Northrop Sells 2 Los Angeles Buildings, Anaheim Plant

Northrop Corp. said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell two Century City office buildings, including its corporate headquarters, and a 53-acre defense plant complex in Anaheim for more than $250 million.

The aerospace giant said it would use the sale’s proceeds to pay part of its $1.2-billion debt. Like other defense contractors, Northrop has felt the pinch from cutbacks in federal defense spending.

The office buildings are being bought by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, a Sacramento-based pension fund that has lately bought several major buildings in Southern California. Northrop will continue to lease space in its headquarters building.

Taiyo Development U.S.A. of Torrance, a subsidiary of Taiyo Real Estate Co., one of Japan’s largest builders, is buying the Anaheim property, which consists of 10 factory and office buildings. The facility, which Northrop last year said it would shutter, was Orange County’s first aerospace plant when constructed in 1951.

Taiyo declined to say what it plans for the land. But real estate brokers suggest Taiyo would need to tear down the plants and construct retail stores in their place in order to make a profit. The brokers estimate Taiyo spent about $45 million for the Anaheim property.

That suggests the two office buildings and 2.9 acres in West Los Angeles’ ritzy Century City area sold for more than $200 million, which brokers said was also a high price. Neither Northrop nor the buyers would disclose individual prices for the properties.