Eastern L.A. Regional Center Expands Lease at Ratkovich Co.’s Alhambra Campus
The expansion tips the campus’ occupancy over 90 percent.
By Greg Cornfield June 30, 2023 3:45 pm
reprints
Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center (ELARC) has signed a 10-year lease to expand its space at The Alhambra office campus in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley, Commercial Observer can first report.
The 23,345-square-foot expansion brings the center’s total space to 146,809 square feet to become the second-largest tenant at the 40-acre campus. The Ratkovich Company (TRC) owns and manages The Alhambra with nearly 1 million square feet at 1000 Fremont Avenue in Alhambra, Calif., less than six miles from Downtown Los Angeles.
ELARC is a private, nonprofit organization that coordinates and provides community-based services to individuals with developmental disabilities.
“ELARC has been at this location for 27 years,” the organization’s executive director, Gloria Wong, said in a statement. “In 1996 we started with 31,704 square feet of office space to accommodate a total of 80 employees. Over our 27 years as a tenant, we have grown our office space by 463 percent. … The Alhambra is the home base for 390 ELARC employees.”
The expansion lease also brings The Alhambra’s occupancy rate above 90 percent. The campus includes outdoor collaborative areas, a putting green, conference facilities, and an on-site LA Fitness.
TRC acquired the property for $156.6 million in January 2017, property records show. Wells Fargo (WFC) provided a 10-year $150 million CMBS refinancing in May 2019.
Brian Saenger, president and CEO of The Ratkovich Company, said leasing at The Alhambra shows that tenants value convenience, amenities and location.
“Companies are increasingly valuing user-friendly, low-rise suburban office campuses, and we are seeing that with our leasing activity here and at other properties as well,” Saenger said in a statement. “The entire post-COVID office story is not all doom and gloom.”
Indeed, the San Gabriel Valley’s 7.8 percent office vacancy rate is nearly 10 percentage points lower than the rate for Greater Los Angeles, according to CBRE (CBRE)’s first quarter office report. The submarket recorded 75,548 square feet of net absorption in the period, the most of all submarkets in the metropolitan area.
Other tenants at The Alhambra include AHMC Healthcare, Alliant International University, Cal State University Los Angeles, L.A. County’s district attorney, the county’s Department of Public Health, Platt College Los Angeles and the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.
CBRE’s Kevin Duffy, Damon Feldmeth, Natalie Bazarevitsch, John Zanetos, Chris Penrose and Heather Dulley represented TRC in the latest lease transaction, while David Kutzer with Cresa represented ELARC.
TRC says it has completed, or has under development, more than 9 million square feet of commercial space in L.A. County, including The Bloc, a 1.8 million-square-foot, mixed-use property in Downtown L.A.; West Harbor, a 42-acre dining and entertainment destination on the L.A. waterfront; the Bowcroft Collection, a future media, technology or entertainment campus near downtown Culver City; and The Hercules Campus at Playa Vista, which includes the hangar where Howard Hughes’ legendary Spruce Goose was built and which is now home to Google, YouTube and 72andSunny.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
