North County Real Estate Firm Puts Down Roots

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A local residential brokerage is doubling down on the Santa Clarita Valley, even though the area has been decimated by the subprime meltdown and recession.

Realty Executives, the valley? largest residential real estate brokerage, has signed a six-year lease to remain in Valencia at 26650 the Old Road, an office building owned by an entity of Core Realty Holdings LLC.

The April lease, which started May 1, is valued at $3.3 million and started at $2.25 per square foot per month on a full-service gross basis. Core is calling the 19,820-square-foot lease a market-rate transaction.

?hey made a major commitment to not only us but to the community,?said Nels Billsten of Newport Beach-based Core, a commercial real estate investor and manager. ?hey want to position themselves to take advantage of things once the market recovers.?p>The 65,000-square-foot, three-story building, which Realty Executives has anchored since it opened in 2004, is the brokerage? regional headquarters. Other tenants at the fully leased property include Pardee Homes and Wells Fargo & Co.

?e have a long-term ownership focus so our feeling was to secure the right people for the long haul,?Billsten said. ?e are pretty excited about long-term stability in a pretty volatile submarket.?p>The brokerage, which employs 325 brokers, is a four-office franchise of Phoenix-based Realty Executives. Franchise owner Jim Tanner said that while his company has downsized over the last three years, it plans to stay the size it is at now. And despite the ever-dropping prices, the market may be turning.

?e have more buyers than sellers currently,?said Tanner, who started his company in 1990.

Billsten represented Core in-house and Tanner also represented his company in-house.




Multifamily Deal

A 16-unit apartment property near West Hollywood has sold for $2.08 million, a good deal for buyer Monem Corp. of Los Angeles, a multifamily investment company.

Private seller Betty Morgan, who had inherited the property at 620 N. Sweetzer Ave., listed it for $2.65 million in February. But the price was soon lowered to reflect the dramatic downturn in the commercial real estate market.

?e immediately had offers in the $2.4 million range, but as time went by and people couldn? come up with funds, the values over the last six months have come down drastically,?said Reuben Robin of commercial brokerage Robin Group, who represented both parties.

The building, constructed in 1929, is fully leased and includes eight one-bedroom units, six two-bedroom units and two studios. The average rental rate at the property is $900 per month.

?t was an opportunity to buy a really nice historic property at what I thought was a great price,?said Danny Monempour, president of Monem. ?he owner decided they wanted to sell it and needed to close fast.?p>Monem paid cash for the property and closed escrow in two weeks May 21.




Ribs Lease

Mr. Cecil? California Ribs is opening a location in Manhattan Beach later this month after signing a 10-year lease at 1209 Highland Ave. The May deal for about 1,400 square feet is valued at nearly $1 million.

The owner of Mr. Cecil?, Jonathan Burrows, said that he canvassed far and wide before settling on the Manhattan Beach location, which formerly housed a crepe eatery. Burrows, a former Broadway and film producer, said he considered several shopping centers before settling on Manhattan Beach ?partially because the beach city is upscale.

?anhattan Beach is a really thriving community,?he said. ? don? think people in Manhattan Beach know that there is a recession going on in the rest of the world. I find that extremely attractive.?p>J. Patrick Sheekey of Coldwell Banker Commercial Westmac, who represented Mr. Cecil? in the deal with the landlord, Stearns Family Trust, said that the space only needs minor revisions because it was formerly occupied by another eatery.

Other Mr. Cecil? locations are in West Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks.

The Stearns Family Trust could not be reached for comment.


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

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