A piece of Motown history is up for sale.
The West Hollywood creative office complex at 7317 Romaine St. that once served as Motown Records’ headquarters has been put up for sale for $6.9 million.
These days the 1971 building is owned by a group of investors that operates under the Romaine Investment LLC entity name.
Motown moved into the building in 1973 and the studio was known as “Hitsville West.” Many famed artists including Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Rick James recorded there.
Motown sold the property in the 1990s, according to broker Nicole Mihalka of Daum Commercial Real Estate Services. Later, Signet Sound Studios, which scored films there, called the 12,224-square-foot facility home.
“It appeals to the music industry because it was Motown and then Signet,” said Mihalka, who has the listing. “It was well-known. What is really cool about it now, it’s been updated with a modern aesthetic.”
The property, which received a facelift in 2007, is still used for music recording by tenants, and its 3,200-square-foot soundstage is used for filming, photo shoots and recording.
Industrial School
A small public school district in the South Bay has purchased an industrial building in El Segundo for $6.55 million.
The Wiseburn School District, which has just four elementary and middle schools, bought a 28,182-square-foot property at 2330 Utah Ave. The district will convert the building into its new headquarters, said Bill Goodglick of the Goodglick Co.
Goodglick scoured the area for six years to find the district a new building that met a strict parameter: the headquarters building had to be within a three-block radius of at least one of the four schools. The building is within walking distance of three Wiseburn schools.
“It is not easy to have that kind of bull’s-eye,” said Goodglick, who represented the district in the deal with seller First Industrial Realty Trust Inc., a Chicago-based public real estate investment trust.
The asking price was $6.9 million and the deal closed in March.
The school is just one block from the district’s Richard Henry Dana Middle School. Once the Utah Avenue building is renovated in September, the district’s old headquarters building, nearby at 13530 Aviation Blvd., will be razed and that space will be turned into playing fields for Dana Middle School.
The 1964 Utah Avenue industrial building sits on 1.5 acres. It is occupied by automotive aftermarket parts manufacturer Aura Systems Inc., which will vacate the property in the next month.
The seller was represented by Jeff Kernochan and Patrick O’Loughlin of the Fischer Corporate Real Estate Services.
Downtown Lease
Brown & White LLP, a white-collar criminal defense firm, has signed on for more space at its downtown Los Angeles home.
The firm signed a 14,822-square-foot lease for more than 12 years at the Bank of America Plaza. The $7.4 million deal is an upgrade for the firm, which is moving to floor 40 from 5,000 square feet on floor 36.
“They grew out of it,” said Jonathan Larsen of Transwestern, who represented the firm in the May deal with landlord Brookfield Properties Corp., a public commercial real estate company. “They really liked the building. They had another five years on the (existing) lease and the landlord is tearing up the existing lease. It was easier to do it there.”
The firm will move into its new space Aug. 1 once the build-out on floor 40 is complete. Larsen said Brown & White is spending about $65 per square foot on upgrading the offices: “It will be absolutely high-end.”
The 55-story, Class A building at 333 S. Hope St. is now 96 percent leased. Larsen said the deal starts at about $20 per square foot per year on a triple net basis. The lease rate escalates at 3.5 percent annually.
“Downtown is holding its own,” Larsen said. “It is continuing to attract good quality tenants that are either expanding in downtown or coming from other parts of Los Angeles.”
John Barganski represented the landlord in-house.
Rising Shares
As one of downtown’s biggest property owners, Meruelo Maddux Properties Inc. has taken a big hit as the residential market’s freefall rocked the area’s economy this year.
At one point last month, the stock was down 85 percent from the time the company went public a year and a half ago amid the height of the development boom.
But last week, investors were cutting the Los Angeles real estate company a break, making it one of the leading local stock market gainers for the week.
The share price was up 41 percent, closing May 29 at $2.77, though that hardly makes it an investment grade security.
The reason for the gain? The company announced it would increase liquidity by selling up to $300 million in stock and debt, as well as a chunk of its downtown property portfolio.
The company owns a large part of eastern downtown L.A. and is building several projects, including 717 Flower, a high-rise apartment tower.
Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at
[email protected]
or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.
