Hardware Gives Way to Self-Storage at Hollywood Site
Real Estate
by Danny King
Goodbye, store. Hello, storage.
In another example of self-storage buildings becoming a more prevalent part of the urban landscape, a mixed-use project will be built at the former Hollywood site of Rompage Hardware, which has moved four blocks east.
Woodland Hills-based Syndicated Real Estate, which purchased the corner lot at Hollywood Boulevard and Bronson Avenue a few months ago, is scheduled to break ground on the 119,000 square foot development next month.
The building will consist of 6,000 square feet of retail space on its 150-foot Hollywood Boulevard frontage, and the developer is targeting coffee houses and book stores as well as a “Walgreen’s-type” tenant, according to Ramsey-Shilling Associate Glenn Melnick, the leasing agent.
The rest of the site will consist of 1,200 self-storage units ranging from 25 to 350 square feet. Syndicated, which has self-storage properties in West Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks and is building one in Pasadena, is banking on the area’s high density and proximity to studios for storage space demand.
Melnick added that a portion of the units would have 15-foot ceiling to accommodate studio props.
Industrial in Industry
The notoriously tight San Gabriel Valley industrial real estate market will be getting a little breathing room, as two lots totaling 40 acres have been purchased for the development of 473,000 square feet of industrial space.
In City of Industry, Snyder Langston Operon Group purchased 28 acres from Mansfield Plumbing and will be breaking ground on seven buildings totaling 370,000 square feet in March. The buildings, which will range from 22,000 to 192,000 square feet, will be marketed for sale at $72 to $87 per square foot.
A few miles north, in Azusa, CalMat Co. sold 12.5 acres at 1201 North Todd Ave. for $4.3 million to Todd Ave. Partners LLC, which will be developing Mountain View Business Park. The 14 buildings, ranging from 4,800 to 49,000 square feet, will be developed on spec and sold. Lease rates for the project, which will be completed in the fall, will range from 51 to 65 cents a foot, while sales prices will range from $72 to $87 a foot.
According to Grubb & Ellis Co., industrial vacancy for the San Gabriel Valley was 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter 2001, up from 2.8 percent for the year-earlier quarter but still .9 percent below the countywide vacancy rate. Asking rents for the quarter were 42 cents a foot.
Both CB Richard Ellis Senior Vice President Barbara Emmons, one of the leasing agents for the Industry site, and Gil Bates, partner and representative of Todd Ave. Partners, are confident in the demand for their respective developments.
“We expect 100 percent absorption by the time we’re done with construction,” Bates said of Mountain View, while Emmons targeted the year-end for a full lease-up in Industry.
Emmons and CB Richard Ellis’ Darla Longo represented both the buyer and the seller on the City of Industry deal as well as the seller of the Azusa Property.
Much Ado About
Last week’s 14-0 city council vote to revoke construction rights to the $100 million Village Center Westwood merely made a dormant project extinct and will have no bearing on Alan Casden’s proposed development on the same site. Village Center developer Ira Smedra, who sold the property to Casden in 2000, envisioned the development as predominantly a retail center. Casden’s Palazzo Westwood project will be predominantly residential.
Multi-Family Spree
Sares-Regis Group added 348 units to its 840-unit apartment portfolio in San Fernando Valley with what is believed to be the biggest property purchase in Chatsworth history.
Los Angeles-based Pacific Property Co. sold the Waterstone Apartment Community at 9901 Lurline Ave. to the Irvine-based developer and property manager for about $31 million. The property is 92 percent leased.
Sares-Regis owns and manages about 11,000 apartment units in the Western U.S., about 30 percent of which are in Southern California.
William DuBrowa of Grubb & Ellis Co. represented both the buyer and the seller.
Logistical Moves
Gravity is pulling Kamino International Transport Inc. south.
The New York-based logistics firm is moving its local operations from El Segundo to Redondo Beach, having signed a lease for 54,000 square feet at 2580 Santa Fe Ave., doubling its space in the process.
Total consideration for the 10-year deal was $5 million. Kamino will be moving from its current 25,000 square foot space in March. About 20 percent of the space will be used for offices, while the rest will be used for warehousing.
Luke Staubitz and Harvey Beeson of Klabin Co. represented the tenant in the deal while the landlord, C.R.C. Investment, was represented by Jim Sullivan, also of Klabin.
Staff reporter Danny King can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 230 or at
[email protected]
