Orange County

Online Trading Academy signed a five-year, 17,111-square-foot lease renewal and expansion at 18004 Skypark Circle in Irvine, CA. Serving as the company's headquarters, Online Trading Academy previously occupied 11,000 square feet, and is expanding by more than 70% in the building. Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. represented Online Trading Academy. Dineen Properties represented the landlord, JKE Properties.

Up for sale is a 36,675-square-foot office building at 25371 Commercentre Dr. in Lake Forest, CA for $7.3 million or $200 per square foot. The owner/user can occupy 18,176 square feet or the entire building and will save roughly 96% by owning versus leasing over a 10 year period. CBRE is marketing the property. The seller is not disclosed.

[IMGCAP(2)]San Diego

Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith LLP leased 29,940 square feet of office space in downtown San Diego. The law firm, with more than 750 attorneys and 19 offices nationwide, signed a 10-year lease to occupy the entire 19th floor, as well as a portion of the 18th floor at Merrill Lynch Tower, located at 701 B St. The company plans to relocate from its current office at 550 Corporate Center in the second quarter of 2010. Cushman & Wakefield represented the lessor, TRIZEC 701 B St., in the transaction. Tenant Advisory Group represented the law firm.

[IMGCAP(3)]Candy Bouquet and Studio B will join the growing roster of new tenants committing to space in the recently redesigned and remodeled Alpine Creek Town Center. With these transactions, the 73,599-square-foot center, owned by Westcore Properties is now 81% leased.

Oakland

Lee & Associates' Oakland office recently represented three new tenant leases. The first was 400 Market St. in Oakland, CA where Intrepid Electronic Systems Inc. moved from Emeryville to a 8,800-square-foot warehouse/office building on a 0.65-acre parcel. The building is roughly half office and half warehouse formerly occupied by Safety-Kleen Systems Inc. The tenant was able to negotiate favorable terms on a five-year lease and a fixed price option to purchase the building given deteriorating market prices in the Oakland area and the fact that the building was on the market for one year prior to securing a tenant, according to a prepared statement. The landlord, Safety-Kleen Systems Inc., was represented by Colliers International Oakland office. The second lease, at 1850 Campbell St. in Oakland, CA was to tenant Englund Studio, a custom wood finishing contractor, which moved to a 13,800-square-foot manufacturing space in West Oakland. The tenant was able to negotiate a highly favorable price on a five-year lease term due to the fact that the space remained on the market for more than one year prior to securing Englund Studio as the tenant. The landlord, Ajor Property Group LLC, was represented by Hamilton Cohen Thatcher Associates. The third lease was to Picon Inc. at 1066 Broadway in San Pablo, CA. The specialty fiberglass products supplier moved to a 13,500-square-foot manufacturing space in the Giant Trace Center on the border of San Pablo/Richmond, CA. The space was previously occupied by a commercial cabinet manufacturer who invested highly in the infrastructure of the space to include air handling equipment, heavy power, and updated offices. The tenant was able to take advantage of declining market rents in the area for a five-year lease term. This particular space was on the market for less than one month prior to securing Picon Inc. as the new tenant showing that there is still demand for space that is priced to reflect new market rents, according to a prepared statement. The landlord, Madison Park Properties, was also represented by Lee & Associates. According to the statement, all three of these leases are reflective of a trend toward continued leasing activity in the lower end sector of the East Bay industrial market. "There seems to be on going demand from tenant's looking to capitalize on declining market rents and landlords that are beginning to come to grips with new market pricing," the release says.

Los Angeles

DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services represented 4150 Bandini Partnership LLC in the acquisition of a 335,000-square-foot, multi-tenant building located in Vernon, CA. Jerry Sackler, executive vice president, in DAUM's Los Angeles office represented the buyer in the transaction. The industrial facility is located at 4150-4174 Bandini Blvd. CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented the seller in the transaction. According to Sackler, "the project was priced well for an owner-user/investor. It gives the buyer some flexibility in terms of growing into the project which was 75% leased at the time of purchase." He continues that "The sale was one of the largest industrial transactions to take place in Vernon over the past 18-months. The property was extremely attractive on a price per square foot basis and we believe this may be a catalyst to restart the sale market in the Central LA marketplace."

Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, Pasadena has leased 36,534-square-feet from Star News Building LP at 525 E. Colorado Blvd. Grubb & Ellis Co. represented the owner. Signing a 126-month lease, the school will occupy the first four floors of the Star News building. The lease is an expansion to the approximately 70,000 square feet of adjacent space the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, a division of Career Education Corp., currently occupies at 530 E. Colorado Blvd. The school will use the new space for classrooms, an upscale white table cloth restaurant, a casual restaurant and administrative offices. It will take occupancy on July 1. "In a difficult market, it is always positive to see nontraditional users of office space continue to grow," says Brendan Monaghan, associate vice president of G&E's office group. CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in the transaction.

NAI Capital's South Bay office represented SJK Properties LLC in the sale of an 11,760-square-foot industrial building situated on 25,208 square feet of land at 3850 Gilman in Long Beach to FCI Management Consultants Inc. The transaction was valued at $1.8 million. The buyer was represented by Transwestern Commercial Services.

NAI Capital's Encino office and NAI Capital's Ontario office represented the seller, a private trust, and the buyer, Norms Restaurants, in the sale and purchase of 57,538 square feet of retail land at 407 Auto Center Dr. in Claremont, CA. The transaction was valued at just north of $2 million.

San Francisco

Cassidy Turley BT Commercial's North Bay offices have represented seller Equity Office Properties in its sale of a 42,500-square-foot class-A office building in Santa Rosa. The buyer was owner/user Southwest Community Health Center, which purchased the two-story building for $6.41 million or $151 per square foot. Known as the Fountaingrove Executive Center, the building is located at 3569 Round Barn Circle. Southwest Community will occupy the entire building.

Elliott Laboratories, a National Technical Systems Inc. expands and extends its lease of two industrial properties totaling 56,387 square feet in northeast Silicon Valley. In the first transaction, Elliott Labs inked a brand new long term lease of 30,316 square feet as part of its expansion. The building is utilized as a new custom-built Climatic, Environmental and Dynamics Product Testing Laboratory housing a wide range of state-of-the-art testing facilities and equipment. In the second transaction, Elliott Labs signed an early renewal on its 26,171 square feet of space, which will coincide with the term of its expansion space. Both properties, which serve as testing laboratories for Elliott Labs, are owned by ProLogis.

The Davis Law Firm renewed its lease of 4,731 square feet of office space for 39 months at 625 Market St., from 625 Market Associates LLC. Grubb & Ellis Co. represented the lessee in the transaction. The lessor represented itself.

Internet Entertainment LLC leased 2,359 square feet of office space for 27 months at 1550 Bryant St., from AE-Hamm's Property Owner LLC. Grubb & Ellis Co. represented the lessor in the transaction. Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented the lessee.

eXo Platform leased 2,289 square feet of office space for two years at 51 Federal St., from 51 Federal Street Assoc. Grubb & Ellis Co. represented the lessee in the transaction. Grubb & Ellis also represented the lessor.