Long Beach, CA Attracts Foreign Investor

[IMGCAP(1)] Los Angeles

Baratow LLC of Palos Verdes Estates, CA, a foreign buyer from the Philippines who is looking to invest in Long Beach, CA has purchased 1762 E. 3rd St. in Long Beach for $1.8 million. The buyer plans extensive improvements to the property including washers and dryers, plumbing upgrades, and changes to the face of the building. The 17-unit apartment community was sold at a cap rate of 7.3% with a 21-day escrow by 1762 E. Third St. LLC of Anaheim, CA. The transaction was negotiated by Hendricks & Partners on behalf of the seller. Robert Strepp of H&P notes that “we are seeing more foreign investors buying properties these days because of the weak dollar and current exchange rate.”

Ampso System Parking has taken 21,031 square feet in the AT&T Center located at 1150 S. Olive St. in downtown L.A. Ampco will use the AT&T Center location as one of its headquarter offices. Transwestern secured the lease on behalf of the tenant. “We were able to consolidate Ampco’s two downtown Los Angeles locations to increase efficiency of its operations,” says Jonathan Larsen, executive managing director at Transwestern. “The current downtown Los Angeles office market is uncertain and now is an ideal time for new and renewed leases. There is no telling how long a tenant will be able to take advantage of the economic climate and its aggressive terms. In fact, some brokerage firms saw a higher volume in transactions in the end of January 2010 than what was seen in 2009 and economists and commercial real estate professionals expect to see major growth in 2011 into 2012 in the Los Angeles office market, especially in high-rise, class A office buildings such as AT&T Center,” he adds. CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord, LBA Realty.