MAIN EVENTS
– Dominguez Investment Co. purchased a 211,407-square-foot office building at 20770 Madrona Ave. in Torrance for $52.5 million, or $248 per square foot. The seller was GREIT Madrona LP, an entity managed by Triple Net Properties LLC. Built in 1989, the four-story, Class A office building was 87 percent leased at the time of sale.
– AMB Property Corp. purchased a 129,499-square-foot industrial manufacturing property at 18620 S. Broadway in Carson from AMSI Real Estate LLC for $11.55 million or about $90 per square foot.
– Adma Associates LP purchased a 73,000-square-foot industrial building at 540 Maple Ave. in Torrance. Adma took out a $5.1 million mortgage for the facility.
– Search-based marketing firm Vantage Media LLC subleased 29,000 square feet at 2101-2141 Rosecrans Ave. in El Segundo from Connexus Corp. The space is within the 460,000-square-foot Continental Park Plaza.
– Realty Associates Fund VIII LP purchased 2447 Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa Beach for $10.2 million, or about $412 per square foot, from private investors. The 22-year-old, 24,635-square-foot building was 90 percent leased.
– Bixby Village Golf Course in Long Beach sold for $6 million, or about $209,790 per acre to Bixby Golf Course Ltd. The seller was Landwide Bancorp Inc. The 28.6-acre, nine-hole golf course at 6180 Bixby Village Drive includes 1,550 square feet of clubhouse space.
The South Bay is better known for its massive, port-adjacent industrial market, but it was its office market that once again set the pace for the third quarter.
As lease rates in Westside markets such as Santa Monica and Westwood hit record highs in the third quarter, South Bay office space was snatched up by anyone seeking cheaper deals.
Vacancy rates fell to 12.2 percent, down one point from the previous quarter and from 14.6 percent a year ago, continuing a tightening trend that has stretched about four years.
“There is a lot of organic growth in the market, but the Westside is very tight and getting tighter,” said Bob Alperin, a senior broker at Cushman & Wakefield. “Everyone in the South Bay gets the benefit of a tenant creep.”
Though low vacancy rates in the South Bay have pushed asking rents to $2.38 per square foot, up from $2.28 the previous quarter, the rates are still well below Westside rents which average $4.50 per square foot and are up to $5.96 in Santa Monica, according to Grubb & Ellis Co.
The tightest market in the South Bay is the greater Long Beach market, which now boasts vacancy rates of less than 8 percent outside the downtown area. “It is a maturing market,” Alperin said.
Meanwhile, traffic from the ports pushed industrial vacancies down to 1.8 percent from 2.1 percent in the previous quarter. But though the lease rates rose three cents to 66 cents, brokers are starting to see some resistance on further increases because of a shortage of larger, quality buildings, said Mike Sidney, senior broker at Cushman & Wakefield.
Sarah Filus
