The forthcoming Playa Vista office and retail project is attracting tenants to the Marina del Rey area.
First Federal Bank of California has signed a lease for 89,219 square feet of space at 12555 Jefferson Blvd., a three-story, Class A office building across the street from the Playa Vista development. The 12-year lease deal is valued at $31.1 million.
Building owner Brentwood Capital Partners, which has owned the property since 2006, has upgraded the building’s common areas, including the lobby, corridors and bathrooms.
The bank will retain an office in Santa Monica, but Joe Kimaz of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. said that an office in the Playa Vista area made sense for the company.
As the West L.A. office market continues to tighten, more office tenants are looking to the Playa Vista area and beyond, to the South Bay.
“Playa Vista is the next frontier for the Westside,” said Stan Gerlach of CB Richard Ellis, who also represented the landlord. Gerlach said that Caruso Affiliated Holdings’ forthcoming retail center at Playa Vista will be a boon for the area. That project will break ground at the end of the year. “All the new development will do nothing but enhance that area in the future.”
First Federal is a unit of Santa Monica-based FirstFed Financial Corp.
Kimaz said that office experts project monthly rental rates at the forthcoming Playa Vista office developments to be in the $4 per foot per month range when they open around 2009. With that in mind, the bank deal is a bargain. The deal breaks down to about $2.42 per foot.
CB Richard Ellis’ Bryan Dunne also represented Brentwood Capital. The bank was represented by Eric Olofson, Jeff Welch and Lynn Williams of Cushman & Wakefield Inc., along with Patti Gilbert of CB Richard Ellis.
Burbank Lease
New York City-based Capgemini U.S., a subsidiary of Paris-based consulting firm Capgemini, has signed a lease at 3500 W. Olive Ave. in Burbank’s media district.
The deal for 5,678 square feet of space at the office building closed on Aug. 15. The five-year deal with landlord M. David Paul & Associates is valued at $1.45 million, or $4.26 per foot per month.
The firm, which already has offices in downtown Los Angeles and El Segundo also plans to open another office in Irvine. The company will move into its new Burbank digs Dec. 1.
“They are opening this office to service the entertainment portion of their consulting business, which is a rapidly expanding area for them,” said Jonathan Larsen of Transwestern.
The deal comes in at the high side for the Burbank market. Average monthly per-foot asking rent in the Tri-Cities was $3.07 in the second quarter, according to Grubb & Ellis Co. data.
“It was a pretty high rate,” said Larsen, who represented the tenant. “They wanted to be in the media district, they wanted to be close to Warner Bros. and Disney and other entertainment clients.”
M. David Paul & Associates was represented in house by Phil Lindholm and the tenant was also represented by Suzanne Lee of Transwestern.
Downtown Listing
The Union Bank Plaza building, a 40-story downtown high-rise, has been put on the market.
The Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. team of Michael Zietsman and David Doup & #233; has the listing for the office tower, which is currently owned by Hines, an international real estate firm.
Hines paid about $230 per square foot, or $143 million, when it purchased the 626,000-square-foot office tower three years ago from Walton Street Capital LLC.
This time around, the property at 445 S. Figueroa St. is expected to fetch more than $260 million.
“The building is one of the true iconic buildings of Los Angeles,” said Zietsman. “It is one of those buildings that has incredible tenant loyalty.”
The property is 99 percent leased. Union Bank has maintained offices at the building since it opened in 1967. When Hines bought the property, it was 95 percent occupied.
Over 45 different groups local, national and international have expressed interest in the property.
“From a value-added (standpoint) Hines has done as much as they can,” said Zietsman, who joined Jones Lang LaSalle as a managing director following its purchase of his former real estate investment banking company, Zietsman Realty Partners Inc.
With a View
Downtown denizens have a new restaurant and bar for their elevated dining needs.
Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge opened Aug. 18 in the penthouse level of the office building at 811 Wilshire Blvd.
The establishments on the 21st floor of the tower are owned by Downtown Entertainment Group, which has signed a 10-year lease with building owner Jamison Properties Inc. The deal for 14,200 square feet of space is valued at $2.33 million.
The space offers panoramic views of Los Angeles and the downtown skyline.
“You see everything,” said Tony Kim of Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. “I’ve heard you can see the ocean. The lights, the high rise buildings it’s amazing.”
The lease deal was wrapped up in 2006 but the restaurant operators had to work for more than a year to get the necessary permits to open, Kim said.
All told, the Downtown Entertainment Group spent about $4 million on renovating the space, which includes a 7,000-square-foot patio where diners can take in the view.
Jamison Properties, the company operated by Korean real estate investor David Lee, represented itself in house on the deal.
Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at
[email protected]
or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.
