Dorsey & Whitney LLP has signed a long term lease for approximately 30,000 square feet on the 20th and 21st Penthouse floors of Plaza Tower. Occupancy is scheduled for July 1, 2011. Dorsey's Southern California office has strong practices in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financings, capital markets, labor and employment, complex business litigation, securities litigation, and compliance advice. The attorneys in this office represent emerging growth, midsize, and public companies in a variety of sectors including technology, life sciences, manufacturing, finance, consumer products, and retail, among other sectors. “We are delighted that Dorsey and Whitney have chosen to locate its Southern California office in Plaza Tower,” says Henry Segerstrom, managing partner of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons. “The South Coast Plaza area will afford Dorsey many amenities, all within a brief walk, including Segerstrom Center for the Arts, world class shopping and fine dining.”

X Team International, an international alliance of retail real estate advisors, revealed that Newport Beach, CA-based partner Strategic Retail Advisors has been retained as the exclusive leasing agent for Dollar Tree Inc. in Orange County and San Gabriel Valley, CA. Dollar Tree is looking for new locations from 8,000 to 12,000 square feet in the Southern California trade area. The company is focused on regional centers with high visibility and strong traffic counts, but will consider all locations. Blaine Bush and Wally Limburg of SRA will represent Dollar Tree in Orange County, while Jeff Reenders will be responsible for San Gabriel Valley.

San Francisco

Appian Capital and San Francisco-based Presidio Development Partners LLC, recently entered into a joint venture to acquire Parkpoint Business Center, a northern California REO office property. The project is a five-building, 70,000-square-foot office complex located in Santa Rosa, CA. The property, which is 60% leased, was purchased from CW Capital, a loan servicer that foreclosed on the property in June 2010. David Kidder, managing director of Appian Capital’s Newport Beach office notes, “An attractive component of this investment is our ability to own several buildings on separate legal parcels, allowing for a flexible business plan with multiple exit scenarios. The investment is also consistent with our strategy of partnering with strong, local operators and providing $3 million to $10 million of equity per project, a segment which is underserved in the capital markets.” The joint venture plans to renovate the outdoor common areas, building exteriors, and signage, and market the individual buildings to both owner/users and as leased investments.

Los Angeles

An affiliate of KTR Capital Partners has closed on the acquisition of 3690 Redondo Beach Ave. in Redondo Beach, CA. The 100,697-square-foot warehouse facility is situated on approximately six acres located three miles west of the south cargo entrance of the Los Angeles International Airport. The building features 24-foot clear ceiling height and 14 dock high positions. Upon closing, KTR plans to redevelop and reposition the building with expanded loading, upgraded sprinklers and HVAC systems and new spec office space. Brian Gagne, vice president of investments at KTR says that “Opportunities to acquire property in the LAX air cargo corridor are rare. 3690 Redondo Beach Avenue is well located and our capital improvement plans will make it one of the most functional and desirable distribution buildings in the submarket. We had strong prospect activity prior to even closing on the asset.”

Robert K. Futterman & Associates recently arranged an 18,185-square-foot retail lease with Salon Republic at 8000 Sunset, at the base of Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles. Salon Republic took the second floor of the 165,000-square-foot building, situated on the southeast corner of North Crescent Heights and Sunset Boulevards that recently underwent a $9 million renovation. This will be the full-service salon’s largest store in the country and is scheduled to open in fall 2011. RKF executive vice president Rob Cohen and senior vice president Rachel Rosenberg represented the landlord, a joint venture of private investors and fund sponsored by Transwestern Investment Co. LLC. The tenant was represented by Jeff Lipson, senior vice president and Gonzalo Rioja, regional vice president of Stone Miller. “This retail space offers excellent visibility along one of the most premier intersections in Los Angeles and is the perfect location for Salon Republic,” says Cohen.

Inland Empire, CA

The Inland Empire team of Voit Real Estate Services has successfully completed both a sale and a lease for marketing giant Vertis Communications, aiding Vertis in its post-bankruptcy re-growth. Frank Geraci, Walt Chenoweth, Patrick Wood and Juan Gutierrez of Voit’s Inland Empire office worked together to direct Vertis’ $2.2 million sale of a 21,799-square-foot R&D property in Glendora, while concurrently renewing Vertis’ $1.9-million lease of a 144,542-square-foot industrial building in Pomona. The seller and lessee, Vertis Communications Inc., is a national provider of targeted advertising and marketing solutions for America's leading retail and consumer services companies. “Our team worked closely with Vertis throughout the economic storm to help the company navigate each transaction in a way that is most beneficial to them,” says Chenoweth, EVP of Voit’s Inland Empire office. “For instance, we directed the company’s lease renewal six months prior to its expiration, reducing the rent significantly and locking in a low rate for an additional three years.” The Geraci-Chenoweth-Wood-Gutierrez team worked with Gil Hutzler at CBRE in Baltimore to represent Vertis as the seller of the industrial property located at 511 W. Citrus Edge Street in Glendora, CA. The buyer was represented by a private individual. In addition, the Voit team worked with CBRE to represent Vertis as the lessee in the renewal of its three-year lease at 3200 Pomona Blvd. in Pomona, CA. The lessor, TA Associates Realty, was represented by Colliers International.

Las Vegas

The local housing market has hit a milestone. According to statistics recently released by the greater Las Vegas Association of realtors, 51% of all existing homes being sold in Southern Nevada are now being purchased with cash. GLVAR president Paul Bell says this represents a first for the housing market in Southern Nevada—and perhaps for any other part of the country. “This percentage of cash buyers has been increasing steadily for more than a year. We’ve been saying for months that we could eventually see cash buyers accounting for more than half of all our sales,” Bell says. “We’re now at 51%, so we’ve reached that threshold. In checking with our counterparts around the country, we have yet to find another major metropolitan area where so many buyers are paying cash for homes.” Bell says this influx of cash buyers “says a lot about what’s happening in our housing market.” He said the vast majority of these buyers are investors who are renting out, rather than occupying, the homes they’re buying. While it would be ideal if they were all living in the homes they’re buying, he said “cash buyers are still purchasing thousands of local homes that might otherwise sit vacant. I’d say we’re fortunate to have these buyers investing in our community. These smart money buyers are voting with their pocketbooks on the future of our local housing market.”