The debt on an office building in West Los Angeles’ Sawtelle Japantown neighborhood landed in special servicing after the borrower failed to pay it off at its January maturity date, according to Morningstar Credit.
The named loan sponsor is family-owned Jade Enterprises’ Albert Taban. The commercial mortgage-backed securities debt totaled $36.5 million when originated a decade ago but has a current balance of about $33 million via three loan pieces. The borrower reached out to lenders to pay the debt, according to recent servicer commentary, but indicated there could be a potential issue as a new loan would fall significantly short.
Jade’s latest Los Angeles time bomb at 1950 Sawtelle Boulevard is a three-story, 100,000-square-foot, red-brick building — and it has a vacancy problem. The property was only 43 percent occupied last summer. Its largest tenant, Butterfield Productions, reduced its space by 10 percent, to 32 percent of the gross leasable area, and another Kung Fu Factory left, leaving 14 percent of the space vacant, according to Morningstar. The borrower said it was in discussions with a tenant for a large portion of the vacant space, recent servicer commentary noted . The office building (that can be used for medical or some retail, per a recent JLL marketing brochure) was 94 percent occupied at underwriting, and it was part of a portfolio buy in 2016.
Jade purchased a five-office building portfolio including the Sawtelle property that totaled 350,000 square feet, from Blackstone for a reported $159 million then. The other offices were all on the Westside, in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Culver City. The Sawtelle office building hasn’t received a fresh appraisal since 2016, when it was worth $54 million, per Morningstar.
Downtown Los Angeles-based Jade Enterprises has seen its fair share of post-pandemic office distress. In 2024, it put a mostly vacant office tower in downtown Los Angeles on the market after purchasing it for $80 million and spending millions more on renovations. Last year, the investment and development company faced foreclosure on an office building in Pasadena after a $40 million debt default and an appraisal that slashed the property value in half.
Jade Enterprises and Taban did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read more
Commercial
Los Angeles
Pasadena office faces foreclosure after $40M default
Commercial
Los Angeles
Jade Enterprises buys West Los Angeles office portfolio for $159M