LA’s Top Leases Since COVID-19
By Larry Getlen September 21, 2020 8:30 am
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Los Angeles’ most significant lease of the quarter was downtown as the Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the country’s largest municipal utility, took 132,000 square feet at 233 South Beaudry Avenue.
The agency is paying $72.5 million for 10 years in the space, which Michael Delijani‘s Golden Hill Properties LLC owns. Delijani’s father, the late Ezat Delijani, was a real estate investor known for buying and saving several of L.A.’s historic theaters, including the Los Angeles Theater, the Palace Theater, the State Theater and the Tower Theater. The younger Delijani also bought L.A.’s Barclay Hotel in 2018.
LADWP has an option for a five-year, $39 million extension, and claims responsibility for $15 million in operating expenses. The City Council approved the lease on April 1. (The lease was first reported in The Real Deal.)
In more governmental deals downtown, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council signed a 10-year lease for 4,490 square feet at 515 South Figueroa Street, according to Bisnow. John Hancock Life Insurance Company is the landlord. The council will be relocating from space at the Los Angeles World Trade Center. Avison Young‘s Sally Zesut and Jonathan Larsen represented the council, and John Hancock Real Estate’s Parker Jones and Zack Torres repped the landlord.
Downtown also saw the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers renew its 115,000-square-foot space at 915 Wilshire Boulevard, and law firm Allen Matkins expanded its space at 865 South Figueroa by 63,000 square feet.
While government entities took considerable space, tech was not to be left out. Facebook expanded its space at Tishman Speyer’s the Brickyard at 12105 West Waterfront Drive and 12126 West Waterfront Drive by 84,616 square feet. The social media giant initially signed for 260,000 square feet over two buildings in the Playa Vista complex in 2018. The company occupies the entirety of a 122,000-square-foot building there, and 140,000 square feet at another location in the complex. The initial lease had a rent of $67.80 per square foot. Facebook moved to the Brickyard in early 2019, and also occupies 50,000 square feet at Playa Vista’s 12777 West Jefferson Boulevard.
Playa Vista also saw Vista Studios sign a long-term, 20,907-square-foot lease at 5415 Jandy Place in Silicon Beach. Effkay Enterprises owns the space, and the asking rent in the triple-net deal was $1.95 per square foot per month.
Amazon (AMZN) set deeper roots in the area in May with a lease of approximately 100,000 square feet at the Center at Needham Ranch, a 252-acre industrial park that Trammell Crow Co. and Clarion Partners LLC are building in Santa Clarita. The location will serve as a distribution center for the e-retail giant.
In August, U.S. Elogistics Services Corp. signed a 232,229-square-foot, full-building lease at the 16-acre Prologis (PLD) Vernon Business Center in Vernon, which is just outside of L.A.. According to Commercial Property Executive, which reported the transaction, the deal marks the largest industrial lease in central L.A. County this year. Joe Dimola, a senior vice president at JLL (JLL), assisted the tenant, and Newmark (NMRK) Knight Frank Vice Chairman John McMillan repped the owner, Prologis.
In Silver Lake, two companies took office space at the three-story Jones Building at 2807 Sunset Boulevard. Bestor Architecture recently redesigned the 1928 building for creative tenants. Beauty retailer Aesop took an undisclosed amount of space on the second floor, and Pirate Studios, a rehearsal and recording facility, took the entire 10,372-square-foot lower level. Industry Partners repped the building. What Now Los Angeles reported the transaction.
In Woodland Hills, Blue Cross Blue Shield renewed its 99,975-square-foot space at 6300 Canoga Avenue. And, in the San Fernando Valley, two firms signed for just over 72,500 square feet combined at Accord Interests LLC’s 300,000-square-foot industrial facility at 13571 Vaughn Street. True Star Transit, a refrigerated goods transport company, took 26,267 square feet, and Moviemachines, which provides vehicles for entertainment industry productions, took 46,270 square feet. CBRE (CBRE)’s David Harding, Greg Geraci, Matt Dierckman and Billy Walk represented the landlord in both deals, and advised Moviemachines. The firm’s Bennett Robinson repped True Star. Connect California first reported the deal.
