While downtown will soon be getting a Ralphs supermarket, Whole Foods Market Inc. will open a location in the heart of what’s being dubbed as Hollywood’s residential renaissance.
A Whole Foods grocery store will anchor a large mixed-use development planned by Houston-based Camden Property Trust, which is under contract with Grant Parking Inc. to buy a 2-acre surface parking lot at the southeast corner of Vine Street and Selma Avenue.
Whole Foods spokeswoman Kate Lowery confirmed in an e-mail that the Austin-based grocer is involved in the project. The company disclosed in a July 28 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had signed a lease for a new Hollywood location.
Camden wants to build a 309,000-square-foot complex that could contain a 67,000-square-foot grocery store, about 306 apartments and underground and surface parking, said Rick Holcomb, director of real estate investment in Camden’s Newport Beach development office.
Holcomb declined to say how much Camden is paying for the site. But assuming market rates of between $275 and $300 a foot for undeveloped Hollywood land, the sales price would range from $24 million to $26 million.
He also wouldn’t say how much the development could cost. For comparison, CIM Group Inc. is spending $110 million to build the Market at Ninth and Flower, a similar sized project in downtown L.A. to be anchored by the Ralphs.
Holcomb said his company plans to file an application with the city for the project in the next few months. Camden hired L.A.-based Thomas P. Cox Architects Inc. to design the project.
“There’s so much history in Hollywood,” Holcomb said. “We hope to incorporate as much of that as possible.”
Camden officials have been meeting with Hollywood community groups to gather feedback and discuss the company’s plans. “It looks like a terrific project,” said Helmi Hisserich, director of the CRA’s Hollywood Project Area. “We are happy to have Camden active in Hollywood.”
Camden isn’t seeking money from the CRA for the project, but the development could possibly include affordable housing, Holcomb said.
Residential developers have been flocking to the Vine Street corridor, where in the blocks between Franklin Avenue and Sunset Boulevard there are more than 2,000 apartments and condominiums in various stages of development.
Glendale Grab
LBA Realty LLC is listing two Glendale office buildings that could fetch more than $40 million.
The properties, at 500 N. Central Ave. and 501 N. Orange Ave., are on one parcel. The office property at 500 N. Central Ave. is a nine-story Class-A office building with 122,250 square feet and is 19 percent vacant.
The one-story property at 501 N. Orange Drive contains 26,810 square feet. Formerly a cinema, it has been converted into office space.
LBA bought the properties three years ago for $17 million to reposition the buildings. The company hasn’t said how much it invested in renovations.
Tenants in the tower include Great-West Life Assurance Co. and Ticor Title Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc. No tenants occupy 501 N. Orange.
Though Glendale’s leasing market has been anemic, investors have been bullish on buying office buildings in the city. LaSalle Investment Management Inc. snapped up 505 N. Brand Blvd. for $345 a foot and Principal Global Investors LLC bought 101 N. Brand Blvd. for $314 a foot.
Tom Bohlinger, a senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. who has the LBA Realty listing, said several tenants are in negotiations that would result in absorption of more than 100,000 square feet at various Glendale buildings. “Tenant activity is really picking up,” Bohlinger said.
Data Deal
Equinix Inc. purchased a 107,000-square-foot El Segundo data center for $34.5 million.
The Foster City-based data center operator bought 1920 Maple St. from Burges Property Co., a San Diego investment firm. The building is publicly traded Equinix’s third data center in the L.A. market, where it will now have buildings containing more than 200,000 square feet.
The price is a significant discount off the $80 million construction cost of the building, which was finished in 2001 for Exodus Communications Inc.
But the $322-a-foot price is higher than the $172-a-foot that Kilroy Realty Corp. received earlier this summer for a 131,000-square-foot El Segundo data center it sold for $22.5 million, according to Rentv.com, an online real estate news site.
Equinix plans to invest $15 million in upgrading the building.Burges Property was represented by Grubb & Ellis’ Gerald Eggleston and Equinix was represented by Joe Hamilton of Liberty Greenfield and Jason Warner of Trammell Crow Co.
Pasadena Purchase
Broadreach Capital Partners LLC has acquired a 231,000-square-foot Pasadena office building from San Mateo-based Limar Realty Group for $39.3 million.
The project, known as Pasadena Tech Center, has benefited from the area’s strong lease market and is 91 percent occupied, according to David Simon, managing director and head of Broadreach’s Southern California operation.
At the end of June, the city had an average office vacancy rate of 5.6 percent and average asking rents of $2.53 a foot, according to Grubb & Ellis Co. “The Pasadena Tech Center is an extremely well-located project in an incredibly tight submarket,” Simon said in a statement. He added the site could also have potential development opportunities.
The asset, a two-story office building, is located at 465 Halstead St., located north of the Foothill (210) Freeway and within walking distance of the Gold Line. Earthlink Inc. is the project’s majority tenant.
Both sides represented themselves in the deal. Broadreach has hired Todd Doney and Nico Vilgiate from CB Richard Ellis to lease the building and Transwestern Commercial Services as the onsite property manager.
*Staff reporter Andy Fixmer can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 263, or by e-mail at
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