Buyer revealed: Gabay brothers pick up Pasadena office portfolio for $80M

Singpoli Capital sells three-building, 242K sf complex

Mark and Arman Gabay with the Pasadena office (CBRE)
Mark and Arman Gabay with the Pasadena office (CBRE)

The Gabay brothers have purchased a trio of office properties in Pasadena for $80 million, The Real Deal has learned.

Developers Mark and Arman Gabay, who co-founded Charles Company, bought the 242,000-square-foot complex at 2 North Lake Ave. and East Colorado Blvd. from Singpoli Capital, records show. The Los Angeles Business Journal first reported the sale, but did not mention the buyer or the seller.

The brothers also secured a $56 million loan from East West Bank on the complex.

Singpoli, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm run by Kin Hui, bought the property for $51.95 million in 2009, records show. The firm could not be reached for comment.

The portfolio, which includes an 11-story office building, a three-story property and a one-story building built in 1900, was 63 percent leased at the time of sale, according to LABJ. The Gabay brothers are planning to make some renovations to the property.

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Many buyers have flocked to the Pasadena office market recently, including Charing Cross Partners, which picked up a 78,000-square-foot building for around $43 million earlier this month. In July, LPC West and Angelo Gordon purchased a 241,000-square-foot office campus for $72.5 million.

Charles Company has recently shifted around its portfolio, offloading a 247,000-square-foot office and industrial property in the San Gabriel Valley and trying to sell a trio of retail properties in Beverly Hills for $52 million.

The brothers are also planning to build a large residential and retail development in West Hollywood.

The Gabays’ recent moves come after Arman Gabay was arrested on federal charges in May 2018 for allegedly paying off an L.A. County employee in exchange for obtaining a $45 million county lease. He has denied all allegations and his trial is set to begin in May of next year.