Los Angeles briefs

Oracle spends big in Santa Monica

The cloud computing firm Oracle, founded by Larry Ellison, is in contract to pay Invesco $368 million, or $1,165 per square foot, for an office building in Santa Monica, The Real Deal has learned.

When it closes, it will be the priciest-ever per-square-foot deal in Santa Monica’s booming office market.

Oracle will move into the building at 2700 Colorado Boulevard, taking north of 100,000 square feet, sources said. The 316,000-square-foot, five-story building is anchored by Lions Gate Entertainment, which occupies about 159,000 square feet, according to CoStar data.

Sources said the entertainment company, which is itself looking for more Santa Monica office space since acquiring the cable network Starz, received notice of the building’s new ownership.

Oracle also just signed a lease expansion at Santa Monica’s Water Garden, increasing its space to 175,000 square feet from 90,000 square feet. It will occupy both that building and 2700 Colorado, sources said.

Source: Twinkies heir bids on $135M Trousdale Estates compound

Twinkies heir Evan Metropoulos, brother of Playboy mansion owner Daren Metropoulos, is said to have made a lowball offer for a Trousdale Estates compound owned by controversial Lebanese-Nigerian business mogul Gilbert Chagoury, according to a source with knowledge of the dealings.

Metropoulos offered to pay just over $60 million for the 2.5-acre, eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom estate at 1187 North Hillcrest Road, a far cry from its $135 million asking price, the source said. Trousdale Estates is one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Beverly Hills.

Chagoury, a billionaire, has donated more than $1 million to the Clinton Foundation. But his standing in the country is problematic: He was refused a visa last year on terrorism-related grounds. In August, the L.A. Times cited reports alleging he may have facilitated fundraising for Hezbollah. Chagoury has since filed suit against various federal agencies over his visa denial.

1187 North Hillcrest Road;

It wasn’t exactly clear what Chagoury’s immigration situation might mean for a prospective real estate deal. His broker, Aaron Kirman of the John Aaroe Group, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Metropoulos. Chagoury could not be reached.

Metropoulos has a reputation for being blustery and ostentatious. He was featured on MTV’s “True Life: I’m the Youngest Tycoon in the World” back in 2000, and in 2004, he was quoted in The New York Times as saying, “I’ve been with more chicks than any fat guy you know, except Pavarotti.”

His brother, Daren Metropoulos, made headlines earlier this year for snagging Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion for $100 million.

Wanda strikes Beverly Hills deal

Some cities pay developers through incentives to come build. But in Beverly Hills, where the streets are paved in Tiffany’s gold, a developer is shelling out megabucks to the city. There, a project that agreed to pay $60 million has come one step closer to the finish line.

The Beverly Hills City Council voted last month to prepare a resolution on Wanda Properties’ One Beverly Hills project. If the project is officially approved, the developers — the Beverly Hills subsidiary of China’s Wanda Group and partner Athens Group — would pay the city a whopping $60 million upfront to construct a combination of 193 residential units and 134 guest rooms at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards.

The record-breaking agreement was negotiated by Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch, Beverly Hills City Council member Lili Bosse and Century City-based law firm Greenberg Glusker. The initial payout, termed a “Public Benefit Contribution,” is twice the $30 million attached to the development that was planned on the site in 2008, when it was known as 9900 Wilshire.