Owner Could Follow Disney Out of Building

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Editor’s Note: This story has been changed from the print version to correct that Blackstone Group was the former owner of 336-9346 Civic Center Drive, the former headquarters of Hilton Hotels Corp.

The Burbank office building recently vacated by Walt Disney Co. may be put on the market.

New York property owner BlackRock Inc. is actively evaluating whether it should sell the nearly vacant 494,000-square-foot Alameda Tower building at 3900 Alameda Ave., sources told the Business Journal. BlackRock said no decision has been reached.

When BlackRock purchased the property in 2005 for $167 million, or $343 a square foot, the building was nearly full and the deal was one of the largest office sales in the market in years.

It’s not clear yet what the asking price for the building would be. Nor is it clear who would be interested in purchasing it or occupying the space.

Alameda Tower became one of Burbank’s Media District’s premier office towers when it opened in 1989, but any new owner is likely to have to spend additional money to upgrade and renovate the dated building, as well as offer financial concessions to new tenants.

Disney had leased about 95 percent of the property before it vacated last month, relocating its personnel to its Burbank studio lot and other company-owned properties in Glendale.

The move left Alameda Tower with a 470,000-square-foot hole and left BlackRock facing the task of marketing a huge amount of space.

Rather than filling the property itself, BlackRock may choose to put it on the market and let another company backfill the space.

New York’s Blackstone Group LP employed a similar tactic in Beverly Hills when Hilton Hotels Corp. moved out of its headquarters at 9336-9346 Civic Center Drive. Instead of leasing that space back up, Blackstone sold the building to Tishman Speyer Properties LP. Tishman has since leased the space out to United Talent Agency Inc. and Playboy Enterprises Inc.

Westwood Sale

A 94,266-square-foot Westwood office building has sold for $27 million.

An affiliate of Swiss insurance giant Zurich Financial Services Ltd. bought the four-story property at 10780 Santa Monica Blvd. from a joint venture of New York’s Angelo Gordon & Co. and Beverly Hills’ Cambra Realty in an off-market deal last week. The joint venture bought the property for $33 million in 2007.

Despite taking a loss, the deal was among the highest on the Westside for office buildings in the last year, according to CoStar Group Inc.

The property sits on the full block between Selby and Malcolm avenues and is 95 percent occupied by a number of small service-oriented tenants.

Zurich was attracted to the property for its high occupancy and diverse list of tenants, said Bob Safai, founding partner of Madison Partners who represented the seller. The seller was ready to trade the building after feeling the property had achieved a return.

The seller was also represented by Matt Case of Madison. Zurich represented itself internally.

Madison, which has held the listings on the property for the last seven years, will continue to do the leasing on behalf of the new owner.

Moving Labeler

Avery Dennison Corp. has found a new location for its headquarters.

The label and packaging maker is negotiating a lease for about 40,000 square feet at 55 S. Lake Ave. in Pasadena with landlord Beacon Capital Partners LLC, sources told the Business Journal. The terms of the deal are not yet known.

The 223,000-square-foot Class A office building is only about 25 percent leased, according to CoStar.

The new headquarters location is part of a 443,000-square-foot complex known as the Pasadena Towers that Beacon Capital bought last year.

Avery recently agreed to sell its longtime headquarters at 150 N. Orange Grove Blvd. and adjacent property to Foster City real estate firm Legacy Partners, which plans to convert the headquarters property into a creative office campus, for $20 million.

Avery Dennison, which sold the property in a cost-saving move, had been looking for new offices around the Tri-City area.

Representatives of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., which is representing both sides of the deal, declined to comment.

Staff reporter Jacquelyn Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.