Fox Plaza, arguably the Westside’s most prized trophy building, is in escrow, and several sources familiar with the deal say the buyer is Donald Bren’s Irvine Co.
The price is said to be almost $500 per square foot, or about $350 million. That would be about $65 million more than owner and master of timing Marvin Davis paid in late 1997.
The landmark tower commands some of the highest rents and most prestigious tenants in Los Angeles. Fox Entertainment Group recently signed a new 15-year lease for 316,000 square feet, or 42 percent of the building’s total space.
Rents run about $3.85 or so a square foot per month, but the building is almost fully occupied with about half a dozen tenants. Besides Fox, there’s the offices of the Davis Cos. (Marvin Davis’ holding company), investment firms Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and Goldman Sachs & Co., and law firms Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro and Christiansen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glasser, Weil & Shapiro.
The tower overlooks the 20th Century Fox studio lot and had a starring role in the original “Die Hard” movie. (It was the building Bruce Willis was trying to prevent terrorists from blowing to bits.)
The Irvine Co. also owns Westwood Gateway, another premier office tower on the Westside, and was a bidder on 100 Wilshire last year before that ocean-view Santa Monica tower was purchased by Douglas Emmett (also a strong suitor for Fox Plaza).
Luxury Apartment Deal
R.W. Selby & Co. Inc. has purchased a 582-unit luxury apartment complex off Centinela Avenue near Westchester that it plans to make even more luxurious.
Selby officials would not disclose the sales price, but they said the total price of the acquisition and planned refurbishment will come to $70 million. The deal also included the assumption of an existing loan with John Hancock Life Insurance Co.
The seller was longtime owner West Palm Associates, managed by New York-based U.S. Realty Advisors. Selby had been in “intermittent talks” with the former owner for several years, said Daniel Fried, director of acquisitions.
Selby plans to upgrade the 12-year-old West Palm Apartments to a luxury resort-style community and rename it “The Heights.” The garden-style complex consists of eight, three-story buildings around a large landscaped courtyard.
The property features one- and two-bedroom units and lofts, with a full array of amenities two pools and spas, fitness and aerobics facilities, jogging trails and a business center.
One-bedroom units currently rent for $1,075 a month and two-bedroom units go for $1,500. The apartments are 99 percent occupied.
“It’s considered a little below market (rate), which is why we have plans to upgrade,” Fried said. “There’s great demand in the area for rental housing.”
The West Palm Apartments sit on 11 acres of hilltop property on Alvern Circle, with views of West Los Angeles, near the Howard Hughes Center and Playa Vista. It also sits directly above Casden Properties’ $90 million, 624-unit Villa Azure Apartments, another luxury complex under construction on Centinela.
Veteran Changes Firms
Gardena-based developer Overton, Moore & Associates has named Timur Tecimer president and chief operating officer.
Tecimer, 39, moves to OMA after 11 years with Trammell Crow Co., where he most recently served as senior vice president and principal for the Southern California region. He was responsible for property management, business development and leasing for 40 million square feet of office, retail and industrial space.
In his new job, Tecimer will work with CEO Stan Moore to identify development opportunities and value-added acquisitions, and to raise capital.
Back to M & M;
John P. Walsh, a top producer of multifamily investment sales in L.A. County, has decided to return to Marcus & Millichap in Encino about 18 months after setting up his own firm.
He formed Walsh & Co. because he wanted “the challenge of doing something new.” While the firm was successful, overseeing an entire operation diverted from his main focus of brokerage.
“I am a producer, so when you take on the responsibility of overseeing 11 agents, it took away form my focus on my core business representing buyers and sellers in the marketplace,” Walsh said. “The tools I needed to be a success were in place at Marcus & Millichap.”
Genesis on Track
Mayor Richard Riordan is expected to announce on July 17 that Genesis L.A., the public-private partnership to revitalize inner-city areas, has reached its fund-raising goals.
The Genesis L.A. Real Estate Investment Fund, the for-profit financing vehicle that will make debt and equity investments, has achieved its first goal of raising $71 million and it expects a total closing in excess of $100 million within 60 days.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s Corp. has committed up to $1 million to the nonprofit Genesis L.A. Economic Growth Corp. the first corporate donation from a retail company to the organization.
Also, six new sites have been added to the initiative:
– The Lakeside Debris Basin, a 9.3-acre parcel owned by the Department of Water and Power in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. The site could house 200,000 square feet of biotech office space. Advanced Bionics plans to relocate its Sylmar operation to the location.
– Santa Fe Freight Yard in downtown L.A., where the Southern California Institute for Architecture is moving its campus.
– Pico Plaza, at Pico and San Vicente boulevards, which is targeted for a proposed 280,000 square feet of two-story retail space, with Home Depot and Costco as tenants.
– Chesterfield Square, at Western and Slauson avenues, where a Ralphs and Home Depot-anchored retail center is under construction.
– Lanzit Industrial Park at 930 E. 111th Place, a city-owned site slated for a light industrial park.
– CalMat (Sunquest Industrial Park) at San Fernando and Branford roads in Sun Valley, a 30-acre project that will house high-tech manufacturing businesses.
Elizabeth Hayes can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 229, or at [email protected].
