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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Everyone Gets a Trophy (Building) During Valley’s Strong Quarter

The San Fernando Valley office market saw strong movement in the third quarter, highlighted by big sales and trophy buildings changing hands. The Valley had about 130,000 square feet of office space come off the market, pushing its vacancy rate down six tenths of a point to 15.9 percent, according to data from Colliers International. “We’re not just heading in the right direction, we’re there,” said Martin Agnew, vice president of investment at the Encino office of Marcus & Millichap Inc. “Prices are going up and I expect will continue to go up into next year.” The strong return of the market had a small impact on asking rates, which edged up 3 cents to $2.26. But Troy Pollet, senior associate at the Universal office of CBRE Group Inc., said a lot of landlords are taking advantage of the recovering market by limiting flexibility in negotiations. “We’re definitely not seeing as many pullbacks or concessions from landlords as the market tightens,” he said. “I think we’ve only seen the start of this and things are going to keep tightening into next year.” The West and Central San Fernando Valley submarkets each had vacancy rates drop nearly a point in the third quarter, while the East Valley continued to perform poorly, giving back 28,200 square feet. Net absorption in the eastern submarket is now 183,000 square feet in the red for the year. Mostly, though, the third quarter was about big properties being sold at some of the highest prices seen in years. Santa Monica real estate investment trust Douglas Emmett Inc. purchased the Encino Executive plaza for $61 million from Kennedy Wilson Properties Ltd. of Beverly Hills in August. The 191,000-square-foot building at 16501 Ventura Blvd. is about 80 percent leased, according to real estate data firm CoStar Group Inc. The purchase brings the company’s total portfolio in the Sherman Oaks-Encino area to about 3.4 million square feet, including five properties on the busy corner of Sepulveda and Ventura Boulevards alone. Less than two weeks later, Kennedy Wilson bought a 188,366-square-foot North Hollywood building for $45 million from Jamison Services Inc. in Los Angeles. The 5161 Lankershim Blvd. building is about 32 percent leased, since its previous sole tenant, Disney Interactive, vacated last year. And with the $420 million dollar sale of 10 Universal City Plaza to media conglomerate Comcast Corp. of Philadelphia to kick-off the fourth quarter, brokers are optimistic. “When these types of deals start happening again, that says the market is back,” said Agnew. Activity is still strong at Warner Center, highlighted in the quarter by the Woodland Hills Shopping Center, which sold for $47 million to Paragon Commercial Group of El Segundo in September – the area’s largest retail sale this year. Paragon bought the 109,292-square-foot Topanga Canyon Boulevard center with long-term plans to possibly tear it down for mixed-use or medical offices. The Valley’s industrial market had a softer quarter, putting 117,500 square-feet back on the market and bumping up the vacancy rate three tenths of a point to 3.8 percent. “I wouldn’t worry about those numbers,” said Patrick DuRoss, associate vice president at the Encino office of Colliers. “The numbers don’t completely reflect the sentiment in the market.” He said the movement is more cyclical than a sign of regression and expects activity to increase in the fourth quarter. Industrial rents rose in all three Valley submarkets, pushing the overall average asking rent up a penny to 61 cents a square foot. – Elliot Golan Main Events Douglas Emmett Inc. of Santa Monica purchased the Encino Executive Plaza for $61 million from Kennedy Wilson Properties Ltd. of Beverly Hills in August. The 191,000-square-foot building at 16501 Ventura Blvd. is about 80 percent leased. The purchase brings the company’s total portfolio in the Sherman Oaks-Encino area to about 3.4 million square feet. Just a couple weeks after Kennedy Wilson sold its large Encino building, the firm bought a 188,366-square-foot building in North Hollywood for $45 million from Jamison Services Inc. in Los Angeles. The building at 5161 Lankershim Blvd. is about 32 percent leased, since its previous sole tenant, Disney Interactive, vacated over the last year. In August, Health Advocates LLC purchased the Chatsworth Tech Center, a 130,000-square-foot industrial building, for $12.8 million. Health Advocates, which will occupy the majority of the space, bought the center from Ron Pelleg and David Rosen of Los Angeles. The 21540-21622 Plummer St. building was nearly vacant before the firm. The Woodland Hills Shopping Center was purchased in September for $47 million by Paragon Commercial Group of El Segundo with plans to convert the 109,292-square-foot center on Topanga Canyon Boulevard into either office or mixed-use space. The property was sold off-market by TPG Capital LP of Fort Worth, Texas.

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