South Korean game developer buys DTLA’s Pettebone for $22M

RYDA Ventures converted aging office building for creative office tenants with ground-floor retail

NHN Entertainment CEO Ujin Chung and RYDA Ventures principals Daniel and Ryan Neman
NHN Entertainment CEO Ujin Chung and RYDA Ventures principals Daniel and Ryan Neman

NHN Global, a South Korean video game developer, is the new owner of the Pettebone Building in Downtown L.A. Historic Cultural Monument that recently underwent a creative office conversion.

The gamer purchased the 43,030-square-foot building at 510 S. Broadway for $22 million, or $511 per square foot, from developer RYDA Ventures. The deal closed on Dec. 24. Cushman and Wakefield’s Andrew Tashjian and Michael Gooch repped RYDA on the sale, while Carle Pierose of Industry Partners represented NHN.

RDYA purchased the 104-year-old building in 2015 for $7.1 million. It then gutted it, exposing brick and adding new elevators, internet infrastructure, and a 3,000-square-foot roof deck. The building has two ground-floor retail tenants — Mexican restaurant Mezcalero and Japanese food restaurant YAKIDO.

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The Pettebone Building was built around the turn of the century by developer O.T. Johnson and designed by architect Robert B. Young. Its namesake owner, the Pettebone Company, was a street lamp manufacturer that supplied many of the lights in Downtown L.A.

RYDA is headed by Ryan and Daniel Neman, who are members of the family that own Downtown fabric supplier Neman Brothers & Associates. The firm owns and is currently renovating the 40,700-square-foot building at 820 E. 3rd Street in the Arts District. The firm also owns a retail strip in Silver Lake.

NHN Global is owned by NHN Entertainment and has an office in Koreatown. The company develops and distributes video games, mostly on mobile platforms. NHN Entertainment owns the popular online game portal Hangame.