In Pasadena’s largest lease deal this year, digital forensics and cybersecurity firm Guidance Software Inc. is consolidating its operations into a larger headquarters space.

The firm signed a lease of nearly 11 years for 86,790 square feet at 1055 E. Colorado Blvd. The deal with landlord Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc. of Atlanta is valued at more than $28 million.

Guidance, which plans to move into the space in August, will receive building-top signage.

The company is known for its popular EnCase software, which is used by corporations and law enforcement authorities to conduct everything from intellectual theft investigations to compliance auditing.

Guidance is leaving its headquarters at 215 Marengo Ave. and offices at 245 S. Los Robles, where it occupied a total of about 70,000 square feet. The company plans to use the additional space as it grows.

Its new 1055 E. Colorado offices were vacated last year by Paracel Inc., a firm mapping the human genome. The Guidance lease, signed in July, brings the building up to 100 percent occupancy.

Kevin Duffy, at CBRE Group Inc., who represented the landlord, said Guidance was attracted to the building’s large floor plates and ample space for growth. He added the deal reflects an improving Pasadena market.

Patrick Church and Anneke Greco at CBRE also represented the landlord. Carlo Brignardello at Cresa represented the tenant.

Koreatown Fixer-Uppers

A three-property, 59-unit apartment portfolio in Koreatown has traded hands for $6.6 million.

Lion Real Estate Group LLC in Santa Monica bought the portfolio in June and July in an off-market transaction from an L.A. family, which decided to sell it in order to purchase a single-tenant commercial property elsewhere.

The Koreatown portfolio, a little over 90 percent occupied, comprises buildings at 410 and 501 Mariposa Ave. and 410 S. Alexandria Ave., all of which were built during the middle of last century and have not been significantly updated. Residences range from studios to two bedrooms, with most one-bedroom units. Monthly rents average about $950.

Jeff Weller, managing principal of Lion, said that the properties were attractive because of their location and relatively low sales price. They sold for about $140 a square foot; nearby comparable buildings have traded for closer to $170 a square foot.

Lion plans to upgrade the kitchen and bathrooms, and put in laminate hardwood floors, as well as add landscaping and exterior signage. Those improvements should be completed within two months.

Lion also wants to increase rental rates as units turn over, since they are covered by the city’s rent-control law. Weller expects a 20 percent rate of return within five years.

The company now owns 414 units in Los Angeles, and owns or co-owns 3,500 units in the Western United States

Growing Image

Given Imaging Inc. is expanding its regional office into a new Culver City building.

The Israeli medical imaging company signed an eight-year lease last month for the entire 25,199-square-foot building at 5860 Uplander Way. The deal with landlord Nampco Real Estate, a limited liability corporation operated by the Levey Family Trust on the Westside, is valued at nearly $6 million.

Given, headquartered in Yoqneam, has a reputation for its technology that detects gastrointestinal tract disorders. In particular, it makes a tiny camera in a capsule that is swallowed by the patient.

The company is expanding out of a roughly 16,000-square-foot lease at 5757 Century Blvd. near Los Angeles International Airport and wanted a building where it would be the only tenant while being near both amenities and the San Diego (405) Freeway.

Tenant improvements are already under way on the interior, some of which will be renovated for research and development lab space. The company plans to move in Nov. 1.

Steve Solomon at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., who represented Nampco, said that the imaging firm beat out other companies seeking the space because of its strong financial track record. Given also is contributing some of its own money to the tenant improvements.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s Eric Adams also represented the landlord. Bruce Hoffman of UGL Equis represented Given Imaging.

Staff reporter Jacquelyn Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.