Realty Bancorp Equities Sells Santa Monica Office Property For $86.7M
Realty Bancorp Equities sold a Santa Monica office complex to First Citizens Bank nearly a year after defaulting on more than $100M in loans attached to the property.
First Citizens paid more than $1,100K per SF for the 77K SF property at 1540 Second St., The Real Deal reported, fetching the highest price in Los Angeles County in three years. But at $86.7M, the sale is still less than the outstanding debt on the property.
Realty Bancorp defaulted on a $79M loan from Haymarket Insurance in March, TRD reported, citing notices filed with the county of Los Angeles. One of the filings said Realty Bancorp had neglected to pay property taxes on the complex and make all of the debt service payments, TRD reported. In April, Realty Bancorp defaulted on a different $30M loan, also provided by Haymarket.
It is unclear what First Citizens Bank has planned for the property, which counts among its tenants McDonald’s and CorePower Yoga.
Office sales have been few and far between across LA over the last year or so, but 2024 has already had at least two major trades. Online gambling platform FanDuel bought a new Beverly Hills office property built by Skanska for $1,400 per SF, or $71M, Commercial Observer reported Thursday.
