Charter Centre Sold by Mola for $55 Million

Mola Development has sold the Charter Centre office tower in Huntington Beach for $55 million to Guardian Savings & Loan Assn.

Mola said it will move its corporate headquarters and its own thrift, Charter Savings Bank, to new quarters within the next four months.

Charter Savings Bank is now the largest tenant in the 14-story office tower that anchors Charter Centre. The 8-acre complex also includes a six-story parking garage, a five-screen movie theater, a health spa, two restaurants and a small complex of shops and offices, all of which are included in the deal.

The 3-year-old complex at 17011 Beach Blvd. had been for sale for several months, said Peter von Elten, Mola’s executive vice president.

“We built it with the intention of selling it down the road,” said Von Elten. “The sale fits in with our plans.”

Those plans include a new $300-million, 40-acre project on the former Beckman Instruments property in Irvine, where Mola is awaiting city permission to build two office towers totaling nearly half a million square feet and 1,350 apartments and condominiums.

Mola had considered asking about $5 million less for Charter Centre, Von Elten said.

But 93% of the office building’s space is leased, he said, and with vacancies rising in other office buildings, Mola decided to ask a higher price.

Many of the concessions granted to tenants when the building opened, such as free or reduced rent, are coming to an end, so the building will be producing more rents, Von Elten said.

Mola and Charter Savings Bank, meanwhile, are looking around the county for new quarters, and Von Elten said a location should be picked within the next few weeks.

Guardian is a 5-year-old thrift with $500 million in assets. It says it needs more room for expansion. The company will move its headquarters into Charter Centre from its own offices at 5200 Warner Ave. in Huntington Beach by the end of the year.