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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Reworking Chatsworth

Entering a new decade in the 21st century, Chatsworth has come a long way from its punchline reputation in the 1980s as the capital of the porn industry. In fact, developers have transformed the northwest corner of the San Fernando Valley with upgrades on sizable industrial real estate developments. For example, at 9220 Winnetka Ave., a mixed-use project spearheaded by Uncommon Developers has not only seen a massive 255,000-square-foot upgrade of the Valley headquarters of MGA Entertainment Inc. last May, but still anticipates 660 still-under-construction multifamily units, a cluster of retail shops and services, outdoor amenities and even a pre-school pitched first and foremost to MGA’s 430-person workforce but also accessible to the market at large. Dubbed 24, the project had a high-profile opening last August with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, Congressman Brad Sherman, District 12 City Councilman John Lee, and Lee’s predecessor Mitch Englander, who helped usher through the 24, in attendance. The campus is the brainchild of MGA Chief Executive Isaac Larian and his son and son-in-law, Jason Larian and Ryan Hekmat, respectively, whose Uncommon Developers firm is embedded within the new MGA office space. In creating the new MGA headquarters, Uncommon gutted a former Los Angeles Times printing press building and transformed it into a spacious, sophisticated and contemporary work site. Phases II and III of 24, which will bring the residential units and other elements online, have completion dates scheduled for 2021 and 2022, respectively. The MGA endeavor is not the only massive development shaking up Chatsworth. Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. announced in December 2018 that it had acquired two industrial properties for $43.5 million, including a Chatsworth property valued at $29.5 million. Ronald Kassan, Dustin Tondreau, Arthur Minassian and Garret Houghton of Beitler Commercial/TCN Worldwide represented both seller and buyer. The Chatsworth property, a complex consisting of four industrial buildings containing 256,200 square feet on 11 acres, is located at 9200-9250 Mason Ave. and 9171 Oso Ave. Another warehouse sold for $9.65 million to its tenant, Allsale Electric, last April. The 55,000-square-foot building, located at 9240 Jordan Ave., traded thanks to Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura President Mike Tingus and Principal Grant Fulkerson, who represented seller SDG Jordan Associates LLC; and Matthew Dierckman with CBRE Group, who brokered on behalf of buyer Allsale Electric. Allsale, a division of Regency Lighting, had leased the building since 2016. Greasing the leases Industrial leases have been growing in the neighborhood. Last September, Neutraderm Inc., a leading manufacturer of medical-grade skin care products, signed on for 60,043 square feet at 20680 Nordhoff St., in a deal transacted by Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura and CBRE. Lee Managing Director Scott Caswell and Associate Erica Balin represented Neutraderm in the transaction, while CBRE Executive Vice President Bennett Robinson represented landlord Nordhoff XC. A dollar figure on the transaction was not disclosed. Neutraderm has owned a neighboring building since 2008, and the new lease signified an expansion for the company, which already owned a pair of Chatsworth locations. Neutraderm consolidated one of those locations, a 17,500-square-foot space, into the newly acquired Nordhoff Street facility. Another substantial lease, negotiated by Yair Haimoff and Barry Jakov, commercial real estate brokers with Valencia-headquartered Spectrum Commercial Real Estate Inc., saw Air 1 Moving & Storage assume 21,600 square feet at a freestanding industrial facility at 9556 Cozycroft Ave. The total value of the five-year lease, sealed in December, rounds to $1.4 million. “Air 1 Moving & Storage occupied space in North Hollywood for over 20 years and needed additional space for growth,” Jakov said in a statement. “Our client was on a short time frame and needed to locate a new facility within 30 days.” In June 2018, California Realty Group closed a pair of separate leases at a Chatsworth industrial site. Align Aerospace Holdings Inc. leased the northern portion of the 150,831-square-foot complex, while Ball Corp. leased the southern portion of the building, a recently remodeled warehouse located on 6.7 acres at 9401 De Soto Ave. For Align, which absorbed 66,570 square feet, California Realty Group’s Mark Esses listed the property, while Rick Pearson of Cresa represented the tenant. For the 84,261 square feet leased to Ball Corp., Esses served as listing broker, while CBRE’s Gregg Haly and Bennett Robinson represented the tenant. California Realty Group advised landlord PDX Investments LLC in leasing the warehouse. In November 2017, the firm had represented PDX in the purchase of the then-vacant property from Rexford for $23 million.

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