Archstone adds to units on Westside
Colorado apartment landlord Archstone broadened its Southern California empire this month by spending more than $100 million on seaside properties in Venice and Marina del Rey.
Archstone, which operates upscale apartments in coastal markets, bought the Frank, a 70-unit complex on Rose Avenue in Venice, for $56.2 million. It also purchased the Bay Club, which has 205 units -- and 207 boat slips -- on Tahiti Way in Marina del Rey for $43.95 million.
The Frank, which was renamed Archstone Venice on Rose, is a complex completed this year by the seller, Portland, Ore., developer Gerding Edlen Development Inc.
Los Angeles landlord Decron Properties Corp. sold the Bay Club, which has been renamed Archstone Marina del Rey. The Bay Club was built in the 1960s. Decron bought the property in 2005 and spent $20 million on renovations, said real estate broker Greg Harris of Marcus & Millichap’s Institutional Property Advisors.
Decron also extended the property’s land lease with Los Angeles County to 30 years and secured government approval for planned upgrades to the apartments and common areas, Harris said.
Archstone now has more than two dozen apartment complexes in the Los Angeles area, including four in Marina del Rey that have a total of 1,649 units.
Riverside Plaza mall is purchased
Outdoor mall Riverside Plaza was sold for nearly $85 million to shopping center landlord Vestar, which plans to upgrade the property and bring in some new tenants.
Vestar and financial partner UBS Global Asset Management bought the 475,000-square-foot retail center from Westminster Funds, an Illinois real estate investment advisor. The mall is anchored by Vons, Trader Joe’s, CVS Pharmacy and Regal Cinemas.
Vestar will spend $10 million on improvements to the mall, which lies near the 91 Freeway in Riverside, President Rick Kuhle said. The changes by the Phoenix company are intended to improve pedestrian areas with such additions as fountains, seating and landscaping.
Work is set to begin in February and be completed a year from now, he said. New tenants should include two large clothing retailers and additional restaurants.
Improving economic conditions in the Inland Empire were not the only factor in Vestar’s decision to buy and improve the mall, Kuhle said.
“The market is turning, in our opinion, but even if it wasn’t we would probably still do it,” he said. “Sales there will only increase because of what we’re doing.”
Beverly Hills building sold
A Beverly Hills office building popular with entertainment industry tenants has been sold for $80 million to New York real estate investment manager Clarion Partners. The property at 100 N. Crescent Drive is home to record industry giant Concord Music Group, movie maker Village Roadshow Pictures and RealD Inc., the leading supplier of 3-D technology to cinemas.
The 120,000-square-foot, four-story building at Crescent and Wilshire Boulevard is one of the first fully occupied offices to be sold in Beverly Hills since the economic downturn. Most other large office sales in recent years have involved troubled or vacant properties, real estate broker Drew Hild of Highmark Advisors Inc. said.
“There is no play here -- this is not a flip,” said Hild, who helped broker the deal. “This is the first trade of a fully occupied building since the recession.”
The seller of the building was Clarity Partners, a private equity firm based in the building. Clarity bought the property in 2000 for about $37 million.
Project begins in Hollywood
Civic leaders gathered last week to commemorate the beginning of construction on BLVD 6200, a long-anticipated $500-million apartment and retail complex in Hollywood.
Work is underway at 6201 Hollywood Blvd. on former parking lots next to the Pantages Theater, where more than 500 apartments are being built in four buildings. The complex will have 74,000 square feet of retail space for shops and restaurants, and underground parking for 1,300 cars.
BLVD 6200, which was planned in the mid-2000s, is being developed by DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners and Clarett West Development. The first phase now under construction should be completed by the end of 2014. A second phase with 500 more residences is slated to be built on parking lots across Hollywood Boulevard at a later date.
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