Rockwood Capital pays $66M for Santa Monica phone building

An affiliate of investment firm Rockwood Capital has paid $65.7 million for the 1930s-era Telephone Building in Santa Monica. Verizon maintains a condominium stake in the creative office property.

The seller, DivcoWest Real Estate Investments, had acquired the 58,000-square-foot building three years ago for $52 million.

The most recent sale pencils out to around $1,100 per square foot, compared to the roughly $900 per square foot DivcoWest paid. San Francisco-based DivcoWest, founded by Stuart Shiff, announced the deal. JLL’s Andrew Harper, Michael Leggett, Doug Bond and Matt McRoskey represented the seller.

DivcoWest undertook further improvements on the building, after Pacshore spent three years restoring, updating and seismically retrofitting it. Pacshore paid $19.5 million for the property in 2012, in partnership with Boston-based Alcion Ventures.

In 2018, DivcoWest secured landmark status for the six-story complex, which was constructed in the Art Deco style and the federal government used it after the Great Depression.

DivcoWest still has a strong presence in the Los Angeles area with high-profile properties that include 331 N. Maple Drive office complex in Beverly Hills — built by David Geffen — 1600 Vine apartment complex in Hollywood and the UTA Plaza office campus in Beverly Hills.