One of the largest sites available for infill development in the greater Los Angeles area has hit the market.
The former Atkinson Brickyard in Compton, located at 13633 Central Ave., has sat largely vacant and underutilized for several years. Now, Cushman & Wakefield, which has been selected as the exclusive agent for sale, is marketing the location as the site for a major mixed-used project.
The 59-acre property, which is within 1 1/2 miles of four major freeways, has city support for a development incorporating both residential and commercial uses, said Bret Quinlan, who with Vincent Manchee, David Mackenbach and Mike Sidney from Cushman & Wakefield’s L.A. South office, will represent seller Atkinson Enterprises.
“There are very few competing sites of this caliber in metropolitan Los Angeles, and with the current rate of housing appreciation in Compton, the site presents unique investment opportunities for developers, said Quinlan, a senior director at Cushman & Wakefield’s Long Beach office.
More than 50 percent of the property is ready for immediate development.
New Life for Broadway Chapman
Construction begins this week on the conversion of downtown L.A.’s 13-story Broadway Chapman Building into a 168-loft condominium. The project at Eighth Street and Broadway is expected to take a year.
Designer Killefer Flammand Architects, which has a long resume in the downtown adaptive reuse market, will retain and restore the 94-year-old Beaux Arts-style building’s original decorative details, which include floor-to-ceiling marble walls and mosaic floors in the main lobby.
Developer on the project is Sherman Oaks-based Broadway and 8th Investments, whose lead principals are Fred Afari and Mark Farzan. The partners, who own several downtown apartment buildings and earlier sold the Farmers and Merchants Bank and the Hillman Building to adaptive reuse guru Tom Gillmore, decided that this time they’d like to take a conversion project to completion in order to realize more value from the property. “We’re very optimistic about the renaissance that’s taking place downtown, and interested in more opportunities like this,” Afari said.
La Alameda Launch
Beverly Hills-based Primestor Development Inc. last week broke ground on the $59 million La Alameda commercial development in unincorporated Walnut Park. The private-public project, which has been heavily supported by Supervisor Gloria Molina, is scheduled to be completed next summer. The complex will include 233,000 square feet of retail space, 14,000 square feet of second floor office space, a transit station, public plaza and other amenities.
The site is in what has been considered a blighted area at Alameda Street and Florence Avenue, but the Spanish-style project, designed by Nadel Architects Inc. is 95 percent leased with major tenants including Save-on Drugs, Petco, Office Depot, Marshalls and Starbucks. Leasing is being handled by The Clover Company in Culver City. The project has been funded with $45 million in private money and $14 million in county economic development-related funds; it is considered the first of its type in the unincorporated areas.
Downtown Building Changes Hands
Denver-based Alliance Commercial Partners has acquired downtown L.A.’s 12-story 617 W. Seventh St. building from Hiro Real Estate Company in a transaction valued at more than $28 million. The building, built in 1928 with infrastructure modernizations made in 2001, was 21 percent occupied at the close. It has 179,000 square feet of contiguous office space available as well as ground floor retail space.
CB Richard Ellis Real Estate Group Inc. represented both the buyers and sellers in the sale. Vice Chairman Kevin Shannon and his team of Scott Schumacher, Paul Perkins, Michael Moore and Rob Hannan were assisted by Vice Chairman Todd Doney, Bruce Asper and Jeff Weller of the downtown office.
Shamrock Takes Solair Stake
The Genesis Real Estate Funds managed by the Roy E. Disney family’s Shamrock Capital Advisors are providing KOAR Wilshire Western LLC with $25.5 million in mezzanine financing for construction of the $160 million Solair Wilshire mixed-use development along the Metro Red Line at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue.
Scheduled to open in 2008, Solair Wilshire is designed as a 22-story, contemporary glass-walled building with 186 condominium units, 40,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, underground parking and a 12-space bus layover zone.
Genesis targets investments aimed at stimulating economic development in low and moderate income communities in Los Angeles County, and Solair is considered the first mixed-use high-rise development to be built for the Koreatown/Wilshire Center community since the Red Line opened in 2000. Shamrock Capital Advisors is an affiliate of Burbank-based Shamrock Holdings of California Inc.
This & That
Madison Partners has arranged the sale of two Chatsworth Capital Group-owned Washington Mutual office buildings in Northridge to Alliance Commercial Partners LLC, which likely will reposition the buildings for new tenants. Madison’s Bob Safai and Lynwood Fields negotiated the $25.4 million off-market transaction for the buildings located at 9301 and 9401 Corbin Ave. on behalf of both the buyer and the seller. Safai, a Madison principal, also participated in providing funding for the combined 237,110-square-foot properties, which were built in the early 1980s. Washington Mutual plans to soon vacate the 9301 Corbin Ave. building.
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Los Angeles-based SCI Real Estate Investments has sold the Woodland Hills Village shopping center for $19.7 million to Abrams & Associates, an Encino-based 1031 Exchange buyer. The 70,721-square-foot center at 20929 Ventura Blvd. was built in 1971 and is fully occupied, with tenants that include Community Commerce Bank and Plaza Sporting Goods. Richard Walter and Donald MacLellan of Irvine-based Faris Lee Investments, a specialist in retail investment sales, represented both the buyer and seller.
