Insignia/ESG signed up another heavy hitter last week. David Doup & #233; joined the firm’s Capital Advisors Group, a real estate investment banking arm, as an executive managing director.
His mission is to expand the division in the Western United States. He said he will build the Capital Advisors team in the next four to five months from the skeleton crew it is today.
Doup & #233; was formerly president of North American operations for Greenwich Group International. Before that, he oversaw Kennedy-Wilson’s expansion into Asia and Australia. During his 20-year career in commercial real estate, he has concluded more than $4.8 billion in sales and capital market transactions.
Doup & #233; said part of the impetus for joining Insignia is that he had been spending so much time on the road and wanted a job that would keep him closer to home.
“It was a bit of a lifestyle issue, and the fact they’ve built a platform that has good growth potential,” Doup & #233; said.
New York-based Insignia has been aggressively expanding its Los Angeles brokerage operations, luring top brokers from other firms with signing bonuses in some cases of up to $1 million.
In recent months, Stephen Bay and Clay Hammerstein moved to Insignia from Julien J. Studley, and Todd Doney and Nico Vilgiate moved over from Cushman Realty Corp.
Quick profit
Lowe Enterprises, which less than a year ago purchased a 12-story office building in downtown Long Beach, has turned it around and sold it for a tidy profit.
Lowe acquired the building at 180 E. Ocean Ave. for $19.1 million and invested another $2 million in renovations. The Salvation Army recently bought it from Lowe for $27 million, said Darren Bell, assistant vice president at Lowe. The organization will occupy the remaining 110,000 square feet that is vacant, or a little more than half the building.
The Salvation Army is relocating its western territory headquarters to Long Beach from Rancho Palos Verdes, Bell said. The Salvation Army will pay for the building using proceeds from the sale of one of its properties in Torrance, as well as funds for capital improvements. The organization’s broker was Jim Binns of Collins Commercial.
Xerox hunting for space
Xerox Corp. is looking for about 150,000 square feet of space either in Pasadena or the eastern San Gabriel Valley.
Xerox currently leases office-warehouse and dry-lab space on Halstead Street in Pasadena. But that space is expensive, and Xerox has more than it needs there.
Kearny Real Estate Co., which bought the Halstead Street complex last January, has started a $20 million expansion and renovation and has renamed it Pasadena Corporate Park. Although Xerox might be interested in remaining, it is also exploring other alternatives.
Christopher Cooper and Sam Foster, who are with Jones Lang LaSalle, are leading the search, which spans the area from Pasadena to San Dimas and Pomona. Cooper said Xerox is looking at both existing buildings and build-to-suit opportunities.
“Xerox is very concerned with making sure they reduce their real estate costs. They want to stay out of lavish buildings,” Cooper said. “They are looking for good, functional business-class buildings.”
He said the company will also consider commuting issues for the 250-300 employees who work in the Pasadena office.
Santa Fe Spring lease
Cal Pac LLC, one of the nation’s largest furniture, office design, asset management and corporate relocation companies, has leased 200,000 square feet in Santa Fe Springs. The seven-year deal is valued at about $7 million.
Cal Pac resulted from the recent merger of Pacific Business Interiors and California Business Interiors. The combined company took the entire project at 9200 Sorenson Ave. to accommodate a consolidation of five Southern California locations and office and warehouse space.
Gerald Porter and Douglas Econn of Cresa Partners represented Cal Pac, and CB Richard Ellis’ Steve Batcheller and Scott Smith represented the landlord.
Another Hollywood sale
CIM Group continues to amass property on Hollywood Boulevard. Its latest acquisition, expected to close this week, is of the 60,000-square-foot building at 7001 Hollywood.
The purchase price of the two-story building is $8.3 million, said John Bertram of Westmac Commercial Brokerage Co. He, Christine Deschaine and Duncan Lemmon of Lee & Associates brokered the deal.
The building, purchased from Petersen Properties, is next door to the Hollywood Galaxy, another of CIM’s properties. In all, the Westwood-based investment and development firm has, or soon will have, about 400,000 square feet of property in five buildings on the boulevard and plans extensive improvements. At one property at the intersection of Cherokee Avenue, it is in lease negotiations with Laemmle Theatres.
Valley building sold
The principals of Performance Products Inc. have purchased the 58,000-square-foot building at 8000 Haskell Ave. in Van Nuys for about $3.1 million.
The company, which sells mail-order car parts, will be moving in mid-August from down the block, after a $500,000 renovation. The new facility will serve as a three-fold expansion of its corporate offices, warehouse and installation area. About 80 people will work there.
The building was formerly occupied by Sun Litho and Litton Industries.
Ron Feder, of R.J. Feder Associates, represented the buyer and Scott Caswell of Delphi Business Properties represented the seller, the Ruth Lieberman Trust.
Glendale deal
An affiliate of Layton-Belling Associates and AEW Capital Management acquired Glendale Financial Square I for $16.1 million.
The six-story office building is on West Broadway across from the Glendale Galleria and is 80 percent occupied.
Cushman & Wakefield’s David McKenney, Richard Plummer and Nancy Kikuchi represented the seller in the deal. The firm’s Robert Fitzgerald, Brad Feld and Marc Wolfe have the exclusive leasing assignment for the building, which is undergoing a renovation.
Elizabeth Hayes can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 229.
