RealEstate

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By ELIZABETH HAYES

Staff Reporter

Downtown L.A. has been hit hard by bank mergers and corporate downsizing in recent years, but a lease announced last week goes against that trend.

California Bank & Trust, the fifth largest commercial bank in the state, has leased almost 38,000 square feet of office space at 550 S. Hope St. for its Southern California regional office. The bank will also have building-top signage, said Brian Ulf of Cushman Realty Corp., one of the brokers for the bank.

The bank will occupy the entire third floor in April. It is also using a portion of the ground floor for its retail banking operations. The space is being vacated by Union Bank of California, essentially making it a turn-key deal.

“We felt fortunate to replace Union Bank with no down time. It’s not easy to do with that type of space,” said Peter Adams, senior vice president for the Pacific region of Equity Office Properties Trust, which owns the 28-story office tower in the financial district. Three vacant floors remain, but Adams said there has been strong interest from prospective tenants.

California Bank & Trust is a division of Zions Bancorporation, with assets of more than $6 billion. The institution was formed last October when Zions acquired Grossmont Bank and First Pacific National Bank in San Diego and Sumitomo Bank of California.

While building-top signage is rare for such a relatively small deal, Ulf said it was an important element of the transaction. “Brand identity is a big element when a new bank starts,” he said.

He added that downtown is about to see a flurry of leasing activity and he expects to announce deals soon involving about 200,000 square feet. Ulf, Ted Simpson and Josh Wrobel of Cushman represented the bank, while Bert Dezzutti of Equity Office represented the building owner.

Gym news

Printing presses will give way to treadmills in the building that previously housed the Pasadena Star-News. 24-Hour Fitness has leased more than 38,000 square feet for a health club in two lower levels of the building at 525 E. Colorado Blvd., said Scott Schwartz, a partner in the building ownership group and a principal at Mika Co.

The space was formerly occupied by printing presses and paper storage, and has natural light from the sidewalk above.

The gym, which will feature an indoor swimming pool, rock climbing wall and full complement of workout equipment, is scheduled to open in August.

The building is now nearly 90 percent leased with office tenants and a furniture store on the first floor, Schwartz said. The owners bought and renovated the building about two years ago when the newspaper moved to new offices farther east on Colorado.

Job-hopping brokers

Ron Feder, formerly a managing principal at Lee & Associates in the San Fernando Valley, has started his own brokerage firm in Calabasas, known as R.J. Feder & Associates. And Patricia Gilbert has left her post as a senior broker with Cushman Realty Corp. to go into project management at Hines Interests.

Feder said he’s doing commercial brokerage, with a focus on industrial sites, in the Valley and Ventura County. His brother Marcus has joined him along with two other agents. He’s hoping eventually to have a staff of about six brokers.

“We’re going to have a nice small boutique shop,” Feder said, adding that he was happy at Lee but felt it was time to venture out on his own.

“I already have a good reputation and a good following of clients that have been very supportive, so it made sense,” he said.

Gilbert, who was with Cushman for 10 years, will focus on Hines’ Lantana project in Santa Monica. The Houston-based firm bought 12 acres of land and buildings last summer off Olympic Boulevard, where it plans to develop a media and entertainment campus. Gilbert’s duties will encompass design, construction and leasing.

“I wasn’t looking necessarily, but it sounded like a fabulous opportunity to grow and take advantage of the skills I’d acquired in 15 years and parlay them to a new position,” she said.

Carson business center bought

The Albertoni Business Center in Carson has changed hands in a $4.8 million deal. The site consists of three office buildings and a fast-food restaurant, totaling 68,000 square feet, and a vacant lot on East Albertoni Street and Avalon Boulevard. Tom Torabi, a senior vice president and principal at Lee & Associates, brokered the sale.

Chandler Real Properties of Santa Ana sold the property to a group of investors headed by Donald Lam, who owns other properties nearby along the Artesia (91) Freeway. The buildings vary in occupancy from 15 percent to 95 percent.

“That’s why he felt there was an upside to them,” Torabi said.

Facelift for Panorama City center

Gold Realty, a Beverly Hills company that owns the Panorama City Center at Van Nuys and Roscoe boulevards, is beginning a $1 million facelift to remake the 90,000-square-foot complex.

With all leases due to expire shortly, Gold and its broker, Charles Dunn Co., could bring an entirely new group of tenants to the center, although discussions with some current tenants are underway. The center is anchored by a Robinson’s-May clearance center.

While L.A. is generally considered over-stored, and national big-box retailers have opened a number of stores in the San Fernando Valley, they are not represented in Panorama City, said Avrum Golenberg, director of Dunn’s sales and leasing division.

News & notes

Catalina Carpets signed a five-year, $1.69 million lease for a 61,000-square-foot industrial building in Santa Fe Springs. Lee & Associates represented Hunsaker Properties, an investment and development firm, in the leasing of the building on Best Avenue. The carpet distributor was represented by CB Richard Ellis

The American Legion has sold 47,300 square feet of land on Gardena Boulevard to the Carson Korean Church in a $565,000 transaction. Two buildings that had been used as meeting halls on the property will be remodeled for use by the church. Sheri Messerlian of Capital Commercial/NAI represented the American Legion and Jeffrey Kim of Mori & Associates represented the church.

Staff Reporter Elizabeth Hayes can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 229.

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