In one of the year? biggest commercial real estate deals in Los Angeles, a medical office building on the UCLA campus is trading hands for $42.3 million.

The University of California has agreed to buy the seven-story 100 Medical Plaza building from Held Properties Inc., an L.A. private real estate investment company, and its partner, Jones & Jones of Ojai. The deal was expected to close by June 1.

The fully leased building, adjacent to the new Ronald Reagan Medical Center, is occupied by UCLA doctors and private practitioners. The $42.3 million price makes the transaction one of the largest sales of the year as the recession has driven down prices and slowed transactions to a crawl.

The 123,242-square-foot property is trading for $343 per square foot ?a relatively high figure for recent sales. But it is also considered a ?air?price because of the property? pedigree and the scarcity of Class A medical office space.

?or medical office space located literally adjacent to the premier hospital in the western United States, fully leased with top-caliber physicians, we think it? a fair market price,?said Brad Erickson, executive director of UCLA Campus Service Enterprises, an administrative group that includes a real estate department that handles property leasing, sales and acquisitions.

Recent leases executed at the building are in the ?ow to mid?$4-per-square-foot-per-month range, on a full-service gross basis, he said.

Held and construction partner Jones & Jones developed the building and two adjacent medical office properties for the university in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Unlike the two nearby buildings, which have always been owned by the university, Held and Jones & Jones owned 100 Medical Plaza through an unusual agreement with UCLA known as an ?ir lot?lease.

Robert Held, president of Held, said that his company and Jones & Jones got the right to develop the building by winning a public competition conducted by UCLA.

?t was the only building done like that,?he said.

In another noteworthy sale reported by the Business Journal last week on its Web site, a Miracle Mile-area office complex was sold by the investment company of former billionaire Louis Gonda for $44 million.

Exchange Deal

A group of local real estate investors doing business as 1626 N. Fuller LLC has sold one apartment building and bought another in a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.

The group sold a 12-unit Hollywood apartment complex March 10 to private buyer Jay Harek for $3.05 million. It then purchased a 16-unit Santa Monica apartment property from West L.A. real estate investor Xenon Investment Corp. for $2.97 million.

Both the Hollywood property, at 1626 N. Fuller Ave., and the Santa Monica property, 1901 Sixth St., are protected by rent control ordinances.

The Fuller property, built in 1965, was renovated two years ago and is a ?urnkey?building, said Kimberly Roberts-Stepp of Charles Dunn Co., who represented both sides of the transaction, and 1626 N. Fuller LLC in the Santa Monica sale.

She said that the group sold the Hollywood building because ?hey wanted to move to a Westside investment.?p>Hamid Soroudi of Charles Dunn also represented 1626 N. Fuller LLC in the Hollywood transaction, and represented Xenon in the Santa Monica deal.

Xenon did not return calls seeking comment. Roberts-Stepp said that 1626 N. Fuller LLC was unavailable for comment.

Culver City Sale

An industrial building at 5600 W. Washington Blvd. near Culver City has been sold to Foundry Lighting, a New York home lighting and furniture company that has a showroom in Los Angeles. The property was sold May 8 for $1.25 million by Brustlin Workshop, a high-end furniture company that used the warehouse as a showroom.

Foundry will use the 5,917-square-foot building for fabrication and storage, said Steve ?ogie?Bogoyevac of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc., who represented both sides of the deal.

Brustlin sold the property because owner Richard Brustlin has decided to retire and close the business, Bogoyevac said.

Rob Laurie of Marcus & Millichap also represented Brustlin, which did not return calls seeking comment. Foundry Lighting also did not return calls.

Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.