New Tenants Bring Manchester Financial Building to 100%

LA JOLLA, CA-Less than 60 days after Smith Barney vacated its third floor space in the Manchester Financial Building, the owner of the class A facility located Downtown has signed on tenants Union Fidelity Mortgage Inc. and Adamson Brothers for a total of 14,398 sf here. The new occupants, who will take the entire third floor, have brought the facility’s occupancy level up to 100%. Built in 1972, Manchester Financial Building “has always maintained a high level of occupancy,” according to Andy La Dow of Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial. La Dow, along with G&E/BRE colleagues Bob Kuzman and Mike Slattery, acted on behalf of building owner Douglas F. Manchester in the recent lease transactions. Current tenants in the facility include Morgan Stanley and the Finger Hut Gallery. La Dow says Smith Barney moved out of Manchester Financial Building because the firm wanted to reconfigure and expand its space. New tenants Union Fidelity and Adamson Brothers were attracted to the La Jolla facility because of its amenities and prime location, according to the G&E/BRE brokers who worked on the deal. Encompassing approximately 77,000 sf, the five-story Manchester Financial Building features subterranean parking, balconies, patios, ocean views and ground-floor retail space. The asset stands at 7969 Ivanhoe Ave., right on the corner of Prospect Street. La Dow likens this area to “the Rodeo Drive of La Jolla,” explaining that there is every kind of high-end amenity located in close proximity to the building. Union Fidelity Mortgage Inc. has taken 11,507 sf at the property, in an 84-month transaction valued at $3.4 million. The firm, which was represented in-house, is relocating from the Mission Valley area. “The owner of the company lives in La Jolla and the firm was looking for a higher image location to service their clientele,” La Dow tells GlobeSt.com.Adamson Brothers, which was represented by G&E/BRE brokers Jack Kruger and Shawn Craig, has agreed to occupy 2,891 sf here. Its 72-month lease is valued at $442,612. The new space will mark the New Jersey-based stock brokerage’s first office in California. The tenant was drawn to Downtown because “it’s kind of a hub for wealth management firms and stockbrokerage firms that service high net worth individuals who may live in the area,” La Dow says. Downtown La Jolla is a smaller, boutique-type of market, characterized by older buildings, La Dow tells GlobeSt.com. He says the overall office vacancy rate here was 13% at the end of the second quarter, but that it is mostly small spaces that currently stand empty. “Good quality spaces lease very quickly at high rates,” he says.