Entertainment company Fremantle Media North America, producer of television shows such as “American Idol” and “X Factor,” is consolidating its headquarters in Burbank.
The company signed a 10-year deal last month for 72,328 square feet at the Pointe, at 2900 W. Alameda Ave., with landlord Worthe Real Estate Group Inc. The deal is valued at $30 million.
Worthe, operated by developer Jeff Worthe, and partner M. David Paul Ventures built the 14-story, 485,000-square-foot Class A office tower in 2009. It is part of a 44-acre, 1.6 million-square-foot entertainment campus that includes eight television soundstages used by shows such as “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” The campus, near Walt Disney Co., could expand by 1.5 million more square feet.
The Pointe, which has 10-foot floor-to-ceiling windows, is 40 percent leased to KCETLink and other media tenants.
Fremantle is consolidating the 72,000 square feet it takes in buildings at 4000 Alameda Ave. and 4100 Alameda Ave.
The company was seeking to move its separate offices into one location and was attracted to the new building for its open layout, which will allow it to use space more efficiently. Despite remaining static in size, the new offices will actually allow the company to expand in the future, according to Ray Howden, a principal at Cresa who represented the tenant.
Fremantle plans to move in December.
The lease reflects a growing attraction to the building by entertainment companies. Todd Doney, vice chairman at CBRE Group Inc. who represented the landlord, said that he thinks this will continue.
“We continue to see tremendous interest and activity from tenants in the entertainment and new-media industries, and we expect activity levels to grow even more as a result of this new lease,” Doney said.
Chanel Calling
Luxury brand Chanel SA has purchased its first Rodeo Drive retail building in one of the highest per-square-foot sales in Los Angeles County.
The Paris fashion company and maker of the famous Chanel No. 5 perfume bought the 13,317-square-foot building at 408 N. Rodeo Drive this month from owner and occupant Lladro, a porcelain figurine maker.
Lladro sold the adjacent property at 414 N. Rodeo, occupied by retailer Hugo Boss, in 2009 to a Hong Kong investment group for $28 million.
The sale price of the Chanel transaction was not disclosed, but industry sources estimated it was roughly $117 million, perhaps higher. At that price, the sale would amount to more than $8,700 a square foot and make it one of the highest-ever sales prices of any commercial building in the county, according to CoStar Group Inc.
It falls short of a countywide record per-square-foot price set last year when the chief executive of Paris’ LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA paid $11,971 a square foot for 319-323 N. Rodeo.
Chanel’s plans for the site are not clear; it recently signed a long-term lease renewal for its store next door at 400 N. Rodeo. There was some speculation that it could decide to expand its boutique into the new location.
Jay Luchs, an executive vice president at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank who also brokered the Rodeo sale for LVMH group last year, represented the landlord in this deal. He declined to comment on this sale, but said Rodeo is as strong as it’s ever been and more luxury brands might be looking to buy up the coveted real estate.
“Los Angeles has become more important in the fashion world and an influx of investors from all over the world are doing everything they can to own prime real estate on Rodeo Drive,” he said. “Some of the highest sales recently have been to owner-users who see long-term potential in owning real estate on Rodeo Drive. It makes sense to own their own building if they have the ability.”
David Feldman at Haven Realty Capital LLC in El Segundo also represented the seller but declined to comment. CBRE’s Paul Muratore, who represented Chanel, did not respond to a request for comment.
Creative Conversion
Industry Partners Inc. is moving into a building it bought recently and turning it into a new multimillion-dollar headquarters.
The Santa Monica creative office real estate services firm bought a 5,000-square-foot industrial building at 1645 Euclid St. in March for $3.85 million from Euclid Co. Inc.
Industry Partners is planning a multimillion-dollar renovation of the existing building into creative office space for its headquarters. Commercial television production house Superstudio will also lease space at the property.
Industry Partners has already moved to the Euclid property from the Lantana Entertainment and Media Campus at Olympic and Exposition boulevards in Santa Monica and will occupy the Euclid space during renovation.
Chief Executive Jim Jacobsen said the firm plans to re-entitle a portion of the property that’s undeveloped and possibly redevelop the existing building to build a 40,000-square-foot multitenant creative office building.
Its Industry Ltd. development affiliate will oversee the conversion of the building.
Staff reporter Jacquelyn Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.
