Smart and Final Stores Corp. is relocating its corporate headquarters and Smart University training and consultation center from Vernon to the Commerce Citadel, an office, hotel and factory outlet center complex in the City of Commerce.
The Commerce Community Development Commission has approved a 15-year lease that will allow Smart and Final to consolidate its corporate operations into one building. The corporation and university will occupy more than 81,000 square feet at 600 Citadel Drive. Smart and Final plans to move in by September, after it completes some improvements on the property.
As part of the lease, the city will provide the corporation with a variety of incentives, including relocation assistance and the option to lease an additional 20,500 square feet within the project and the first rights on other office space as it becomes available.
Smart and Final will bring 350 jobs to the city.
Build-to-suit completed
Construction has been completed on a 68,212-square-foot industrial build-to-suit facility in La Verne for Office Master, a manufacturer and wholesaler of office furniture.
The property, located at 2009 Wright Ave. in the San Polo La Verne Business Park, was purchased by Office Master for $3.2 million. It will serve as the firm’s corporate headquarters. The company is moving from Pico Rivera and will double its size in the process, according to Grubb & Ellis Real Estate Services.
The build-to-suit was developed by Baldwin Park-based San Polo Development Corp.
Jim Center of Grubb & Ellis’ San Gabriel Valley office represented Office Master in the transaction. Rick Sheckter of the San Gabriel Valley office and Randy Lockhart of the firm’s Ontario office represented San Polo.
Med center inks lease
City of Hope has leased a 55,000-square-foot office building in Los Angeles for its donor relations headquarters, according to Grubb & Ellis.
The four-story building is located at 716 S. Olive St. The medical research and treatment center is slated to move into its new space in September.
William Atha and Ed Rosenthal of Grubb & Ellis’ downtown office worked with the landlord, a local family trust, and City of Hope, in the transaction, which was completed last month.
New industrial project slated
Continuing a flurry of industrial development in Santa Fe Springs, MC & C;/Fortis Investments LLC will be developing three new light industrial buildings encompassing 122,000 square feet in the city.
The property is located at 14059 Stage Rd. and has one metal building, which will be demolished. The project is anticipated to cost $6 million.
MC & C;/Fortis’ first project was the nine-building MC & C; Commerce Center, a $27 million multi-use industrial business park in Santa Fe Springs.
Chris McGranahan, managing partner of the MC & C;/Fortis partnership, said Santa Fe Springs is a “prime industrial location because it is a geographical link to Los Angeles and Orange County.”
Art museum opens doors
The Santa Monica Museum of Art opened at its new home at Bergamot Station Arts Center last week.
The 10,000-square-foot museum was constructed by Binder/Minardos Builders, headquartered in Santa Monica. The firm did several installations at the new J. Paul Getty Museum and won a 1997 Santa Monica Area Sustainable Quality Award, which recognized its work with recycled products and environmentally responsible construction materials and methods.
Brokerage unloads properties
Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. has been on a selling spree.
The firm recently announced the following sales: Gardena Valley Center, which sold for $1.8 million to Wethersfield Pacific Inc., and The Terrado Plaza Office Building in Covina, which sold for $4.9 million to Metro Properties LLC. Several apartment complexes have been sold to private parties, including: the Colonial Manor Apartments, a 48-unit complex in Bellflower, which sold for $1.6 million; the Sea Breeze Apartments in El Segundo, for $2 million; and Paradise Garden Apartments in Long Beach, in which an individual investor purchased the leasehold interest for an undisclosed amount.
Glendale sale closes
The proposed $95.8 million sale of a downtown Glendale property from a group of corporate pension funds to the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio has gone through, said Ron Azad, project manager at Westmark Realty Advisors, which advised the pension funds.
Daniel Mann Johnson & Mendenhall has designed a 22-story office building to be built on a vacant portion of the property, adjacent to a 19-story building in which Walt Disney Co. is a major tenant. The transaction included both properties.
If the retirement system carries out its original plan, it will end up with 700,000 square feet of office space at the site, almost double what is currently there, Azad said. The property encompasses a full city block on North Brand Boulevard at Wilson Avenue and is part of the Glendale City Center.
Martin Sawa of CB Richard Ellis assisted the seller in the transaction.
Van Nuys industrial deals
Irvine-based Lincoln Property Co. has purchased a 21-acre industrial park in Van Nuys from the Stahl Trust, according Mike Clark, a broker at Cushman & Wakefield Inc. who represented both the buyer and seller.
The Stahl Trust sold the five-building park, which is near the intersection of Sepulveda and Roscoe boulevards. Tenants include ITT Gilfilan, Impulse Designs, ABC Supply Co. and Dal Tile, Clark said.
“There’s excess land there, so eventually Lincoln wants to develop on the site,” he said.
