The two-person Charles Dunn team of Bill Boyd and Linda Lee recently completed five leases totaling 63,000 square feet, which included three leases within the Galleria Office Tower in Glendale. The two remaining leases were completed at 2411 West Olive in Burbank totaling 33,000 square feet. The team secured a new five-year lease with LegalZoom in addition to a five-year lease renewal with Travelers Insurance and a seven-year lease renewal with law firm Baker, Olson, LeCroy & Danielian. At a time when the vacancy rate is 15.6 percent in Burbank and 23.1 percent in Glendale, according to Grubb & Ellis Research Services figures, Boyd and Lee were able to close the deals – both properties are now fully leased. “It’s more significant for the buildings and local market a little more so than for our company,” said Boyd. “For our local market, it’s significant because in the case of the Galleria Office Tower, its 100 percent fully leased in a market that has 23.1 percent vacancy rates.” LegalZoom will be leasing 5,000 square feet in the ground floor of the 12-story tower at 100 W. Broadway in Glendale. Headquarters for the legal documents firm is at 101 N. Brand in Glendale, but company management realized the necessity for more space after its headquarters relocated from Hollywood to that address. “LegalZoom had already leased 40,000 square feet across the street just two months earlier,” said Boyd. “They needed ground floor space approximately 5,000 square feet to handle its overnight shipping and receiving of legal documents that go across the country,” Boyd added. “There are few buildings within the block that have the good fortune to be across the street that has the ground floor space. Besides the Galleria Office Tower being across the street, it does have some benefits and amenities.” Although not new leases, the renewal of leases with Travelers Insurance and the law firm hold significant value, as well. “What is significant about those leases is that those two tenants have a choice of 1.4 million square feet of vacant space in Glendale and after considering, they elected to maintain a presence in the building,” Boyd continued. “Historically in Glendale, the building has been the most successful since completion in 1983, Boyd said. It’s right here at Brand and Broadway, which is the heart of Glendale. And it does have the benefit of being adjacent to the Glendale Galleria. There are all kinds of retail and restaurant amenities.” At the Glendale building, Travelers Insurance was represented by Tom Maloney of Jones, Lang LaSalle, LegalZoom was represented by Mike McRoskey of Jones, Lang LaSalle and the law firm Baker, Olson, LeCroy & Danielian was represented by Boyd and Lee. In the Burbank building, the Walt Disney Co. and Partners Federal Credit Union were represented by Bill Puget of Cushman & Wakefield. Troop Addition Stephen Christie and his Stephen Christie team will be joining Troop Real Estate in Westlake Village. After beginning with Troop Real Estate in 1990, Christie began and operated his own firm, acquired a franchise of a national real estate firm, then served with the national firm in the Westlake Village area. The Pepperdine University Finance and Management graduate has been named a “Top 4 Realtor” nationwide and “Top One Percent” companywide. Granada Village Redevelopment, which will include the addition of a Sprouts Farmers Market, has started on the 225,000 square foot center Granada Village, owned by Regency Centers. Totaling $16 million, the redevelopment will bring a more modern style to the 46-year-old center and a 25,000 square foot grocer specializing in grown farm-fresh products. With plans to open in the fall of 2011, the specialty grocer will be the only one of its kind in a 20-mile radius after it moves into the space that was once occupied by Ralphs. Nadel Architects will handle the center’s design, which will feature a modernized Spanish Colonial style along with a new exterior façade, upgraded architectural components, a new pedestrian plaza, signage and improvements to the parking lot. In addition, the development of connected patios and trellised seating areas in front of the center will be the main points of the planned outdoor dining district Laemmle Plans The family-owned Laemmle Theatres will expand its presence in the area as the result of the Glendale Redevelopment Agency approval of a contract with Wilson/Maryland Lofts LLC for the development of a five-story project. The project, which will include five screens and 600 seats, will be located at 111 E. Wilson Avenue at the intersection of Wilson and Maryland. Besides the theater, 42 artist lofts are planned on top of the 10,000 square feet reserved for gallery and ground floor retail or restaurant. This step will help the City of Glendale move forward with its plan to build an Arts and Entertainment District in the downtown area, centered on Maryland Avenue just off Brand Boulevard and Broadway. Transactions A Granada Hills-based nine-acre, 82-townhome community, was recently purchased for $8.4 million by Trumak Homes and Resmark Equity Partners, LLC. A lookout park, a walking path and a pool area are featured in the gated community, which was scheduled to open to potential buyers on April 24 with prices starting in the low $300,000’s. The townhomes, which are being offered in six different floor plans, are located at the corner of Odyssey Drive and Blucher Avenue. Staff Reporter Mary Catherine Holcomb can be reached at (818) 316-3124 or at [email protected].
