TA Realty buying Northrop Grumman-occupied El Segundo tower

An office tower poised for a reposition has a new owner.

TA Realty has paid $138.5 million to acquire a 340,000-square-foot El Segundo office that Northrop Grumman now occupies. Newmark Knight Frank announced the deal.

Grumman, the aerospace giant, moves out by the end of the month, paving the way for the Boston-based asset manager to undertake a complete renovation. It will be the second for the nearly 50-year-old building

The seller is Vereit, a Phoenix-based commercial real estate firm. Vereit had acquired the property for $98 million in 2014, property records show.

Named 101 Continental after its address, the 16-story building had been marketed as a redevelopment opportunity. It was originally built in 1972 by then-Continental Airlines, and later renovated in 2008.

Grumman, a leading aerospace and defense company, has been leasing the building since that overhaul. Grumman’s houses its administrative and engineering operations there.

Kevin Shannon, Ken White, Rob Hannan, Laura Stumm and Michael Moll of Newmark represented Vereit in the most recent deal. TA Realty was represented in-house.

Opportunities to acquire and repurpose aging buildings have been popping up in El Segundo recently, as major aerospace companies vacate their long-term leases. Earlier this year, the owner of a Boeing-leased office complex nearby put its 200,000-square-foot property on the market for $50 million. Boeing is moving out once its lease expires at the end of the year.

The South Bay city has also been attracting new media and entertainment companies, thanks to corporate tax break and lower rents.