Pasadena Office Portfolio Sells For $80M
A three-building Pasadena office portfolio that includes an 11-story building at Lake Avenue and Colorado Boulevard has traded hands for $80M.
The buyer, an undisclosed LA-based private investor, plans a Class-A repositioning of the building, including an overhaul of the lobbies and outdoor areas. At the time of the sale, the portfolio was 63% leased to tenants in industries including marketing, medical, legal and technology.
Although the sale closed last week, public records don't yet reflect the transaction.
“This portfolio is positioned in an incomparable location at historic ground zero of Lake and Colorado in Pasadena’s central business district,” Cushman & Wakefield Vice Chairman Mike Condon Jr. said in a release. “Furthermore, the portfolio’s 2 N Lake is the only building in Pasadena featuring numerous outdoor decks plus smaller private balconies—it also has an outdoor park area. Each of these characteristics remain in high demand by occupiers in today’s market where fresh air is more sought-after.”
The portfolio also includes a three-story building at 911 East Colorado Blvd., a one-story building at 902 Boston Court, and a six-story parking garage at North Lake Avenue and East Colorado Boulevard.
Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets team, led by Condon, senior director Katie Cowan, brokerage associate Bailey Dawson, director Erica Finck, executive director Steve Marcussen, executive director Shaun Stiles and Executive Vice Chairman Marc Renard represented the sellers, according to Cushman & Wakefield, which announced the sale Monday.
2 North Lake’s sellers were 2 North Lake JV LLC, a group of investors in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. The entity purchased the portfolio in 2009 for $51.95M, public records show.
Though there was not an official asking price, Condon told Bisnow that $80M was the number that the sellers hoped the sale would generate. The firm had originally been awarded the portfolio assignment in Q1 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic slowed the process. Marketing of the site didn't begin until Q3 2020, right before the shutdown at the end of the year.
Office sales declined during the pandemic, so overall investment volume for the greater LA area in Q2 was still below the five-year average dollar volume, according to Avison Young. But Avison Young also reported that asset pricing has stabilized, which it said indicated a potential recovery.
CORRECTION, AUG. 23, 4 P.M. PT: A previous version of this story omitted Katie Cowan, Shaun Stiles and Steve Marcussen from the sales team that represented the sellers. The story has been updated.
