A creative office campus in Marina Del Rey received $80 million in refinancing from Goldman Sachs. 

Continental Development and Mar Ventures, owners of the Del Rey Campus property, secured an $80 million first mortgage loan from Goldman Sachs, Commercial Observer reported. Goldman Sachs’ five-year, fixed-rate, interest-only loan refinances the development’s construction loan. 

The 162,031-square-foot complex spans three buildings and was completed roughly six years ago. The World Surf League has its headquarters at the Del Rey Campus, and video game giant Electronic Arts also has an outpost at the property at 4800 Alla Road. Centrl Office, a Portland, Oregon-based co-working operator, also has a location here. 

Del Rey Campus offers tenants both full-floor and multi-tenant buildouts across all three buildings. In addition to offices, the property also houses a cafe, a fitness center with men’s and women’s locker rooms as well as secured bicycle and surfboard storage areas.

Sonnenblick-Eichner arranged the financing, which principal David Sonnenblick said is “indicative of the availability in today’s market of fixed-rate capital for institutional-quality office buildings,” according to Commercial Observer. 

In the fourth quarter, the Westside of Los Angeles led the region with the most office leasing activity in Greater L.A. The area accounted for more than 27 percent of total leases, according to CBRE’s fourth-quarter report. The submarket notched a 22.6 percent vacancy rate, outdoing most other submarkets in the region, especially downtown Los Angeles. 

On the other side of Los Angeles International Airport from Marina Del Rey, El Segundo is emerging as a preferred destination for office tenants looking for space. 

Media marketing agency Canvas Worldwide, for example, is relocating its headquarters from Playa Vista to El Segundo, expanding the agency’s office space by 48 percent, from 36,000 square feet to 68,300 square feet. Last summer, food robotics startup Shinkei Systems agreed to double its headquarters space in the Westside city with a 15,000-square-foot lease at the Standard Works industrial campus. KPMG leased 50,000 square feet at the Plaza at Continental Park office complex at 2101 Rosecrans Avenue as part of its office shakeup last month.— Chris Malone Méndez

Read more

El Segundo offers second choice for Westside office tenants

Surfs up for Goldman Sachs, Peachtree Group on SoCal hotel refis

Developers nab $63M refi on Marina Del Rey live-work complex

Changes are afoot in coastal Orange County, with The Agency making big moves for its Corona del Mar office to kick off the year.

The Mauricio Umansky-led brokerage said it brought on luxury O.C. veteran John Stanaland and his six-person team from Douglas Elliman to The Agency’s Corona del Mar office. Meanwhile, Craig Knizek will expand his duties to now include managing director of Corona del Mar, adding to his responsibilities as managing partner for The Agency’s Sherman Oaks, Studio City and Calabasas offices. The three San Fernando Valley offices alone generate $1.6 billion in sales annually, according to the brokerage.

With the latest additions, the office’s headcount rises to 55 agents.

“Orange County continues to be a cornerstone market for The Agency, and we’re seeing that momentum reflected in both the level of business coming through the office and the talent choosing to join us,” Umansky said in a statement to The Real Deal.

The moves are aimed at positioning the brokerage for “long-term impact in the region,” Umansky added.

Stanaland is a big get for the brokerage, with his team bringing more than 50 listings and decades of heritage doing business in coastal Orange County real estate.

The broker’s family ties in Laguna Beach real estate trace back to 1919 with his great-great-grandfather. Since that time, the family has touched everything from real estate sales and development to the legal and financial sides.

Stanaland said in a statement that The Agency embodies the principles of “honesty, integrity and never-yielding tenacity,” pushing him toward the change of scenery.

The broker associate, who counts more than $4.8 billion in career sales, was most recently with Elliman, where his group had been since 2023 when they made the move from Villa Real Estate.

At the top of Stanaland’s active listings is 32181 Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, which is asking $50 million, or $8,598 per square foot. The oceanfront estate is the priciest home on the market in Laguna Beach currently. There’s also 31091 Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, which is priced at $19.9 million, or $4,625 per square foot.

Stanaland’s group includes business partner Logan Montgomery, Zachary Balaban, Traci Landis and Luke Rogers, in addition to his son and “Selling the OC” cast member Tyler Stanaland.

Knizek, who has been with the brokerage since its 2011 founding, is the former producer of “Mad About You” and “The Simpsons” original associate producer, with two decades of experience in film and television before jumping into real estate. He replaced Mike Schwartz, who was leading the Corona del Mar office in an interim capacity, while also serving as regional senior vice president as The Agency searched for a permanent managing director.

Read more

Movers: Tyler Stanaland exits Oppenheim to return with family firm

Movers: John Stanaland joins Douglas Elliman, de la Garza joins Coldwell Banker, Oppenheim Group to open San Diego office

A slew of 8-figure luxury sales have Newport Beach sellers salivating

NAI Capital Commercial purchased a shopping center in Torrance in the largest retail sale of last year in the South Bay market. 

DJM Capital Group sold Village del Amo at 21201-21327 Hawthorne Boulevard for $108.5 million, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported. The 166,365-square-foot property is anchored by Korean grocer Hannam Chain with BevMo, Benihana and U.S. Bank as other tenants. 

Village del Amo was 92.3 percent leased at the time of sale, according to the Business Journal. The retail center saw 3.5 million visitors over the past year. 

Encino-based NAI has “seen a clear resurgence of interest from institutional capital targeting necessity-based retail,” David Shaby III, vice president of investment services in NAI’s South Bay office, said of the purchase, per the Business Journal. NAI will stay on in an advisory capacity “as the focus turns to attracting new high-quality credit tenants to address the remaining vacancies at the property,” said Stefan Neumann, also a vice president of the investment services group at NAI’s South Bay office.

Farther south in Orange County, several retail properties have traded hands over the past year. 

Last February, Blackstone picked up eight retail centers spanning 10.5 million square feet in the OC with the $4 billion acquisition of real estate investment trust Retail Opportunity Investment Corporation. In July, Regency Centers spent $357 million on five retail properties in Rancho Mission Viejo. The Jacksonville, Florida-based firm is the new owner of Bridgepark Plaza at 27702 Crown Valley Parkway; Mercantile West at 25636 Crown Valley Parkway; Mercantile East at 27502 Antonio Parkway; Terrace Shops at 1101 Corporate Drive; and Sendero Marketplace at 30721 Gateway Place. The five properties total nearly 630,000 square feet. 

The South Bay submarket is home to nearly 60 million square feet of retail space with a 6.9 percent vacancy rate in the third quarter, according to CBRE data cited by the Business Journal. The average in Orange County is 6.3 percent, though the South Bay bests markets including Downtown Los Angeles at 8.4 percent, the Westside at 9.1 percent and Hollywood and Wilshire at 8.9 percent.

The Village del Amo area could see a new multifamily development rise in the coming years. 

Last month, Vista Homes proposed building 449 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments at the site of a former Sports Authority and Sears Outlet store near Village del Amo at 3610 Torrance Boulevard.— Chris Malone Méndez

Read more

Santa Ana City Council signs off on Segerstroms’ mall redevelopment plan

Regency Centers scoops up five retail properties in Orange County for $357M

Blackstone gets 8 OC retail centers in REIT buy

Gantry secured a $27.8-million permanent loan to refinance the R3 by CLG apartment building located at 4091 Redwood Ave. in Marina del Rey. The 85-unit apartment building was originally delivered in 2016.

Principal Andy Bratt and associate Sean Kuang with Gantry’s Irvine production office secured the loan on behalf of the borrower. The five-year loan was ultimately secured through one of Gantry’s correspondent life company lenders. The non-recourse terms included full-term interest only, prepayment penalty flexibility, and provided significantly more proceeds than other capital sources by approaching the market in a creative way to accomplish Sponsorship’s goals.

Bratt said, “With an experienced sponsor at helm of a quality asset like R3, our team was able to survey this financing against life company, CMBS, bank, debt fund and agency options, ultimately identifying a financing that met a weighted average capital cost goal to support both asset management and legacy investment plans.”

A joint venture of Harbor Associates, LLC and F&F Capital Group has acquired Highlands Corporate Center, a Class A 211,000-square-foot, five-building multi-tenant office campus in San Diego. Deal terms were not disclosed. 

Located at 1270-1278 High Bluff Dr. in Del Mar Heights, 20 miles north of downtown San Diego, the approximately 90% leased campus was extensively renovated over the past several years. Leasing activity can be attributed to, among other things, its location across the street from One Paseo, the 23-acre mixed-use retail, residential and office development.

“Office performance today is bifurcated with the best locations and buildings seeing strong tenant demand and Highlands is a perfect example,” said Harbor principal Rich McEvoy. “The project’s walkable location to more than 40 restaurants at One Paseo is a game changer and one of the reasons that 150,000 square feet of leasing activity has occurred over the past three years.”

Eastdil Secured’s Adam Edwards, Justin Shepherd and Bailey Bland advised the seller.

Del Ray Realty secured a $3,000,000 construction loan for a two-unit single-family development project at 1943-1945 Pinehurst Rd. in Los Angeles, with each unit comprising approximately 5,000 square feet. The lender was US Bank.

Founder Ray Rowshankhah of Del Ray said the uniqueness of the deal terms lies in the fact that the developer, Apex Standard LLC, had already initiated construction, facing challenges in securing financing due to the project’s mid-process status. Despite this, Del Ray Realty utilized its network of lenders to secure a competitive loan at a rate of 6.35% for the ongoing construction project.

“This success underscores the continued willingness of certain lenders to finance projects deemed worthy, emphasizing the importance of presenting a compelling case for the viability and potential of the development,” said Rowshankhah. “In such a climate, lenders are still actively seeking out opportunities to fund projects that demonstrate strong potential for success, even amidst challenging market conditions.”

TPG Real Estate Capital has unloaded a 2.3-acre multifamily development site in Playa del Rey, just a few months after foreclosing on the property.

Kajima USA, the U.S. arm of Tokyo-based construction firm, bought the site and 176-unit complex at 6733 South Sepulveda Boulevard for $56 million, according to property records filed with L.A. County in December.

The sale price comes to about $320,000 per unit, although it’s unclear how much work remains to get the project ready for occupancy.

TPG foreclosed on the property in October through a $29.9 million partial credit bid, meaning TPG could acquire the assets by relieving part of the debt, without paying actual cash. 

The sale to Kajima still came at a loss for TPG. 

The Texas-based investment firm had handed out a $97 million loan to Sandstone Properties in 2022, records show. 

Sandstone then defaulted last year, owing nearly $80 million under the loan and failed to make monthly debt payments in December 2021 and January and February of 2022, according to notices of default filed with the county. 

Sandstone had planned to build 176 units on the site, called Silicon Beach Live. Reports said the project’s shell was completed last April, though default notices state that the developer failed to meet certain completion deadlines for the project. 

It’s unclear whether Kajima will complete the process of finishing the site. The firm, which did not respond to a request for comment, has been planning residential projects across the U.S. for the last eight years, including condo developments in Florida and industrial sites in Texas.

As part of the sale to Kajima, TPG was on the hook for $3.3 million in transfer taxes, given the property is located in the city of L.A. and subject to a 5.5 percent tax. 

Notwithstanding a volatile commercial lending market, particularly relating to office buildings, Del Ray Realty founder Ray Rowshankhah secured a favorable loan structure at 85% LTV for the acquisition of 501 S. Beverly, a three-story office property in Beverly Hills. The sale price was $21.3 million.

Rowshankhah said the majority of 501 S. Beverly will be converted to a Class A medical office & surgery center which will be 51% operated by Dr. Barrett Plastic Surgery, PC, which is opening a second location. Additionally, the new ownership will maintain 49% of the building as tenant occupied, generating strong cash flow and an upside in rents.

Del Ray Realty secured SBA 504 financing of $18.1 million for the acquisition. Built in 1991, the 23,112-square-foot property was renovated in 2021.

LaTerra Development has moved forward with plans to build 230 apartments in Del Rey.

The Century City-based developer cleared a hurdle after Los Angeles adopted the findings of a sustainable communities environmental assessment for its six-story complex at 4112 South Del Rey Avenue, near Culver City, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. LaTerra would bulldoze a single-story office building to clear space for the project.

Plans call for 210 one, two- and three-bedroom apartments next to a five-story, 282-car garage. Del Rey is a neighborhood in Los Angeles bordered on three sides by Culver City.

The developer seeks density bonus incentives to build a larger building than zoning rules allow in exchange for 18 affordable apartments for very low-income households.

The California Coastal modern-style complex, designed by Downtown-based TCA Architects, would be clad in white, beige and Cape Cod blue, with some units containing floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies, according to a rendering. 

The apartments would include a courtyard, a gym and a rooftop pool.

Pending approvals, construction could begin in September and finish by August 2026.

LaTerra bought three creative office buildings once used for manufacturing, including the one at 4112 South Del Rey, in June last year for $37 million, or $1,104 per square foot.

LaTerra is the latest developer aiming to redevelop the industrial blocks east of Lincoln Boulevard in Del Rey. 

California Landmark Group has already built numerous projects in the area, such as the recently completed G8 and C1 apartments, according to Urbanize. A 123,000-square-foot commercial campus is now under construction one block to the east on Glencoe Avenue.

LaTerra, known for building apartment and mixed-use complexes across L.A., filed plans last year for three self-storage facilities in North Hollywood, Van Nuys and Mar Vista. In Burbank, the company had a 573-unit apartment complex in development with joint venture partner QuadReal Property Group, and another mixed-use property with 862 apartments.

— Dana Bartholomew

Read more