Downtown L.A.
Dodgers Deal:
The Los Angeles Dodgers are teaming up with Costco Wholesale Corp. to offer customers discounted field-box ticket packages. Twenty-six Costco retailers around Southern California in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and Ventura counties will offer two field-box tickets for $54 dollars as opposed to the game day value of $100. Costco ordered 10,000 tickets from the Dodgers to sell at a 40 percent discount. It is the first deal between the Dodgers and Costco. Future deals are already under discussion.
Miracle Mile
New Divisions:
Real estate development firm J.H. Snyder Co. created separate divisions of the company for commercial and residential projects. Patrick Irvine was hired to head Commercial Construction as a senior vice president. Michael Busa was promoted to senior vice president in charge of Residential Construction.
South Los Angeles
Beer Here:
Reed’s Inc., a developer and manufacturer of non-alcoholic beverages, candies, and ice creams, entered an exclusive distribution agreement with Manhattan Beer Distributors for the distribution of Reed’s throughout Metro New York, including New York City, Long Island, and seven counties north of the city. Manhattan Beer Distributors will distribute Reed’s Ginger Brews, Virgil’s Root Beer, Cream Soda, and Black Cherry Cream Soda and China Colas.
Hollywood
International Service Expansion:
J2 Global Communications Inc., a provider of outsourced messaging and communication services, is expanding its eFax services in Europe and entering the African market. EFax offers customers a larger selection of local or international dialing codes. The company provides access to fax numbers in more than 2,800 cities in 40 countries. The service will now reach to Egypt, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Further expansion in Europe, Asia, and Africa is planned for later in the year.
Glendale
Hospital News:
The Glendale Adventist Medical Center announced that its new $108 million West Tower is expected to open this summer. The West Tower will include 60 new patient beds, including a 12-bed family-focused intensive care unit. Larger patient rooms with Internet work stations, a new expanded emergency department, and six surgical suites dedicated to cardiovascular, neurological, and orthopedic procedures will also be included in the new building. A stroke center and the hospital’s Heart and Vascular Institute will be on site.
Commerce
Denim Distribution:
Antik Denim LLC, owned by Blue Holdings Inc., signed a license agreement with Los Angeles-based Max Ray Inc., a designer and manufacturer of leather accessories. Max Ray will have the right to produce and distribute small leather goods for handbags, belts, small leather accessories, and scarves for Antik Denim throughout the U.S. The deal has an 18-month term and can be renewed for four consecutive one-year terms. It goes into effect on July 1.
Marina del Rey
Residential Lofts:
CityView, a housing investor with $2 billion of real estate capacity, is teaming up with L.A.-based real estate company California Landmark to build a $90 million loft project on a 2-acre infill site in an industrial zone of Marina del Rey. Construction on the 119 loft building is already under way on Glencoe Avenue between Maxella Avenue and Washington Boulevard in the arts district. Pre-sales are expected to begin next spring, and the first units should be occupied by fall of 2008.
Media Advertising:
Gorilla Nation, an online advertising company, signed a representation agreement with the Huffington Post, an online news and opinion site. Under the terms of the agreement, Gorilla Nation will assume advertising sales duties for the Huffington Post in Texas, Southern California, Detroit, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Gorilla Nation will also be responsible for securing national entertainment and automotive advertisers.
Santa Monica
New Location:
Allsteel Inc., an Iowa-based manufacturer of workplace solutions, signed a 10-year lease for 16,440 square feet in the Water Garden, a Class A office project in Santa Monica. The lease is valued at $8.9 million. Allsteel and its affiliated company, Gunlocke, have moved into the ground floor location, which will be used as a showroom/resource center. The space, designed by HOK Architecture, is eligible for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Allsteel also has a downtown office location.
Culver City
Art Space:
LA-Art, a Culver City-based independent non-profit visual arts organization, formed a partnership with Newport Beach-based John Laing Homes Urban to provide the residents of Hollywood with a new public art space and several public art projects. The new space and art projects will be integrated into the fa & #231;ade of John Laing Homes Urban’s premier mixed-use project, Madrone, on La Brea Avenue near Hollywood Boulevard. The company included a public glass-enclosed exhibition space in the entry stairs of the building leading to public courtyards. John Laing Homes provided funding to LA-Art to provide at least one new public exhibition a year.
Palmdale
New Location:
BJ’s Restaurants Inc. opened its 59th restaurant at 1325 Rancho Vista Blvd. in Palmdale at a free-standing building in the Antelope Valley Mall. The new location is about 8,500 square feet and contains seating for 265 guests. It is the fourth BJ’s Restaurant to open in 2007.
Long Beach
Engineering Contract:
Earth Tech Inc., an architectural and engineering consultant, was awarded a $3 million, 15-month contract from the Florida Department of Transportation District Six to plan, design, and prepare construction documents for the Central Station at the Miami Intermodal Center. The Central Station will consolidate Tri-Rail and Amtrak passenger services under one roof and accommodate a potential Florida High Speed Rail terminus. Earth Tech will also provide landscape, security, signage, and roadway improvement design for the 27-acre site. Earth Tech has been working on the Miami Intermodal Center since 1993, when the company did the initial project development and environmental study.
Oxnard
Industrial Lease:
Ventura County-based general contractor Al Lowe Construction Inc. recently signed a long-term lease agreement for 6,153 square feet in a 35,000-square-foot industrial building in Oxnard. Al Lowe Construction is moving its headquarters to the location at 201 Bernoulli Circle from another location in Ventura. The landlord is the Zaki Family Partnership.
Sarah Filus
