CULVER CITY, CA–A 30,000-square-foot industrial building set on 2.2 acres here will be converted into creative office space as part of a joint venture deal between two Los Angeles real estate firms. Industry LTD and Saber Realty Advisors have teamed to purchase 5900 Blackwelder St. from owner/user Burke Williams Spa for $8 million in a cash deal that includes assuming an existing Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities loan. The amount of the loan outstanding was not immediately available.
Current tenant Burke Williams Spa was using the building as a corporate headquarters, but plans to move to another building. The property is located adjacent to a 6.4-acre creative-office and media campus, also named Blackwelder.
John Bertram, partner with Saber Realty Advisors, tells GlobeSt.com that Industry Ltd. is a minority partner on the deal. “(They) originally brought the deal to us,” Bertram says. “They're good at marketing creative buildings. We're the majority, 2/3 partner.”
The partnership plans a capital improvement program for the 1980s industrial building to add 10,000 square feet of mezzanine space, polished concrete floors, outdoor meeting and public gathering space. Industry Partners will handle the leasing for the building. Bertram says the plan is spend “$50 to $75 per square foot” and ask for lease prices “between $2.85 to $3 triple net.”
The purchase marks yet another property created outside the traditional creative hub of adjacent Santa Monica, a beach community that is home to a large number of entertainment, advertising and Internet businesses. Creative Westside Market Report, published by creative office brokerage firm Industry Partners, pegged the average price per square foot in Santa Monica at $4.01, compared to Culver City's $2.58 per square foot.
The report noted that six significant transactions/leases were instituted in the fourth quarter of 2012 in Culver City, compared to just one in the previous three quarters.
“(Culver City's) really hot right now,” Bertram tells GlobeSt.com. “Traffic going east from Santa Monica in the afternoon after 2 p.m. is a nightmare now. “That's part of it. There's also a lot of creative users that live in the area. It builds on itself.”
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© 2025 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.
