Atlas Capital buys Torrance flex office campus

After focusing its efforts in recent months on residential towers and studio complexes, Atlas Capital is trying its hand at another asset class, buying a flex office campus in Torrance.

The New York-based firm bought a 94,000-square-foot property at 19401 South Vermont Avenue for $39.8 million, according to public property records filed with Los Angeles County. Atlas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A limited liability company called Harbor Gateway, linked to Donald Lam in West Covina, sold the property.

The roughly five-acre property is currently made up of 12 office buildings. Part of the complex is leased to the L.A. County Department of Mental Health.

Built in 1978, the site is zoned for industrial uses, making it a prime opportunity for redevelopment into a warehouse or manufacturing facility. The property is also minutes from where the I-405 meets the I-110 freeway. It’s unclear whether Atlas plans to convert the property into industrial, or keep it as is.

A number of industrial developers in L.A. have started to look to older, more suburban office parks to convert into Class A industrial. However, it’s a lot easier if the property in question already has zoning rights that allows for industrial developments.

The firm isn’t a stranger to conversion projects. Last month, Atlas moved forward on a project to convert the 26-acre L.A. Times printing plant into 17 soundstages  and ancillary office space. Atlas bought that building for $240 million in 2019.

In New York, the company is planning to build a $1 billion  condo tower on a vacant 1.3-acre site off the West Side Highway.