Real Estate–South L.A. Site Eyed as Retail, Multimedia Complex

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The former Fedco building on La Cienega Boulevard and the surrounding area in South Los Angeles are getting a new lease on life.

The building was damaged in the 1992 riots and closed. It reopened but closed again after the discount retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.

A 130,000-square-foot Target store is now slated for the site, and part of the surrounding land (50 acres, including Target) may be developed as a multimedia park, driven in part by the burgeoning desirability of the nearby Culver City creative office market.

“It will have some of the elements of the General Motors site (in North Hollywood), with retail and industrial and synergies that make it economically viable,” said Rocky Delgadillo, deputy mayor for economic development. “We think the spillover from Culver City will lead to the creation of a new media park. Developers are out there now trying to assemble sites.”

Already, neighboring Culver City has attracted a host of entertainment and creative firms, drawn by funky converted warehouse spaces and relatively affordable rents. Last week, advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather decided to move its West Coast operation from Brentwood to a converted warehouse in the Hayden Tract, a Culver City development created by entrepreneur Frederick Smith.

Smith is also contemplating the addition of square footage to a creative office development that now houses Kodak Interactive, just north of the Target and See’s Candies properties.

“The whole area has changed with the Hayden Tract. It’s a better marketplace,” said Ian Strano of First Property Realty Corp. “It’s been a secondary location for many years, but it’s being considered by many tenants. It took an area that was blighted and put a new stamp on it.”

Ezralow Co. also has the neighboring former Sparkletts site, a four-acre property being marketed as a build-to-suit for a high-tech or multimedia tenant, said Blake Mirkin of CB Richard Ellis.

The Target property is also being considered for the Genesis L.A. program, which expedites projects in the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

Two Rodeo Deal

Eastdil Realty has been hired to sell Two Rodeo Drive, the faux-European cobblestone street lined with expensive boutiques at Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard.

The owners consist of a partnership between Sogo Co., one of Japan’s largest department store chains, and Kowa Real Estate Investment Co., a subsidiary of Industrial Bank of Japan.

The partners reportedly paid more than $200 million for the 135,000-square-foot complex in 1990. At the time it was said to be one of the highest per-square-foot prices for retail space in Southern California.

Retailers in Two Rodeo include some of the top names in haute couture Cartier, Tiffany and Valentino. However, Christian Dior will soon be moving elsewhere on Rodeo, and other leases are coming up.

With rents on the order of $18 per square foot a month on Rodeo, industry observers expect the project to fetch $1,200 a square foot or upwards of $160 million in the sale.

Two Rodeo was built by Doug Stitzel of San Francisco, who died suddenly in 1991.

Eastdil officials did not return calls for comment.

‘Lower West Side’ Boom?

About a year ahead of projections, Arden Realty has started construction on 6080 Center Drive at the Howard Hughes Center.

“We broke ground because of the leasing velocity” at 6060 Center Drive, which is under construction and 90 percent leased, said Robert Peddicord, senior vice president of leasing.

The largest tenant in the 240,000-square-foot building is Internet consulting firm IXL Inc., which leased 100,000 square feet. Other tenants include law firm Fulwider Patton Lee & Utecht (48,000 square feet), HomePage.com (25,000) and Futuredontics (33,000).

Most of the tenants have come from the Westside because of the lack of supply there and the attractive rents on what is being called the “lower Westside.”

Peddicord expects the balance of 6060 to be leased in the next 30 to 45 days, with the building completed June 1. No deals have been signed yet at the 6080 building, but Arden is in discussions on “virtually every floor,” Peddicord said.

The 12-story, 300,000-square-foot building was designed by DMJM and will be finished in about a year.

“We would be smart to start considering future spec buildings and configurations,” Peddicord said.

Playa Vista Parcel for Sale

Playa Capital Co. has signed a listing agreement with Cushman Realty Corp. to sell a 6.5-acre commercial parcel at Lincoln and Jefferson boulevards in the Playa Vista development.

About 426,000 square feet of office space could be built there, said David Herbst, a spokesman for Playa Capital. He said Cushman probably won’t start marketing the parcel until mid-March. Besides an outright sale, another option for the parcel might be a build-to-suit project. The parcel is in the vicinity of the visitor’s center and apartments, which are under construction.

It is about two miles west of the planned 3.2 million-square-foot commercial campus that developer Robert Maguire is spearheading.

The decision to sell has to do with timing cashing in on the hot Westside real estate market. The parcel is not far from Marina del Rey, with easy access to the Marina Freeway and 405.

Staff Reporter Elizabeth Hayes can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 229, or at [email protected].

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