Los Angeles County’s top 10 commercial sales in January

Office property accounted for a bulk of the $753M total

Waters Edge Campus in Playa Vista with Tyson Skillings of Rockwood (Credit: Rockwood Capital, Waters Edge)
Waters Edge Campus in Playa Vista with Tyson Skillings of Rockwood (Credit: Rockwood Capital, Waters Edge)

UPDATED, 2:00 p.m., February 15; and 11:25 a.m., Feb. 23: The top 10 commercial sales deals in Los Angeles County in January totaled $730 million, according to figures compiled by Real Capital Analytics and public records. That’s down from $804 million in December.

The bulk of the January sales consisted of office properties.

National players such as Rockwood Capital, Blackstone Group and Clarion Partners bought into the L.A. market, while local firms such as Magellan Group and Beverly Union Company unloaded their properties.

Below is the list of top 10 investment sales, by property and firm, that closed in January in L.A. County:

1. Waters Edge – Rockwood Capital | $190 million

New York-based Rockwood Capital led the pack last month with its $190 million purchase of Waters Edge, a 260,000-square-foot office campus at 5510 Jefferson Boulevard in Playa Vista. The sellers were DivcoWest and Maguire Partners, which formed a joint venture in 2014 after Maguire had developed the two buildings. Rockwood, which has an office in Century City, also purchased rights to develop a third building that is already part of the master plan.

2. Union Bank building – CIM Group | $132 million

Private equity firm CIM Group took the second spot on the list with its acquisition of the Union Bank of California building in Beverly Hills. The firm paid $132 million to Beverly Union Company for the six-story, 97,000-square-foot property at 9460 Wilshire Boulevard in the Golden Triangle. The Beverly Union Company had owned the property, which is 91 percent leased, since 1978. CIM Group owns and operates $25.7 billion of real estate assets.

3. 888 E. Walnut St. – ACCO Engineered Systems | $112 million

ACCO Engineered Systems, a mechanical contracting company and anomaly on the list, paid $112 million for a 235,000-square-foot building at 888 E. Walnut Street in Pasadena. The firm, which offers plumbing and electrical services, bought the building from JP Morgan Asset Management. It’s in the process of moving its headquarters from Glendale to a 130,000-square-foot space at the former OneWest Bank headquarters.

4. Randolph Business Center – Liberty Property Trust | $92.7 million

Pennsylvania-based Liberty Property Trust purchased the Randolph Business Center at 5959 Randolph Street in Commerce for $92.7 million. The firm paid CalPERS and Bentall Kennedy for the 400,170-square-foot property, which had owned it since January 2014. It’s currently fully leased to logistics company OnTrac. Liberty’s Southern California portfolio includes 3.7 million square feet.

5. 202 North Nash Street – 202 Nash LLC | $43 million

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This industrial warehouse in El Segundo was acquired by 202 Nash LLC, which is directly connected to billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong. Local apparel manufacturer Dynasty Footwear sold the property. Corporate registration documents show the 202 Nash LLC is controlled by two individuals, Charles Kenworthy and Steve Hassan. Kenworthy is executive vice president of corporate strategy at NantWorks, the biotechnology company that physician Soon-Shiong founded.

 

6. Commerce Business Center – Blackstone | $42 million

Blackstone Group paid Magellan Group $42 million for the Commerce Business Center, a 200,400-square-foot industrial building,at 6000 S. Eastern Avenue in Commerce. The site was formerly home to a Kroger’s distribution facility. Blackstone has $434 billion of assets under management, including the $1.1 billion Grand Wailea resort in Maui.

7. 5415 E. Olympic – Westport Properties | $35.5 million

Magellan Group stayed busy in January, selling another property to Westport Properties. The firm, which manages self-storage properties under the brand US Storage Centers, paid $35.5 million to acquire a 144,000-square-foot building at 5415 E. Olympic Boulevard in Commerce. The Irvine-based Magellan operates over 120 facilities, or 6 million square feet of rentable storage space in 15 states.

8. 11859 Wilshire Boulevard – Bahram Nour-Amid | $28.5 million

Bahram Nour-Amid, under the entity EEFNW LLC on behalf of Fuel Cycle, paid $28.5 million for a 48,200-square-foot building at 11859 Wilshire Boulevard in Brentwood. Nour-Amid is the chief executive of Fuel Cycle, a market research platform that offers analytics, advertising and product development to businesses. The seller was International Career Development Center, according to property records. Bahram Nour-Amid could not be reached.

9. 8912-8914, 8919-8921 Lindblade St. – Clarion Partners | $28 million

New York-based Clarion Partners paid Runyon Group $28 million to acquire an industrial building at 8919-8921 Lindblade Street and a parking lot across the street at 8912-8914 Lindblade Street.

10. Towne Centre – Positive Investments | $26 million

Rounding out the list was Positive Investments’ $26 million purchase of the Towne Centre Office Building at 150 N. Santa Anita Avenue in Arcadia. The 83,250-square-foot building is 97 percent leased, with Bank of America as its anchor tenant. John Farazian sold the building under his family trust.

Correction: An earlier version of this article provided an incorrect address for Clarion Partners’ $28 million purchase of a property belonging to Runyon Group.

Correction: An earlier version of this story also incorrectly stated the West Covina Village Community Shopping Center in West Covina had been sold. It has not.