Glendale Office Tower Expected to Sell for $200 Million

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One of Glendale’s premiere office properties is hitting the market.

A segment of New York investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. has hired brokerage Eastdil Secured to sell Glendale Plaza at 655 N. Central Ave.


The 25-story tower Glendale’s tallest office building opened nearly six years ago and is one of the city’s most recent speculative office projects. It’s also one of Glendale’s more successful office buildings.


Despite Glendale’s lackluster leasing market, the 533,000-square-foot property will likely command prices topping $200 million, or $375 a foot. That would set a high-water mark for Glendale, where the most an investor has paid is $345 a foot.


At the higher price, JPMorgan Asset Management Holdings Inc. would reap a tidy profit. The subsidiary, which advises funds of institutional investors, bought the property six years ago from the building’s developer a partnership of PacTen Partners LLC and Morgan Stanley Real Estate for about $135 million.


The property is nearly fully leased to tenants such as Unum Provident, Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. and the California State Compensation Insurance Fund, a quasi state agency that is a provider of workers’ compensation insurance.


While office landlords in neighboring cities of Pasadena and Burbank have boosted occupancy and asking rates recently, Glendale has dragged far behind. At the end of March, the city’s office properties had an average 14 percent vacancy rate, high compared to the 7.3 percent in nearby Burbank and 5.4 percent in Pasadena, according to Grubb & Ellis Co.


Despite Glendale’s dour conditions, investors have remained bullish on buying office buildings in the city. Within the last year, ING Clarion Partners paid $140 million, or $334 a foot, for 500 N. Brand Blvd. and LaSalle Investment Management Inc. snapped up 505 N. Brand Blvd. for $116 million or $345 a foot.


And Rob Maguire, chairman and chief executive of Maguire Properties Inc., has said the real estate investment trust could begin moving forward on building a new Glendale high-rise by year’s end.


Trade magazine Real Estate Alert first reported the property’s availability.



Forward Progress


Two large condominium projects moved closer to becoming a reality last week.


City zoning administers approved plans by the Related Cos. to raze the St. Regis hotel in Century City to build a 147-unit luxury condominium tower in its place.


The 40-story tower would boast units ranging between 2,200 to 6,000 square feet and will contain space for a restaurant, resident-focused retail and possibly a 43,000-square-foot private club exclusively for residents and their guests.


Meanwhile, Franklin-Vista Partners Ltd. received approval for plans to build a 126-unit condominium project at 6142 Franklin Ave., which spans much of the block between Vista Del Mar Avenue and Gower Street.


To make way for the project the city is vacating a cul-de-sac of Vista Del Mar Avenue south of Franklin Avenue because the developer plans to connect the project with the art deco Hollywood Tower, which the group also owns. Plans calls for 60 spaces of community parking and seven units of affordable housing.


Lisa Specht, a partner at Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP, represented Related Cos. and Manatt partner Ellen M. Berkowitz represented Franklin-Vista Partners.



‘Old World’ Offering


Sebren Holdings LLC, an L.A. investment group, has listed a 12-property portfolio of 1920s-era apartment buildings.


The buildings, which have been partly remodeled, contain 502 units and are located in Hollywood, Koreatown and Echo Park. Sebren is asking $53.5 million, which breaks down to $96,000 per unit and $5 million for the portfolio’s 22,000 square feet of ground floor retail.


Sebren, through its development unit, accumulated the portfolio over the last three years and renovated units as they turned-over. Currently, more than 40 percent of the apartment units have been renovated.


“These are what we call ‘Old World’ apartment communities,” said Darin Beebower at Madison Partners, which has the listing. “Two properties are historic, cultural monuments, and all the properties have substantial architectural detail.”


In most cases, Sebren restored the units to preserve hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, crown moldings and in some cases installed pedestal sinks. Sebren also has renovated the buildings’ lobbies.


“What you are left with is a hip, urban living environment reminiscent of loft apartments,” Beebower said. “The buildings are in various stages of renovation, but the vast majority of the work is done.”


Beebower said there’s no chance to convert the apartment buildings into condominiums, a practice that has recently come under fire politically. He said the apartments couldn’t meet the parking requirements needed for conversion.



Staff reporter Andy Fixmer can be reached by e-mail at

[email protected]

or by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.

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