An eight-property multifamily portfolio in the San Fernando Valley has sold to four different buyers for a total $25.5 million.
Valley investment partnership Samuel Rand Investments sold its entire 256-unit portfolio to local companies in separate sales that finished in July. The partnership, which has owned the buildings for roughly 40 years, decided to exit the real estate business altogether and cash out of its holdings.
It had originally considered selling the properties as a portfolio but realized that it could command higher prices if the buildings were sold independently, according to Christopher Malcolm, a Hendricks & Partners broker who represented the seller.
“We had a bunch of people who offered to buy the portfolio, but they wanted a discount,” he said. “Because the buildings were so well maintained, we could get more money for the individual buildings.”
The properties, which sold for about $90,000 to $125,000 a unit, were among the top one-third in sales prices per unit in the last two years in the Valley. The buildings include studios to two-bedroom units and were about 95 percent occupied in the aggregate.
Landmark Realty & Property Management LLC of Sherman Oaks bought two Van Nuys properties – a 50-unit building at 6220 Lemona Ave. for $5 million and a 56-unit building at 6245 Kester Ave. for $5 million last month. It also bought a 24-unit building at 18552 Clark St. in Tarzana for $3 million in May.
Capri Equities LP of Ventura bought two 20-unit buildings at 8120 and 8036 Owensmouth Ave. for a total of nearly $4 million in July. MKJS Enterprises of Sylmar in June bought two North Hollywood buildings: a 24-unit building at 7725 Laurel Canyon Blvd. for $2.35 million and a property at 7733-7739 Laurel Canyon Blvd. for $2.5 million.
Cusumano Real Estate Group of Burbank bought a 36-unit building at 6717 Wilkinson Ave. in North Hollywood in November for $3.58 million.
Hendricks’ David Harrington also represented the seller.
Brokerage Integration
Five months after Grubb & Ellis Co. was purchased out of bankruptcy by the parent of New York brokerage Newmark Knight Frank, the combined firm is experiencing increased business and hiring professionals to oversee the Southern California market.
BGC Partners Inc., a New York investment brokerage, bought the Santa Ana brokerage in April after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The acquisition doubled the real estate offices BGC owned nationwide to about 100.
Locally, Newmark and Grubb each had offices in downtown Los Angeles and Century City that will be merged, while Grubb offices in City of Industry and Torrance will be kept and grown, said Chuck Hunt, Southern California regional manager for the brokerage, now named Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.
Already, the combined company has seen local business increase about 30 percent. Hunt noted that the brokerage has about $150 million worth of listings in Southern California.
This month, the brokerage made a significant hire: Eric P. Hasserjian, a former Arden Realty Inc. senior vice president, was taken on as senior managing director in Century City. He will oversee the Southern California landlord representation business.
“By taking a landlord’s approach to leasing office buildings, I’m excited to collaborate with the stellar management team to develop and execute a comprehensive regional growth plan,” Hasserjian said.
Special Servicing
A Culver City office complex that has fallen completely vacant within the last year was put into special servicing this month after the owner defaulted on its loan.
The complex, at 8550 Higuera St. and 8600 Hayden Place, is owned by Hackman Capital Partners LLC, which bought it in 2007 with a $20.2 million loan from Morgan Stanley.
The 101,460-square-foot complex was occupied by dental products company Discus Dental, which had 63,000 square feet; ad agency Apollo Interactive; and Sony Pictures until their leases expired last year.
Since then, all three major tenants moved out and the building has not been generating enough income to service its more than $20 million debt. Hackman also has been struggling to refinance the debt, which was set to mature this month, according to a report from Trepp LLC, a tracker of commercial mortgage-backed securities.
Hackman did not return calls to explain the specific circumstances of the default. However, it is not unusual for a building to go into the hands of an independent special servicer to allow time for an owner and lender to work out a deal.
Hackman does not appear to want to let the building go. Trepp reports that it plans to divide the vacant space into smaller units and construct a loftlike model unit that will be appealing to companies looking for creative space.
Staff reporter Jacquelyn Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.
