CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. is consolidating its two South Bay offices into one location in El Segundo as the brokerage streamlines regional operations.
The move comes only weeks after the West L.A. company announced it would expand its Orange County flagship office in Newport Beach to absorb its Anaheim staff.
CBRE inked a lease earlier this month for roughly 30,000 square feet in downtown El Segundo at 2221 Rosecrans Blvd., more than doubling its office space of 12,000 square feet there. The two-story building is part of a complex called Continental Park that includes restaurants, a movie theater, hotels and shops. Financial terms were not released.
With the new lease, CBRE will occupy more than half of the building. The office will house project management, and brokerage, asset, capital market, valuation and global corporate services.
The company will vacate its other South Bay office, 15,000 square feet at 990 W. 190th St. in Torrance. A total of 130 employees will work in the combined office when construction is completed in the fall.
Brandon Dobell, an analyst at William Blair & Co. in Chicago, said that the consolidation is logical and fiscally prudent. CBRE will be left with six offices in Los Angeles County.
“I don’t think its indicative of anything in the market other than CB is trying to drive cost-cutting as much they can in part because they committed to the shareholders some pretty aggressive margin targets,” said Dobell. “CB wants to do everything related to real estate for every customer and the way you get there is by having a bunch of people in the same firm.”
CBRE reported first quarter net income of $34 million (11 cents per share), beating analysts’ estimates by one penny. Analysts expect earnings of 24 cents per share in the second quarter.
In an e-mail statement, Lewis Horne, executive managing director for CBRE’s Greater Los Angeles-Orange County region, said the creation of a South Bay flagship office “strongly supports our key corporate objectives to remain the leader in this market, enhance our integrated service delivery to clients and amplify our brand.”
Marshal in Town
The U.S. Marshals Service is moving into Monterey Park.
The General Services Administration signed a 10-year lease this month for the law enforcement agency at 1938 and 1968 Saturn St. in Monterey Park. The lease for 44,000 square feet is valued at $20 million, and has an option for a five-year extension.
The offices will be the headquarters of the Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Taskforce, which include 25 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in California and Nevada. It also will be used as a training facility.
The agency will be the sole occupant of the two buildings at the Saturn Corporate Center.
This lease was a consolidation of several Marshals Service locations. Currently, the service’s primary regional office is on the second floor of the Los Angeles Federal Building at 300 N. Los Angeles St. It will be vacated.
Thomas Hession, the task force’s chief inspector, has said the headquarters will allow the agency to cut costs while providing in-house training formerly only available on the East Coast.
Jeffrey Ingham and Amy Aldridge, public-sector brokers at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., represented the government. Grubb & Ellis Co. represented landlord Global Pacific Development.
Grubb & Ellis had marketed the property for three years before the marshals took the space.
Career Shift
Jones Lang LaSalle has hired a new head for its West Coast industrial team based in downtown Los Angeles as the brokerage seeks to expand the practice.
Charles McPhee joined as managing director last week. The move is a career shift for the 27-year real estate veteran, who has spent the majority of his career in development. He left his post as senior vice president of development at Santa Monica-based shopping mall developer Macerich Co., where he had been since 2007. Before Macerich, he was an executive vice president at Catellus Development Corp. and continued with the firm after its merger with ProLogis.
“My career for the last 20 years has been on behalf of a principal creating value through development or acquisition. I’m on the service side of this business now, and hopefully that gives me valuable insight,” McPhee said.
McPhee, 47, is an L.A. native and lives in Palos Verdes Estates. He graduated from Santa Clara University in 1985.
Staff Reporter Jacquelyn Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.
