Rockwood Buys Playa Jefferson for $165M

Manhattan Beach, CA-based Vantage Property Investors has sold Playa Jefferson, a dynamic office campus located in Playa Vista, to Rockwood Capital for $165 million, or $660 per square foot. The news comes just four months after Vantage announced it would be adding a fifth 55,000 square foot, three-story creative office building to the office campus, where Facebook leased 35,000 square feet of space at the beginning of the year. Vantage Property Investors originally acquired the property in August 2011 for $33 million, at which time it was only 18% leased. Kevin Shannon of NGKF, the listing broker for the property, declined to comment on the deal.

Located at 12755-12777 West Jefferson Boulevard, Playa Jefferson features over 200,000 square feet of creative office space, with dramatic and distinctive architecture. The new three-story structure is being designed by Gensler, while AHBE Landscape Architects designed the new outdoor space to create an "outdoor living room." Vantage Property Investors was founded in 2003 by Ned Fox and Stuart Gulland to join forces in office development, investing $20 million to remake the property into a new creative space. "We mixed our building materials," Gulland said. "We want people to feel grounded to the environment. [...] Companies are flattening their corporate structures, sharing information and working in collaborative groups. Walls are less important."

The burgeoning Westside neighborhood is fast becoming the Southern California hub of Silicon Valley, with a growing number of tech companies choosing the relatively undeveloped area as their gateway to the region's entertainment and media offerings. "There's a herd mentality to the tech industry, so when one guy does something, everyone else follows," said Michael Pachter, a tech analyst at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Lincoln Picks Up LA Office Complex for $135M

LPC Realty Advisors I, LP, and affiliate of Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company, has purchased an office campus in West Los Angeles on behalf of a public pension fund client for a reported $135.3 million, or about $240 a square foot. The complex was sold by a joint venture between Mullen Co. of Irvine and Rockwood Capital of San Francisco, which bought the property for $136 million in 2007. Terms of the deal and representative agent information was not disclosed.

"Large office campuses are increasingly hard to come by in West LA's desirable market, so acquiring Wateridge was a unique opportunity for Lincoln, and certainly in line with our strategy,” said David Binswanger, Executive Vice President of Lincoln Property Company. "We see its potential to help meet demand for quality office space in this region.”

Lincoln's finance director, Stephen Lindgren, said he expects to draw tenants ranging from tech and media firms to law offices and accountants for the remaining space. "As Playa Vista and Corporate Pointe continue to tighten, we'll be able to offer a lower-cost alternative to be in those same markets,” he said.

Known as Wateridge, the 6-building Class A office campus in Ladera Heights sits on 21 acres at the corner of La Cienega Boulevard and Slauson Avenue with easy access to the 405 and 10 freeways. The property was originally constructed in phases beginning in 1989, with upgrades in 2010 to include additional parking, renovated common areas and improved landscaping; the property has since become a campus-style, multi-tenant facility with a diverse mix of office and retail tenants. Wateridge was approximately 70% leased at the time of sale, with major tenants including Evolve Media, Kaiser Permanente, and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Lincoln Partnership Re-Acquires 915 Wilshire

Lincoln Property Company has partnered with affiliates of Rockwood Capital, LLC for the purchase of a 22-story office tower in downtown Los Angeles that it previously sold to Brickman Associates in 2007. Lincoln originally purchased the property in 2003 for $49.2 million, or $128 a square foot, from TIAA-CREF, selling it to Brickman for $117 million, or just under $300 a square foot. The price Lincoln Property paid this time was not released, but sources tell GlobeSt the building probably sold for $130 million. Kevin Shannon, currently with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, brokered the deal; terms were not disclosed.

"Lincoln has a lot of history with this property, and we're thrilled to bring it back into our portfolio once again," said David Binswanger, Executive Vice President of Lincoln Property Company. "We really believe in downtown LA, and with this particular building, we were attracted to its potential for renovation. We look forward to executing our vision to create a more modern, inviting space for current and future tenants of 915 Wilshire."

Originally built in 1979, 915 Wilshire is a 390,312 square foot steel frame Class A office building complete with a storage penthouse, emergency equipped helipad, exterior terraces at the 7th and 8th floor northern exposure, and a parking garage. The Skidmore, Owings and Merrill design was constructed by Turner Construction and developed by Cabot, Cabot & Forbes. After selling the property to Brickman in 2007, Lincoln has stayed on as a property manager and leasing agent. The Lincoln partnership said in a press release that it has plans to renovate the property for the first time in over a decade, to include upgrades to the lobby and valet area, redesigning the outdoor patio, and replacing the elevators. The building was 88% leased at the time of sale, and is across the street from the Wilshire Grand Center, a $1 billion mixed-use project being built by Hanjin Group that's expected to be completed in July 2017.

"We are very excited to be partnering with Lincoln on the renovation of 915 Wilshire," said Tyson Skillings, Managing Partner at Rockwood Capital, LLC. "This property, already in high demand by tenants, is located in the heart of the most vibrant area for redevelopment in downtown LA. It will become even more attractive with the nearby addition of a new, world-class hotel tower, restaurants, nightlife and retail. This is a prime example of Rockwood's investment approach."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Rockwood/Jamestown Partnership Buys Fifth Ave Tower for $595M

A partnership between Rockwood Capital, Jamestown, Murray Hill Properties, and Crown Acquisitions announced this week that it had agreed to purchase 530 Fifth Avenue in NYC from a partnership led by Thor Equities for $595 million. While full terms of the partnership and deal were not disclosed, Eastdil represented the selling group in the transaction, expected to close in September. The 26-story contains roughly 480,000 square feet of office space with another 55,000 allocated for retail. Major tenants include Desigual, JPMorgan Chase, Fossil, Massachusetts Mutual, Diageo North America, Cablevision, Lionsgate and Athyrium Capital.

Joe Gorin, Managing Director at Rockwood Capital, said, "530 Fifth's dynamic location and architectural features have provided a strong foundation from which to reposition this building as a top tier asset. This property epitomizes Rockwood's strategy of investing in well-located real estate that provides an opportunity to outperform over the long term."

"Fifth Avenue will always serve as an iconic location in NYC for retail and office space," said Michael Phillips of Jamestown. "Once we repositioned the 530 Fifth Ave property with a renovated lobby, internal upgrades and amenities it was with Eastdil's guidance we saw an opportunity to monetize the asset."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

DivcoWest Picks Up One Kendall Square in Boston for $395M

Rockwood Capital and Related Beal announced that their joint venture had completed the sale of the One Kendall Square office, lab and retail complex in Cambridge. San Francisco-based Divco­West purchased the nine-building, 670,000-square-foot campus and a 1,500-car garage in two separate sales totaling $395 million. According to a press release, Rockwood and Related Beal originally acquired the property from Lincoln Property Company and JER Partners for $211 million in 2006.

Joe Gorin, Managing Director at Rockwood Capital said, "We believe One Kendall Square is a great example of our ability to create value in a property, and we are proud of the site's transformation into the city's premier science and technology address. The Boston area will continue to be a key target market for Rockwood."

"We could not be more pleased with the performance of the asset, including this significant transaction. Our partner Rockwood Capital shared a consistent vision with us for what One Kendall Square could be, the most successful mixed-use campus in East Cambridge, and to see it through to execution is very rewarding," said Stephen Faber, Executive Vice President of Related Beal. "Success did not just happen; it was born from a lot of hard work from the entire ownership and management team."

One Kendall Square is a modern mixed-use campus offering a variety of lab, office and retail space for lease in the epicenter of science and technology in the heart of Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Over the course of their ownership, Rockwood and Related Beal invested $75 million in the property's base building infrastructure, public spaces and tenant improvements. One Kendall Square houses more than 50 tenants, including Twitter, Liberty Mutual, Staples and Cambridge Brewing Co., according to a Lowell Sun article.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.