Since centralizing its business structure in December, Colliers International of Seattle has been busy hiring and promoting others within the company in Los Angeles.
In January, Colliers hired top multifamily broker Kitty Wallace, who was formerly with Sperry Van Ness. It also has promoted Darrin Kennedy and Bret Hardy to newly created national managing director positions.
Previously, Colliers operated as a network, with individual offices doing business on their own. In December, the company combined its operations with FirstService Real Estate Advisors, formerly the biggest independent group in the Colliers network. Former groups in the network that are now part of the cohesive company have retained equity in their offices.
Martin Pupil, regional managing director for Colliers in Los Angeles, said that when the company operated as a network, sometimes offices would compete against each other for business. That will no longer be the case.
“There is no more fragmented ownership; it is one direction, one common vision,” he said. “Clients have asked for us to stop being fragmented.”
Pupil said the change to the business structure played a role in landing Wallace and other brokers. It has also created new positions within the company, now that it has more streamlined operations.
As part of the changes, Kennedy is the national managing director for government services and Hardy is national managing director of corporate finance.
Colliers has seven offices in Los Angeles County.
No Crumbling Cookie
Talk about an unusual deal.
In February, after long talks with the property owner, one local tenant baked into its lease a special provision for … cookies.
The Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles signed a 10-year lease worth about $2 million at Warner Center Corporate Park in Woodland Hills. But not before it got landlord Equity Office Properties to allow the organization to house its “cookie cupboard” twice a year in the parking lot of the building at 20931 Burbank Blvd. The “cupboard” is actually a container up to 53 feet long that is used to store and distribute boxes of Girl Scout cookies.
“It’s definitely the first deal I’ve ever done where that was a sticking point,” said Dustin Ballard of Madison Properties, who represented EOP, a unit of New York-based private equity firm Blackstone Group LP.
Lisa St. John of Madison Partner, who represented the Girl Scouts, said the negotiation was challenging. “Every dollar they spend on rent is a dollar they can’t put into programs.”
In the end, Ballard said that once the landlord understood the Girl Scouts’ needs and determined that container would not disrupt parking, the deal went smoothly.
The 8,644-square-foot offices will house a service center that the Girl Scouts will use for training, events and other activities. The center also will include a small shop where Girl Scouts can purchase paraphernalia. It will be one of seven such service centers in the county and replaces one in Chatsworth.
The Girl Scouts will move in June 30, after the landlord completes a $38-per-square-foot build-out for the organization, St. John said.
“We had been in space for about 27 years in Chatsworth. The space had significant drawbacks, (such as) inadequate parking,” said Sylvia Rosenberger, vice president of business and administration for the Girl Scouts.
Owen Fileti of Madison Partners also represented the tenant and Bob Pearson of Madison Partners also represented the landlord.
Care-ful Lease
Sierra Medical Group, a Palmdale primary and urgent care operation, has signed a 10-year lease for 20,000 square feet at the new Palmdale Corporate Center. The $4.95 million deal with landlord Realm Group LLC, a commercial developer and investor based in Newport Beach, closed in mid-January.
The medical group will occupy a portion of the first completed building at the planned four-building project. Sierra’s space at 39115 Trade Center Drive will include 5,000 square feet of offices and 15,000 square feet for clinical use, said Michael Dettling of Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services Inc., who represented both parties.
Dettling said the deal starts at a below-market rate of $1.49 per square foot per month in the first year. In the second year of the deal, the rate jumps to $2.25 per square foot per month on a triple net basis and then escalates annually.
