By nearly doubling its space at 707 Wilshire Blvd., AON Service Corp. established enough of a presence to secure building-top signage rights and the right to eventually rename the second-tallest building in downtown Los Angeles.

The insurance brokerage renewed its longtime commitment to the city by expanding its lease at the building from 111,000 square feet on six floors to 205,000 square feet on 10 floors.

“It’s that critical mass that gave us the ability to negotiate for signage,” said Robert Zelken, a vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle who represented AON in the lease negotiations.

Zelken said AON signs would be mounted on all four faces of the building, making the company brand visible from four freeways and any blimps circling Staples Center. At 62 stories, 707 Wilshire is bested in height only by Library Tower and its 72 stories.

Although it now has the right to rename the building, AON has not made that decision, Zelken said.

Todd Doney, executive managing director at Insignia/ESG Inc. who represented landlord Wells Fargo Bank, said AON will take over floors 24 through 26, and the 28th floor, of the 62-story, 1 million-square-foot building. The new, 94,101-square-foot lease runs through June 2007 and is valued at $13.2 million.

Doney and Insignia Director Nico Vilgiate and Associate Greg Tipping represented Wells Fargo.

In related business, Wells Fargo recently retained Jones Lang LaSalle as property manager at 707 Wilshire. Wells Fargo decided to keep Jones Lang LaSalle after buying out its partner at the building, Equitable Life.

Industrial sales

In a sign that industrial real estate remains strong, Cushman & Wakefield Inc. reported the sale of three buildings totaling 61,959 square feet in La Puente.

All three buildings, sold separately, are in the new, seven-building Valley Business Center on Valley Boulevard, which was completed earlier this year. The buildings are shells with no lighting or tenant improvements inside.

The largest of the buildings sold was a 28,867-square-foot, single-story tilt-up building at 16438 Valley Blvd. Korean food manufacturer and packager Nong Shim bought the building for $2.2 million.

Longdentex Inc., a textile importer bought the 17,983-square-foot building at 16483 Old Valley Blvd. for $1.4 million. ALCO Flatbush LLC bought 16578 Valley Blvd. for more than $1.25 million. The building is 15,109 square feet.

The deals were brokered by Tony Phu, David Hasbrouck and Stu Milligan of Cushman & Wakefield, on behalf of the owner LB Victory LLC

CIP Real Estate bought Brea Canyon Business Park in Walnut from GE Capital Real Estate for $5.5 million. CIP, an investment company based in Irvine, has been buying industrial and business parks around Southern California. Brea Canyon Business Park is a five-building, 79,875-square-foot industrial complex adjacent to the 57 (Orange) and 60 (Pomona) freeways. Built in 1988, the park is 97 percent leased to 36 tenants in a variety of industries, including traditional office tenants, research and development, commercial/retail, light manufacturing and distribution. Peter Beauchamp and John Engh of Voit Commercial Brokerage represented GE Capital in the transaction. John Hollingsworth and Peter Lee of Grubb & Ellis Co. represented CIP Real Estate in the deal

Fariboz Parvizi of Vernon bought a 54,728-square-foot industrial property at 3400 E. Slauson Ave. in Huntington Park for $3.4 million. Parvizi bought the property from Richard Meruelo’s Santa Fe & Washington Market Inc.

Leases

Australian television network Channel 9 Australia signed a $1.2 million, 7,732-square-foot lease renewal at Sunset Media Tower. The renewal, for studio and administrative offices at 6255 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, keeps Channel 9 in the building at least through 2006 and includes space on the building’s roof for satellite dishes. Christopher Houge and Evan Myer of Insignia/ESG Inc. represented the network in the deal. Mitchell Stokes of Madison Partners represented the landlord, WXI/Sun Real Estate

Revolution Studios, the motion picture and original entertainment production company headed by former Walt Disney Co. movie chief Joe Roth, leased a 19,200-square-foot industrial building in North Hollywood. Revolution will move in this month at 13333 Sherman Way, where the company will store props and conduct post-production activities

Gilbert Service Corp., a third-party logistics company, signed a five-year lease at Hathaway Business Park in Santa Fe Springs. The 288,000-square-foot deal is valued at $5.3 million. Gilbert Service represented itself in the deal. Rick McGeagh of CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented landlord The Shidler Group

Mani Brothers Real Estate Investment has inked a seven-year lease with Kroll Associates for 15,500 square feet at the 280,000-square-foot, 24-story Figueroa Tower downtown. Since January, Mani Brothers has leased 111,500 square feet in the building, leaving only 9,500 square feet vacant.

Multifamily business

Pacific Property Co. of Palo Alto bought the 82-unit Park Plaza Apartments complex at 355 N. Maple St. in Burbank for $8.2 million. The purchase, from Burbank investment group Rediger Investment Corp., raises the portfolio of the Northern California multifamily investment company to 4,118 units on the West Coast. Rick Marquis, manager of Pacific Property’s Southern California portfolio, said the company will spend another $600,000 on property improvements

Investor Howard Rubenstein paid $1.1 million for a 14-unit apartment building at 6451 Kester Ave. in Van Nuys. Rubenstein bought the property from another individual investor. Janice Rogers of Sperry Van Ness represented both sides in the deal Meta Housing Corp. of Burbank has secured a $20.4 million loan from TRI Capital to fund construction of a senior residential property in North Hollywood.

Meta will build Park Plaza West Senior Apartments, a 198-unit apartment complex, at Vanowen Street and Whitsett Avenue. Making the financing possible was low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bonds available because 40 of the units will be set aside for low-income seniors.

Staff reporter Christopher Keough can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 235 or by e-mail at [email protected].