Behind The Deal: The $475M Sale Of Runway Playa Vista

Invesco Real Estate beat out several other firms to land Runway Playa Vista in a $475M sale that adds to its growing presence in the burgeoning community. The purchase from Lincoln Property, Phoenix Property and Alcion Ventures was years in the making. We caught up with Lincoln Property for an inside look.

The deal took five years, Lincoln Property senior EVP David Binswanger (above) tells us. He says Runway Playa Vista had been on Invesco Real Estate’s radar for a couple of years now.

However, it was not the only company that considered making the purchase. David declined to name the other contenders, but there were a total of four interested parties.

Lincoln decided last summer it was time to sell, David tells us.

Runway Playa Vista has 420 apartments and 217 SF of retail space with anchors, including Whole Foods, CVS Pharmacy and Cinemark Cinema. Fred Segal is another retailer.

Runway Playa Vista is nearing the 90% leasing mark, Chris Daniell (below), Lincoln's retail division manager, tells us.

The shopping center opened in phases beginning in March of last year, Chris says. Hal’s Bar and Grill, which closed its Venice location, is among the restaurants scheduled to open later this year.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Group has pre-leased the entire 32SF of office space, signing an 11-year lease last summer. The offices are expected to open early next year, Chris tells us.

HFF handled the sale for Lincoln Property, Phoenix Property and Alcion Ventures, according to HFF Senior Managing Director Doug Bond.

Colliers International EVP Nico Vilgiate, who was not involved with the sale, tells Bisnow Playa Vista was already "put on the core capital map with significant sales of office product and land in 2015." However, this sale "just validated that it is the center of master planned mixed-use commercial real estate" in all of LA, Nico says. (That's him, above, skiing with his wife, Ashley, and daughter, Mia, at the top of Park City.)

Runway Playa Vista is not Invesco’s first foray into the area.

Invesco paid $300M last year for The Reserve (above), a former US Postal Service facility turned into one of the top local tech offices with Microsoft, Sony Playstation and TMZ as tenants.

Chris tells Bisnow that Invesco, similarly to Lincoln Property, is a big believer in Playa Vista and refers to Runway Playa Vista as “irreplaceable real estate.” Lincoln entered the Playa Vista area 10 years ago. Now, it's growing with everything from offices and retail to multifamily projects.

Runway Playa Vista “brings together the entire community and is a crowning achievement of the original Playa Plan,” David tells us.