The Beverly Hills office building developed by and formerly occupied by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian and his Tracinda Corp. is about to change hands.
Clarity Realty Partners is in escrow to buy the 108,000-square-foot building at 9333 Wilshire Blvd. from J.P. Morgan for $37 million, sources said.
Built in 1989, presumably as headquarters for Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Inc., the building was occupied for a couple of years by Kerkorian and Tracinda staffers, before it was sold to J.P. Morgan.
The building includes executive patios, a state-of-the-art screening room and numerous courtyards. Top-notch interior improvements were made in 1997 for PolyGram Filmed Entertainment’s corporate headquarters.
After Universal Studios Inc. acquired PolyGram, Universal hired a team from Julien J. Studley Inc. to dispose of its lease, which covered the entire building. The team not only succeeded, but managed to land a high-priced sales deal, at about $340 per square foot.
The building has been pretty much empty since Universal moved its PolyGram employees to Arboretum Gateway and to Universal City, although USA Films still occupies one floor.
Clarity is led by Steve Rader, founding partner of Rader Reinfrank & Co., which manages an L.A.-based private equity fund. The firm plans to occupy the top floor of the four-story building.
Representing the parties in the complex, three-way transaction were Peter Best of Trammell Crow Co. for J.P. Morgan; Paul Stockwell, Seth Dudley, Mike Catalano and Will Adams of Studley for Universal; and Bruce Rothman and George Thompson of KOAR Institutional Advisors for Clarity.
Investors Like Chinatown
The former Little Joe’s Italian restaurant, a longtime Chinatown fixture, is also poised to get a new owner, another in a stream of deals unfolding in the neighborhood.
A group of investors led by Manhattan Beach-based LaeRoc Partners is in the process of buying the two-acre property at College Street and Broadway for between $4 million and $5 million. LaeRoc, which also owns two retail buildings in Chinatown, hopes to close the deal by the end of the month, said President Kim Alan Benjamin.
“This is a logical extension for us,” Benjamin said.
The 100-year-old restaurant closed in December 1998 and is being sold by the Nuccio Family Trust.
Benjamin said LaeRoc is also buying the rights to the Little Joe’s name and restaurant operation, and may either reopen the eatery in its old building or in a new one to be built at the site.
“It should be given its proper respect and due and has a place in a revitalized site,” Benjamin said.
He is also considering developing a hotel on the site, with meeting and convention space for weddings and other events, as well as a second restaurant, such as a steakhouse, and a parking facility. In all, Benjamin said, he envisions about 200,000 to 300,000 square feet of structures on the site.
“This site can be, and we have every intention of making it, a link between the two ends of Chinatown, which are now somewhat separated from each other,” Benjamin said.
The Little Joe’s site abuts the parcel where the new Pasadena Blue Line station will be located. Construction of that station is scheduled to begin next year. Last week, four entities submitted proposals to develop, purchase or lease a 5.6-acre site across from the station. It is zoned for light industrial use, but residential or retail projects also could be developed there.
Other investors in the area include the Riboli family, who own the nearby San Antonio Winery, and Santa Monica investor Shaul Levy.
“There’s a real sense of momentum and excitement that this is the time to do things and turn Chinatown around, clean up the streets and make it a destination,” said Holly Barnhill of the L.A.-Chinatown Business Council.
South Bay Sales
More than $40 million worth of sales deals have closed recently in the South Bay.
Comstock Crosser & Associates sold three properties with a combined 225,000 square feet of space in a deal valued at $27 million. They are: Del Amo Business Plaza in Torrance, which sold to pension fund advisor Advent Realty; the Sky Park Medical Professional Building, adjacent to Torrance Memorial Hospital, purchased by Ensemble Real Estate Services; and Pier Plaza in Redondo Beach, bought by Rubin Pachulski Dew Properties.
Kevin Shannon and Chris Sinfield of Grubb & Ellis Co. represented all sides in the deal.
In another multi-party deal, Legacy Partners bought the Circle Business Center in Long Beach for about $16.5 million. The complex encompasses 200,000 square feet of space in three buildings, each of which had been owned by a separate party. The complex is located on the 4500 block of Pacific Coast Highway, south of the San Diego (405) Freeway.
The two 78,000-square-foot office buildings were sold by Sumiken Real Estate Co. and Pacific Rim Investments, respectively. The ground lease on the third, 45,000-square-foot building was sold by No-So Inc. (That building is occupied by Bally Total Fitness, which is leasing the space.)
Developed in the mid-1980s, the Circle Business Center hit hard times during the recession and was foreclosed upon. The sale marks the first time since the complex was developed that it will be united under one owner, said Shannon, who represented all sides in the deal along with G & E;’s Dave Coe.
The office buildings are about 85 percent occupied. Shannon said Legacy plans to reposition and improve management of the buildings. Rents are expected to rise by about 35 percent, up to $1.70 per square foot per month.
Internet Lease
Marina del Rey’s loss is Torrance’s gain.
InternetConnect, a broadband solutions provider for businesses, signed a lease last week for a 240,000-square-foot, four-building campus in Torrance (the former Epson America Inc. headquarters). This comes just a few months after it moved to its current home in Marina del Rey, which encompasses 44,000 square feet.
The new headquarters, at 20770 Madrona Ave., will be large enough to accommodate 1,000 employees. The Gensler-designed complex was built in 1990. InternetConnect will sublease 40,000 square feet of the space to Winstar Communications for a Web-hosting facility.
Mark Schlossberg represented landlord Southwest Value Partners and Robert Chavez of the Staubach Co. represented InternetConnect.
Elizabeth Hayes can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 229, or at [email protected].
