In addition, the company continues to see growth in affordable housing work. Wade says 75% of KFA’s work is new construction, including hospitality, residential, transit-oriented development and creative office.
Above is the entire partners team: Wade Killefer, Barbara Flammang, Jonathan Watts, Lise Bornstein, John Arnold.
Other Executive News
In another major coup, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank has hired well-known CBRE vet Kevin Shannon as its new West Coast president of NGKF Capital Markets. Kevin will lead NGKF Capital Markets' West Coast operation, while continuing to manage deals throughout the region. He will be based in NGKF's El Segundo office, headed by SoCal regional managing director Greg May.
Since 1996, Shannon has sold and marketed more than $46B of office, industrial and retail properties. NGKF also hired 14 other sales brokers for the company’s growing Capital Markets division.
SALES
In an off-market deal in the Valley, Hazelhurst Equities bought a 14-unit condominium property in Sherman Oaks (4309 Dixie Canyon Ave) for $6.15M or $439,286 per unit. Lee and Associates’ Jeff McGuire and Ryan O’Connor repped the seller, CAC Property Investments, and Slavic Zlatkin repped the buyer, Hazelhurst Equities. The property is at 4309 Dixie Canyon Ave.
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Canyon Bay Development sold Sahara Durango Retail Shopping Center (8485 W Sahara Ave), a 45k SF neighborhood shopping center in the Las Vegas area, to Grandway Asset Management for $10.55M. Marcus & Millichap’s Pablo Rodriguez and Richard Vincent repped both buyer and seller in the transaction. Andrew Kirsh, co-founding partner and head of the real estate practice at Sklar Kirsh, repped the buyer in the transaction and acquisition financing. The shopping center is on 4.4 acres in Spring Valley and anchored by Smart & Final.
JLL has sold a 6.8-acre land parcel near LAX (687 N Eucalyptus Ave) to a JV between Panattoni Development Co and MetLife. It's the site of a speculative industrial building that would contain 149k SF. Construction should be completed by the end of this year. Mike Condon repped the buyers as well as the seller, Singlewood.
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A 5k SF industrial building (802 Mateo St) has traded hands for $3.5M or $700/SF. That price marks the highest paid for a building in the downtown Arts District. The buyer is expected to redevelop the building into event or retail space. JLL’s Lorena Tomb repped the buyer. Tomb and JLL’s Danielle Cornwell repped the seller, NBVBN LLC.
Charles Dunn completed the sale of the Avalon, a four-story, 47-unit building in Koreatown, for $7.54M or $329/SF to Trion Properties. Charles Dunn Co’s Janet Neman and Bryan Glenn repped the seller, Vista Investment Group in Santa Monica, as well as the buyer, Trion Properties. According to Janet, the property sold for $45k over its asking price. At a sale price of $329/SF, it is the highest price per square foot ever paid for a brick building in Koreatown, according to CoStar. The Avalon, located at 324 S Catalina St, was built in 1926. It includes 20 studio units, 26 one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit. According to Bryan, the buyer plans to renovate the units that have not yet been remodeled and raise the rents to market rates when the units are available.
Intercontinental Real Estate Corp and MG Properties Group purchased the 350-unit Carmel Hacienda Heights Apartments in Hacienda Heights. The company plans to renovate the property and totally upgrade the exterior as well as the interior units. The apartments will also be rebranded as the Hills at Hacienda Heights. Sean Deasy and Mark Petersen at HFF Securities repped the seller. The buyers repped themselves.
CONSTRUCTION
Mill Creek Residential broke ground on Los Feliz Apartments (435 West Los Feliz Rd), its newest community in Glendale. It will consist of 220, one- and two-bedroom apartments and a three-bedroom home, with loft options available. There will also be a six-story parking garage, a club-quality fitness center, a recreation room, a business center, an outdoor paseo, a deck, a dog park and a swimming pool. Michael Genthe, managing director of the Southern California region for Mill Creek Residential, says renters in the community will be able to take advantage of nearby amenities, including the Americana at Brand.
LEASING
Ciba Insurance Services of California signed a six-year lease for 22,700 SF in the Glendale Plaza office building (655 N Central Ave). The 25-story, 582k SF office building was built in 1999. It was awarded LEED certification last year.
Rene Soto, William Boyd and Linda Lee with Charles Dunn Inc repped Ciba Insurance Services of California. Scott Crawshaw, Doug Marlow and Juliana Sampson at CBRE repped the landlord.
