A South Korean video game company is moving from Koreatown to Class A digs in El Segundo to get closer to the airport.
Online game maker Nexon America Inc., the U.S. arm of Seoul-based Nexon Corp., is leaving a Wilshire Boulevard building owned by Jamison Services Inc. after inking a five-year deal Nov. 15 at 222 N. Sepulveda Blvd.
The lease with owner Pacific Corporate Towers LLC, the entity of an unknown pension fund, is valued at $4.4 million. Nexon’s new 37,772-square-foot location represents a sizable expansion for the company, said Nexon spokesman Mike Crouch.
“The proximity to the airport is a positive for us,” Crouch said. “A lot of our employees travel back and forth to Asia.”
Nexon won’t move into the 24-story building until June.
The company considered staying at its 3460 Wilshire Blvd. office but was swayed by the El Segundo location and the chance to upgrade from a Class B to a Class A property, according to broker Nathan Pellow, who represented the tenant,
“Nexon really wanted to shift to an area that was a little more diverse, with more amenities,” Pellow said. “It’s in a B building now and they will go to an A building.”
About $50 per square foot is being spent on building out Nexon’s offices. The lease, which includes parking concessions and some free rent, starts at $2.10 per square foot per month on a full-service gross basis and escalates annually by 3 percent.
Geoff Ludwig of Colliers International also represented the tenant. Grafton Tanquary and Erin Grannis of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. represented the landlord. They did not return calls seeking comment.
Church Deal
Korean Evangelical Zion Church has found a new worship hall in Koreatown. The church has purchased an industrial warehouse at 2149 W. Washington Blvd. for $2.3 million, or $284 per square foot for the 8,100-square-foot building.
The warehouse, which includes an attractive bow-truss roof structure visible from the interior, will get a makeover by the church, which plans to open the doors next year. The church has outgrown its current location nearby at Venice and Hobart boulevards, and needed more parking, said broker Audrey Jung of Re/Max Commercial, who represented Korean Evangelical.
“They don’t want to move far from where they are originally,” she said, adding the church is planning to sell its current home.
The new worship hall currently houses the showroom of kitchen design company Kitchen Warehouse, which sold the property because it is downsizing and will lease a smaller space, said broker Anthony Behar of Major Properties, who represented Kitchen Warehouse.
Behar believes Kitchen Warehouse got a great deal in selling the 36,000-square-foot parcel, chalking it up to a lack of comparable product. “Buildings like this are very far and few between for sale on the Washington corridor,” he said.
Bradley Luster of Major Properties also represented the seller.
On the Radar
High-tech firm Technology Service Corp. has leased a full floor at the 12-story Sepulveda Center office building that fronts the San Diego (405) Freeway in Mar Vista.
The Oct. 23 transaction for 14,955 square feet is valued at more than $2.8 million.
Technology Service, based in Trumbull, Conn., specializes in radar and sensor systems engineering and counts the U.S. government as a client. The seven-year deal at 3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd. starts in the low $2-per-square-foot monthly range on a full-service gross basis. The tower is owned by the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan and managed by KBS Realty Advisors LLC of Newport Beach.
The building will be 83 percent occupied when Technology Service moves into the space in January once its offices are built out. The company is relocating from 1900 S. Sepulveda Blvd., just two miles down the street.
“They ripped out everything in the space and are starting over,” said Brent Carroll, senior vice president of KBS, adding that the offices will include an electronics laboratory. “I think they were looking for more efficient space, (and to) upgrade their image and get a good lease.”
Technology Service did not return calls seeking comment.
Stan Gerlach and Deron White of CB Richard Ellis represented KBS in the deal. Mike Catalano of Studley represented the tenant.
Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.
