Charles Dunn Co., a downtown L.A. real estate services company with 10 offices in the Western United States, has hired Chris Cooper as chief executive. Cooper has taken over day-to-day operations of the company from owner Walter Conn, 76, who is staying on as chairman.
Cooper, 50, who started his new job June 1, was previously senior managing director and Western U.S. area leader for Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
Cooper said that he hadn’t been angling to leave Cushman & Wakefield, where he ran the firm’s downtown office – the company’s second largest in the United States.
“It was an opportunity that was brought to my attention by somebody in the real estate industry and I have a real entrepreneurial spirit,” said Cooper, who worked at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. from 1997 until 2005, when he joined Cushman. Before his time at Jones Lang LaSalle, he was a real estate attorney.
“I thought this was a terrific opportunity to take a company that has played such a vital role in Southern California and to really apply a lot of my experience as a lawyer and a real estate professional to grow this firm,” he said.
Office Sale
A 23,485-square-foot Burbank office building at 135 W. Magnolia Blvd. has changed hands for $6.1 million – or about $260 per square foot – in a sale one broker believes is a new benchmark for the city.
Burbank-based real estate investment group Olive Properties LLC sold the fully leased building to 135 Magnolia Associates LLC, the entity of an Encino real estate investment group. Broker Michael Malick, who represented both parties, said the April 30 deal “resets the market for Burbank.”
“There have been so few sales of this product type over the last 12 to 18 months and we now have something that we can point to and say, ‘Hey, here is a coming-out-of-the-recession deal,’” said Malick of Marcus & Millichap. He said that a building such as 135 Magnolia wouldn’t have sold a year ago amid the worst of the recession.
The Class B building dates from 1959 and was converted from manufacturing to office use in a 2004 renovation. Upgrades included a new air-conditioning system, handicapped bathrooms and elevators. Adrian Stern, managing member of 135 Magnolia Associates, said the ownership group repainted the building two weeks ago and it will be landscaped this week.
“It’s got exposed brick walls in places – it’s a little bit more of an interesting vibe,” Stern said. “It does have character.”
The seller could not be reached for comment.
FORD HOTEL
1000 E. Seventh St., downtown Los Angeles
Developer: SRO Housing Corp.
Plans: Renovation began May 12 on the six-story Ford Hotel, which is operated as low-income housing. Developer SRO Housing Corp., a non-profit housing operator, has relocated residents for the duration of construction.
Residences: Units are being enlarged to 175 square feet, and are receiving upgrades including the addition of kitchenettes and bathrooms. Upon completion, the property will have 151 single-resident studio apartments, down from 295 units, said project architect Wade Killefer of Killefer Flammang Architects. A façade renovation also is planned for the building, constructed in 1925.
Completion: The $14 million project should be finished in July 2011.
Funding: The project is being partly funded by tax credits and the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles. “It’s a little bit funky, but it’s a cool old building. It’s going to provide a nice place to live for 151 people,” Killefer said.
Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.
