Two companies have left Marina del Rey for new offices in El Segundo a possible signal that the office market there is moving up.

Ignited LLC, a local advertising agency, and Tandberg Television, an Internet media company, have both moved in recent months. Both firms signed 10-year leases in deals that closed in May.

Traditionally, El Segundo has been a more affordable office market than Marina del Rey, which is considered the most southerly Westside office market. The average asking rent for Class A space in El Segundo and nearby beach cities was $2.36 in the first quarter, compared to $3.29 for the Marina and Culver City market, according to data from Grubb & Ellis Co. But real estate industry professionals familiar with the area say the expansion of office development at Playa Vista will continue to drive prices in the Marina del Rey area, forcing some firms to look elsewhere.

“Marina rents will push $4 and El Segundo is the next market south of that,” said Robert Cavaiola, assistant director in the West L.A. office of Studley Inc. “We are working with a few companies that in the past would have considered the Westside and now are looking to El Segundo.”

Ignited, formerly known as Ignited Minds, doubled in size when it left 4499 Glencoe Ave. in Marina del Rey for 55,000 square feet at 2221 Park Place in El Segundo, which is owned by Sandstone Properties Inc. The company moved into its new office on July 1. The $17 million lease deal breaks down to $2.58 per square foot per month.

Tandberg, a division of telecommunications company Ericsson Group, moved into its space at 100 N. Sepulveda Blvd. in June. The deal for 24,500 square feet of space with landlord Pacific Corporate Towers LLC is valued at over $8 million, breaking down to about $2.72 per square foot per month. Previously, the company occupied space at 12190 Culver Blvd. in Marina del Rey. El Segundo has a good stock of office buildings many were built to high standards for the aerospace industry when it was still doing business in Los Angeles.

Leonard Nadler and Cavaiola of Studley represented Ignited and Tandberg along with Christopher Knapp, also of Studley. Bob Safai of Madison Partners represented the landlord in the Ignited deal and John Ayoob of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. represented the landlord in the Tandberg deal.

Koreatown Portfolio

A $77 million Koreatown apartment portfolio has been put on the market. The package includes nine buildings and six development sites.

Real estate investors Ted Kolchier and Roman Celusta own the portfolio, which includes mid-level rental properties and a few historic buildings in the Wilshire Center and Westlake areas.

Kolchier said that he is selling the properties because it’s time for a break after years of acquiring the assets and restoring the neighborhoods they occupy.

“I’ve gone through rebuilding and changing these neighborhoods, which is what I set out to do,” Kolchier said. “We have put a lot of time and money into the process and now that I’ve passed 60 years old, I’m getting a little bit tired.”

The nine apartment buildings have a total of 462 units and as a whole, the portfolio is over 90 percent leased, according to Seth Polen of Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services Inc., who has the listing.

Units at the buildings are rented in the range of $995 to $ 1,800 per month. The portfolio includes about 45,000 square feet of developable land.

Several of the development sites are parking lots next to buildings in the portfolio.

“You’ve got some significant development rights, should they be explored,” Polen said. “Housing is a commodity and it is in major demand in all aspects of the market, whether you are dealing with luxury, middle class or workforce housing.”

Kolchier said that the crown jewel of the portfolio is the 61-unit, 55,000-square-foot apartment building at 720 S. Normandie Ave. It is a 1924 building that Kolchier purchased seven years ago, when it was nearly vacant and a “slum building.”

Kolchier renovated the building, which was once home to Jack Benny.

Shannon Sung of Remax Commercial also has the listing.

Santa Fe Springs Lease

Fuji Food Products Inc., a Japanese company that makes sushi that is sold in stores throughout the country, has signed a 10-year lease for a 91,189-square-foot industrial building in Santa Fe Springs.

Fuji Food’s $10.75 million lease deal with Metropolis Partners Inc., the property owner at 14420 Bloomfield Ave., closed in late June.

The deal breaks down to about 98 cents per square foot per month. The space was formerly owned by Japanese company Tengu Co. Inc., which makes beef jerky.

“Because it is a specialized building with refrigeration and has equipment for food processing, those rates are a little higher than normal warehouse space,” said Jonathan Larsen of Transwestern.

Metropolis bought the building, which sits on 4.4 acres, in May 2007 for $12 million.

“It is just a home run for Metropolis Partners and it is a great deal for Fuji Foods,” said Larsen, who represented Metropolis in the deal.

Eric Moore of Transwestern also represented the landlord. Fuji Food was represented by Michael Hefner of Voit Commercial Brokerage.

Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at

[email protected]

, or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.