Beverly Hills investors fork over $55M for Pasadena office building

GWP Real Estate was the chief buyer behind a $55 million Pasadena office deal last month, the Beverly Hills firm’s latest investment in the area.

GWP scooped up an 85 percent stake in the 167,000-square foot-building at 199 S. Los Robles Ave. on a quiet stretch of commercial buildings on Pasadena’s south side, acquiring it from Laurus Corporation, a Century City-based property investor.

The sale closed Feb. 10 and was brokered by CBRE’s Mike Longo. The deal penciled out to about $346 per square foot.

The deal comes five years after Laurus bought the 1983-built property for close to the same price, $52.5 million. In the past five years, the property has seen an exodus of tenants including Pacific Premier Bank, and there have been questions about the building’s management.

David Pashaie, a managing partner at GWP, said in an interview that his company inherits a property with about 70 percent occupancy and tenants including Kaiser Permanente, Spokeo, Synopsys, and Everest Properties.

Pashaie said the property’s value could improve if properly managed, particularly in a promising Pasadena office market. The GWP executive said his firm will implement amenities such as a tenant lounge, a fitness center and a renovated courtyard.

The deal’s minority investors include Magna Capital Group, a Beverly Hills Company.

GWP, which stands for Golden West Properties, made headlines two years ago when it teamed up with Starpoint Properties to acquire the Adidas and Burn Fitness building at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica for $30.3 million.

The Beverly Hills outfit also owns the Santa Monica Medical Plaza near the tourist-heavy promenade as well as shopping plazas in Beverly Hills, Marina del Rey, Encino and West Hollywood.

GWP’s Pasadena holdings include a 143,000-square-foot office tower at the intersection of Los Robles Avenue and El Dorado Street, according to the company’s website.