[IMGCAP(1)]
LOS ANGELES-GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively that Charles Dunn Co. has completed the $15.5-million sale of a 46,213-square-foot office building at 11859 Wilshire Blvd. in Brentwood and has brokered a 19,042-square-foot lease between Acento Advertising and landlord Douglas Emmett at 2001 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica. Roger Beck and Gelena Skya-Wasserman of Charles Dunn represented the seller in the Brentwood sale and the tenant in the Santa Monica lease agreement.
The sale of 11859 Wilshire Blvd., which had been occupied as the corporate headquarters for owner communications company PCS, represents the largest office sale for both square footage and dollar value in the Brentwood submarket this year. The buyer—Culver City, CA-based WLA Wilshire LLC, which was represented by Andrew Jennison of Industry Partners—will utilize the building to function as the corporate headquarters of ICDC, a Southern California-based technical school. PCS has relocated to Texas and no longer needs the building for office space.
“PCS, which had been occupying the building for the last 15 years or so, had sold the company to a larger out-of-state company and moved the operations out of state,” Beck tells GlobeSt.com. “They had been leasing out different portions of the building to a variety of tenants—law firms and consulting firms—and now have about 15% to 20% vacancy in the building, which is what ICDC will be moving into. As leases expire, they will grow into other areas of the building.”
The lease at 2001 Wilshire Blvd. is a seven-year agreement valued at $4.36 million. Acento, a Hispanic advertising agency, will relocate and expand into the space in March 2013. The firm currently has 60 employees and plans to double its staff once settled into its new location.
“Acento had been looking to expand for about a year and a half, but they wanted the right space,” Beck tells GlobeSt.com. “This was the only full floor available in Santa Monica, and it has great 360-degree perimeter views. It was formerly occupied by a Japanese ad agency up until this month, and it's really creative, interesting space ready for an ad agency—they just needed to customize it themselves.”
Beck adds that office-market rents along Wilshire Blvd. have come down low enough that landlords have become competitive, which has generated a significant amount of activity over the last couple of years. This factor, combined with more technology-related businesses moving into West L.A.—particularly Santa Monica—has created reasonable absorption over the last year and a half. He says that there have been approximately eight to 10 sales transactions in this office market over the last 18 months, mostly of mid-sized multitenant office buildings for investment deals.
As GlobeSt.com reported last week, Charles Dunn represented local buyer Hillstreet Realty LLC in the purchase of a 25-unit multifamily property at 1251 N. Crescent Heights Blvd. in West Hollywood, CA, to BG Apartments LLC for $5.4 million. Hamid Soroudi represented the seller while Kimberly Roberts Stepp, both from Charles Dunn Co., represented the buyer. The sale closed at a 4.9 % cap rate.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
