LOS ANGELES — Astani Enterprises has completed construction on the 218-unit Wilshire Valencia apartment community in Los Angeles. The community is located at 1515 Wilshire Blvd. The project contains a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units, including a few affordable units. It also features 4,000 square feet of retail spaces suitable for restaurants and shopping along Wilshire. KFA designed Wilshire Valencia.
ONTARIO, CALIF. — MGR Services has acquired Empire Towers I through IV, a four-building, 400,976-square-foot office campus in Ontario, for $78.5 million. The Class A campus is located at 3633 and 4141 Inland Empire Blvd. and 3800 and 4200 Concours St. The property is 88 percent leased to Liberty Mutual, Wells Fargo, City National Bank, Merrill Lynch and Allstate, among others. The property was built between 1991 and 2005. The common areas underwent a renovation between 2014 and 2016. David Milestone and Brett Green of NGKF Capital Markets secured acquisition financing on behalf of MGR Services, which represented itself in the transaction. The firm’s Kevin Shannon, Ken White, Michael Moore and Brunson Howard represented the seller, a joint venture between CIP Real Estate and Guggenheim Partners.
LOS ANGELES — CityView has sold the 204-unit Solimar apartment community in Los Angeles to a private investor for $75 million. The community is located at 1500 W. Pacific Coast Highway. Solimar sits adjacent to the Harbor Park Municipal Golf Course and the Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, where a $90 million renovation is nearing completion. It is the final property from CityView Los Angeles Fund I, which built or renovated more than 2,500 housing units in 21 projects throughout the greater Los Angeles area.
ONTARIO, CALIF. — Nellson LLC has leased a 302,080-square-foot industrial/R&D facility in Ontario. The space is located at 1000 S. Etiwanda Ave. The full-service bar and powder nutrition provider is relocating from its campus in Irwindale. Nellson plans to build out a lab to support corporate research and development efforts, commercial scale-up and testing of customer formulations. The firm will invest approximately $40 million to $50 million in the Ontario facility. The lease transaction was valued at $30 million. Frank Geraci of Voit’s Inland Empire office represented both the renter and the landlord, IDI Gazeley, in this lease transaction.
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. — Natixis has provided a $232.5 million loan for the acquisition of Crossroads III, a 349,758-square-foot office property in Sunnyvale that is fully leased to Apple. The complex is located at 410, 420 and 430 N. Mary Ave. in the Silicon Valley submarket. Tristar Capital acquired the campus. The property was built between 1990 and 1992. Each building features two wings around one central core. There are also two courtyards with fountains between the buildings. The Santa Clara Light Rail station is situated approximately a half mile north of Crossroads III. The property also sits adjacent to the Technology Corners development along West Moffett Place Drive. Richard Horowitz of Cooper-Horowitz arranged the finance. David Edelstein heads Tristar Capital. — Nellie Day
LOS ANGELES — Robhana Group and Inception Property Group have broken ground on the first phase of a new healthcare campus in downtown Los Angeles. Phase I will include a 60,000-square-foot outpatient medical office building situated at Washington Boulevard and Hoover Street at the I-110/I-10 freeway intersection. HealthCare Partners, a DaVita Medical Group has already leased the new building. It will be used for primary and urgent care services. This project marks the first of several phases of healthcare investment and development in the area, establishing the Pico-Union neighborhood as a new healthcare hub in the Downtown West Area. Oltmans Construction Co. is building the project, which Ware Malcomb designed. The next phase, City West Medical, will include a 48,000-square-foot, healthcare-related project and subterranean parking.
LOS ANGELES — Nativo has leased 25,051 square feet of office space at Pacific Corporate Towers (PCT) in the Los Angeles submarket of El Segundo. The building is located at 100, 200 and 222 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Nativo will relocate from 9,000 square feet in the 200 building to PCT’s 100 building for its new corporate headquarters. JLL’s Jason Fine represented Nativo in the lease. CBRE represented the landlord, GM Pension Fund / Blackrock.
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. — Sterling Organization has received $12.1 million in financing for the acquisition of a vacant 4,700-square-foot retail building located on North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Marc Schillinger, Chris Drew and Ryan Ash of HFF worked on behalf of the borrower to place the non-recourse, fixed-rate loan at $2,583 per-square-foot.
SAN DIEGO — LevitZacks, a public accounting firm, has leased a 14,424-square-foot office space in downtown San Diego. The new space is in 450 B Tower, which is located at 450 B St. The firm will relocate from nearby 701 B St. LevitZacks was looking to upgrade its headquarters, while creating a more efficient floor plan and reducing its real estate costs. JLL’s Joe Bernstein and Bill Fleck represented LevitZacks in the lease. The firm’s Julie Kilpatrick will oversee the build-out for LevitZacks. CBRE represented the landlord, Bollert/LeBeau Inc.
Expect the Orange County retail landscape to be characterized by continued strong fundamentals and high transaction volumes in 2017. The area remains among the most stable markets nationally—attractive to both high-end and affordable retailers thanks to its high median income and population growth. However, a bit of volatility would be welcomed in the coming year to generate leasing opportunities and enhance rental rate growth. Significant store closings, including a selection of Walmarts, Macy’s, Staples and Sears, in addition to Sports Authority and Sports Chalet locations, affected many of our regional malls and shopping centers in 2016. As a result, we will continue to see more space absorbed rather than closed or constructed in the coming year. This type of instability breeds opportunity. From grocers to soft goods to restaurateurs, traditional and non-traditional retailers remain motivated to identify what works best across Southern California. Retailers who have been working to right-size and reconfigure their traditional formats will catch everyone’s attention in 2017. Target recently announced the opening of a flex-format concept with plans for a 41,000-square-foot store in Orange in the fall. Burlington Coat Factory has been evaluating a smaller footprint, while 365 by Whole Foods will soon enter the Orange …
