Real estate column

A Dallas-based real estate investment trust has paid what is believed to be the highest per-square-foot price in recent history for an office building in Encino. Basic Capital acquired the Coldwell Banker building at 16501 Ventura Blvd. for $40 million in a combination of cash and notes, sources said, which brings the cost of the 176,000-square-foot building to $227 per square foot. “That is a huge amount of money,” said Tom Festa, a broker with Grubb & Ellis Co. Brokers said that the price for buildings in the Sherman Oaks/Encino area has averaged $160 per square foot, although a few, high-profile sales recently went for $200 a square foot or slightly more. Some brokers expressed surprise at the high purchase price, pointing out that many of the Encino property’s tenants rent by the month, and the vacancy rate has averaged about 10 percent. The deal was handled directly between Basic Capital and the seller, a family trust headed by Barry Gross. Basic Capital already owns an office building at 31225 LaBaya Drive in Westlake Village, and brokers said the REIT has been actively looking for other properties in the area. Industrious move Selleck Development Group Inc. one of the developers of The Plant, a highly successful retail and industrial center in Panorama City has closed escrow on a second property across the street from that site, with plans to build another industrial park. Selleck acquired the Van Nuys Boulevard site, where a Carnation plant formerly operated, from Public Storage, which had bought the 11.23-acre property about a year ago. Almost immediately after purchasing the site, Public Storage began negotiating to sell it. The price Selleck paid was not disclosed. Selleck plans to demolish the existing building and construct two industrial facilities with a combined 220,000 square feet. Dan Selleck, president of the development company, said that the project may also include a retail component, but no firm decision has yet been made on the final project. Selleck had begun exploring the site with the Voit Cos., the Woodland Hills-based company that co-developed The Plant, but Voit dropped out some time ago. Selleck expects to begin demolishing the existing structure on the site within the next 30 days and complete construction within the next year. New tenants in Granada Hills Leasing has been completed on a shopping center redevelopment in Granada Hills. The former Ralphs center, at the corner of Balboa and Chatsworth avenues, has signed leases with Staples, Walgreen and El Pollo Loco. Staples will occupy 25,000 square feet in the project and Walgreen has signed a deal for 13,900 square feet of space, said Greg Whitney, a broker with CB Richard Ellis Inc. who, along with Allan Young, represented the developer, GRAE Ventures of Century City. Whitney also represented Staples, and he and Young represented El Pollo Loco. David Rush, another broker with CB, represented Walgreen. GRAE Ventures is currently remodeling the site. The Staples and Walgreen stores are expected to open sometime this summer. The brokers declined to reveal the lease rates. High-tech expansion A computer parts distributor has signed a 10-year lease for a 104,386-square-foot facility in the Tapo Canyon Business Park in Simi Valley. The company, Computer Parts Unlimited, is relocating from Moorpark, where it had occupied a 40,000-square-foot facility. The move represents a significant expansion for the privately held wholesaler and distributor of new and used computer parts. About 185 people will be employed at the new site. John DeGrinis and Michael Tingus of the Seeley Co. represented Computer Parts Unlimited. Barbara Emmons of CB Richard Ellis Inc. and Tim Foutz of Capital Commercial represented Prudential Real Estate Investors, owner of the 57-acre business park. Northern Telecom recently occupied another building included in the first phase of the project, which will ultimately comprise 1 million square feet. Computer Parts Unlimited is scheduled to occupy the new facility, at 3900 Heritage Oaks Court, in September. Arden grows in Ventura Arden Realty has purchased a 60,000-square-foot office building in Thousand Oaks for $8.9 million. The building, at 555 Charles Place, was sold by Hillside Corporate Center LLC. Arden also recently completed the acquisition of two buildings in the Westlake Gardens office complex for a combined purchase price of $14.6 million. The properties, developed by Silagi Development, include 100,000 square feet of space at 2535 and 2555 Townsgate Road in Westlake Village. The combined acquisitions bring Arden Realty’s Ventura County holdings to over 1.5 million square feet. Brian Forster, co-owner of Told Partners Inc., represented buyer and seller in both deals. Westlake Village buy Pacific Real Estate has acquired a 41,307-square-foot office building at 200 N. Westlake Blvd. for $6.2 million. The Westlake Village building, which was sold by John Hancock Insurance, is fully leased with tenants including Lucent Technologies and Cheetah Software. Brian Forster of Told Partners represented the buyer. Steve Algermissen and Richard Plummer of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented John Hancock. Rooms with a view The Archstone Communities, an Irvine-based real estate investment trust, acquired a 174-unit apartment complex in Sherman Oaks for an undisclosed sum. The building, called Regency Court Apartments at 4920 Van Nuys Blvd., had a 98 percent occupancy rate at the time of the sale, according to Grubb & Ellis. Michael Randall of Grubb & Ellis and Katherine Bergh, who recently left Grubb & Ellis to join Hendricks & Partners, represented the buyer and seller, AEW Capital Management of Los Angeles.