The three-building creative office complex in Pasadena that is home to Disney Store’s western region headquarters was put up for sale earlier this month.

West L.A. real estate investment firm Karlin Real Estate, which purchased the property at 443 S. Raymond Ave. less than two years ago in a $19.3 million off-market deal, has retained Madison Partners to market the property.

Bob Safai, a founding partner of Madison, said the firm will market the property without a listing price, though he expects it could trade for as much as $30 million.

“The market is very robust, and it’s a perfect investment for someone who’s looking for yield with a very solid credit tenant,” he said. “(Karlin) won’t let it go unless they get a price they want.”

Disney Store, a subsidiary of Secaucus, N.J., specialty retailer Children’s Place Retail Stores Inc., has five years left on a 13-year, $23 million lease.

The nearly 72,500-square-foot property, built between 1922 and 1930, used to be an industrial laundry plant for Royal Laundry Co. It was designed by the late Gordon Kaufmann, the architect best known for his work on the Hoover Dam. The property underwent extensive renovations that were completed in 2005, including construction of a four-story parking structure that can accommodate 225 cars. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Matt Case, a senior executive director at Madison also representing the seller, said the property has bow-truss ceilings, floating staircases and a mezzanine level overlooking open-plan office space.

“In addition to strong cash flow, this property is arguably the coolest space in Pasadena,” he said.

Santa Monica Multifamily

Multifamily properties have lately been a hot commodity in Santa Monica.

Last month, a portfolio of three fully occupied apartment buildings totaling 66 units sold for $28.5 million, or an average of nearly $432,000 a unit, to private L.A. investor May Ling Yu of MLT Properties.

Seller Jeffrey Nemoy of Equity Real Estate Group bought the properties at 1033 Third, 811 Sixth and 1137 11th streets individually in 2009 and 2010 for between $265,000 and $328,000 a unit.

The largest of the three, Marvin Gardens Apartments, was built in 1970 and contains 32 one-, two- and three-bedroom units that range from 790 square feet to 1,350. The next largest, La Montana, was built two years later and has 23 units with similar configurations. The smallest of the properties was built in 1963.

Kevin Sabin, executive vice president of multifamily investments for Keller Williams Commercial, represented the buyer. He said MLT was willing to pay a higher price for the properties given the market’s potential for improvement.

“Over the last six months, the Santa Monica multifamily investment market has been heating up due to increasing rental rates, low vacancies, low inventory and historically low interest rates,” he said. “I believe that multifamily property pricing in Santa Monica will continue to increase, provided that interest rates stay at or close to what they are now.”

Michael Hanassab, an agent in the L.A. office for real estate services firm Marcus & Millichap who also represented the buyer, said the properties were in good condition and prime locations.

“The properties were all north of Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica’s most prime multifamily market,” he said. “All three buildings had been renovated and were in turn-key condition at the time of sale.”

Marcus & Millichap’s Elliot Hassan also represented the buyer in the deal. Keller Williams’ Stephen Saltzman represented the seller.

Cerritos Close

An open-air shopping center in Cerritos traded hands earlier this month for $61.8 million, or about $173 a square foot.

A Glendale-based limited liability corporation named for the Cerritos Best Plaza sold the nearly 33.5-acre property to El Segundo retail development company CenterCal Properties. The 357,000-square-foot plaza, with tenants such as Burlington Coat Factory, Chuck E. Cheese, Guitar Center, Buffalo Wild Wings and Big Lots, was about 85 percent occupied at the time of sale.

The plaza, built in 1978, was renovated in 2002.

Geoff Tranchina of retail brokerage firm Wilson Commercial Real Estate said the buyer, which he represented along with Jason Gribin, was attracted to the property’s tenant mix and high-traffic locale. The property is bordered on the west by the 605 freeway and to the north by the 91.

“The property is across the street from a regional mall and next to the highest grossing auto mall in the country, which contribute to the area’s high traffic counts,” Tranchina said in a statement.

Deborah Collins of Collins Co. represented the seller.

Staff reporter Bethany Firnhaber can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 235.