Douglas Emmett Inc., a Santa Monica-based public real estate investment trust, has purchased Century Park Plaza in an off-market transaction valued at about $33 million.
The deal for the 46,000-square-foot building located at 1801 Century Park West closed May 11. The seller was ZBBFGLSCJLW Realty, a partnership between sole building tenant Ziffren Brittenham Branca Fischer Gilbert-Lurie Stiffelman & Cook LLP and an unnamed private partnership.
The deal breaks down to about $717 per foot.
“It’s a significant deal on the Westside as far as the price per square foot and also in terms of the quality of the building and tenancy,” said Bob Safai of Madison Partners, who represented both sides of the deal.
The nine-story Class A office building, which sits on less than a half-acre, was built in 1971 and features a redesign by acclaimed architect Barton Myers.
“It has excellent views on the edge of Century City and it is directly contiguous to the Century City mall,” said Hunt Barnett of Madison Partners, who also represented both sides of the deal. “It has great access to the amenities and it is very private. I don’t think it’s an asset you could reproduce today.”
As part of the deal, entertainment law firm Ziffren Brittenham has signed a 12-year lease with Douglas Emmett and will continue to occupy the entire building.
The REIT did not return calls seeking comment.
Downtown Lease
Duff & Phelps LLC, an investment banking and financial advisory firm, has signed a new lease with landlord Blackstone Group LP to remain at Two California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles.
The seven-year lease in the building at 350 S. Grand Ave. is valued at $7.1 million and closed on March 30. The deal for 26,780 square feet breaks down to $3.16 per foot per month.
The firm previously occupied 11,000 square feet on the building’s 31st and 34th floors, but as part of the lease it has consolidated its space and now occupies the entire 31st floor, said Jonathan Larsen, executive managing director of Transwestern.
“(Duff & Phelps) is growing,” said Larsen, who represented Duff & Phelps. “They also have a West L.A. office and they looked at potentially expanding there but decided to expand downtown.”
J.D. DeRosa of Transwestern also represented the tenant. Blackstone Group was represented in-house by Brendan McCracken.
Perky Post-Jerky
Japanese food company Nichirei Corp. has terminated its stateside Tengu Co. Inc. operation, which makes beef jerky. As a result, Tengu has sold a 91,000-square-foot industrial building at 14420 Bloomfield Ave. in Santa Fe Springs.
Buyer Metropolis Partners Inc., a San Francisco-based investment company, paid $12 million for the 4.4-acre property, which includes the industrial building and specialized food manufacturing equipment. The deal closed May 4.
Larsen of Transwestern said that he fielded over 100 inquiries on the property.
“If we had 10 more of those buildings we’d be able to sell them all,” said Larsen, who represented both sides of the deal.
The sale price was $132 per square foot. Larsen said that price is in the “sweet spot” of industrial pricing for the area.
According to Larsen, Tengu will continue to make beef jerky in other countries and the jerky will still be sold in the United States.
Eric Moore of Transwestern also represented both sides of the deal.
Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at
[email protected]
. or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263
