Donor Services Group, a fundraising company that handles telemarketing for non-profits, has signed a $3.5 million lease for a Hollywood building with a publishing business pedigree.
The company will move into its new headquarters space at 6715 Sunset Blvd. this spring after signing a seven-year lease for the 19,484-square-foot building in January with Crossroads Trust. The property includes a 60-space parking lot and another small lot across Sunset.
The art deco building had long been home to the Hollywood Reporter, which moved there from other Hollywood offices during the mid-1930s soon after the building opened. The Reporter was housed there for more than 50 years and its large unlit neon sign remains inside the building. More recently, L.A. Weekly called the three-story building home before vacating it in 2008 for West Los Angeles.
Broker Jeff Luster of Major Properties said that despite the building’s unique character, it took nearly two years to lease it after several prospective deals feel apart.
“The market changed on us and the owner was particular in who he wanted,” said Luster, who represented Crossroads Trust.
Morton La Kretz, a longtime Hollywood landlord who heads Crossroads Trust, said that Donor Services fit the bill.
“It was a good fit for them because it had good public transportation access and good parking,” said La Kretz, who added that the marble façade at 6715 Sunset will be restored.
He also owns the nearby Crossroads of the World, which was built in 1936 as a retail development – some say it is the country’s first outdoor mall – and now houses entertainment offices.
Luster said that the deal starts at about $2 per square foot per month on a modified gross basis, and escalates annually.
“I think it’s a market deal for the economy we are in,” he said, adding that the majority of the tenant improvement allowance – about $15 per square foot – will be paid by Crossroads Trust.
Thomas Siegel, chief executive of Donor Services, which is consolidating three L.A.-area offices, said that his company will move into the building by May 1, when the lease will begin. He noted the interior of the building has bow truss ceilings, skylights, steel beams and natural brick. And there have been surprises during the renovation.
“We’ve discovered beautiful hardwood floors underneath carpet,” he said. “We also found an old floor safe. We are interested in researching the history of the building.”
Craig Miller and Jeff Lipson of Stone-Miller Co. represented Donor Services.
New Management Firm
R7 Real Estate Inc., a property and construction management firm, was launched in mid-January.
The Torrance firm, started by seven partners, is headed by Stan Yoshihara, a former CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. executive who has the title of chief visionary officer. He was the managing director of the Greater Los Angeles region for CB Richard Ellis from 2003 to 2009.
Stephanie Abel, another CB Richard Ellis veteran who left to start the company, said that R7 can offer a more “individualized, customized” suite of services to its clients because the firm is smaller and more nimble.
“Clients are looking for more efficient and creative ways to run their asset,” said Abel, who was a director at CB Richard Ellis, overseeing the portfolios of clients, which included Invesco, KBS Realty Advisors and Grosvenor.
Abel said she and her CB Richard Ellis colleagues aren’t bringing any of their old clients to R7; instead, they are “pursuing new business as we speak.”
Industrial Sale
Kamran Shooshani, an L.A.-based real estate investor, has purchased a 58,200-square-foot industrial building near Huntington Park for $2.4 million.
Shooshani bought the property at 1202 E. 58th St. in an all-cash transaction Dec. 27 from Zions First National Bank, which had taken ownership after foreclosing on the prior owner, a clothes dyeing company.
Broker Rob Socci of Voit Real Estate Services said that the property had been vacant for about three months and was listed for $2.9 million. He added that Shooshani’s ability to pay in cash and close the transaction in a week sealed the deal at a price below what the bank was asking.
“They were motivated to get rid of it,” said Socci, who represented both parties.
Socci said that Shooshani plans to lease the building, which sits on more than two acres. He said that some environmental cleanup work is needed and Shooshani’s willingness to handle the remediation also was attractive to the bank.
“That was another interesting little responsibility that the buyer agreed to take,” Socci said.
Hayden Socci and RJ Socci, Rob Socci’s sons, also represented both parties.
Shooshani and the bank could not be reached for comment.
Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.
