Buyer Bets on Higher Rents in Office Building

Denver-based real estate private equity firm Ascentris has acquired Tri-Center Plaza, a six-story, 143,000 square-foot office building located at 5990 Sepulveda Blvd. in Van Nuys, for an as-of-yet undisclosed price. Nationwide real estate developer Monday Properties, which assisted Ascentris in the acquisition of the property, will serve as the asset manager, overseeing the management and leasing of the property. Ascentris Managing Director Bobby Ghiselli and Monday Properties Managing Partner Phil Cyburt oversaw the deal. Brad Zampa, Sean Sullivan, Michael Longo and Megan Woodring of CBRE provided capital market advisory services in procuring both equity and debt. Matt Heyn and Caitlin Hoffman of CBRE will lease the property and Davis Partners will serve as the on-site property manager. Ascentris’ plan for Tri-Center will involve renovations and an aggressive leasing strategy. Planned upgrades will include the building’s exterior, amenities and wayfinding, as well as a modernization of the property’s common areas. “The Los Angeles suburban office market is projected to experience rent growth of 3.4 percent per year for the next five years, as compared to a national average of 2.3 percent. With no available land parcels entitled for office development and limited supply projected to be delivered in the next five years in the Central San Fernando Valley micro-market, Ascentris believes Tri-Center Plaza is well positioned to capture a meaningful portion of the projected rent growth,” Ascentris and Monday said in a joint statement. “This investment is consistent with what Ascentris currently finds attractive,” Ascentris’s Ghiselli said in the statement. “We are actively acquiring high-quality, well-located suburban office properties because we believe the sector is still early in its cyclical recovery, particularly in markets with structurally high population and employment densities.” Built in 1990, the building, which until recently has been owned and managed by Kennedy-Wilson, has amenities that include an athletic club, a deli, full-time security, structured single-stall parking (with separate visitor lot), and on-site management. The 65 percent-leased property’s tenants include Cherokee Global Brands, White Flag Development and workers’ compensation defense law firm Mullen & Filippi. According to Costar Group, the building has annually received an Energy Star label for its operating efficiency from 2015 to 2017. “In sourcing this deal off market, we are delighted in getting this acquisition completed,” Monday’s Cyburt said in the statement. “We are confident this will be a great investment for Ascentris and our team looks forward to assisting in executing our business plan in what is becoming the tightest tenant-leased submarket in Los Angeles.” Mobile Home Milestone A West Hills mobile park is the first such property to receive a loan under Fannie Mae’s Green Rewards Program, according to New York-based Hunt Mortgage Group. Summit Mobile Home Park will receive $33.6 million, with $2.5 million of the loan applied toward installing solar panels to increase energy efficiency. The loan term will span 15 years with five years of interest-only payments. Summit is a 203-pad manufactured housing community located at 24425 Woolsey Canyon Road. Property amenities include a clubhouse, tennis courts, swimming pool and spa, and 456 parking spaces. Quantum Capital Partners in Beverly Hills arranged the financing. Fannie Mae’s Green Rewards Program provides lower interest rates for re-financings of properties that include energy-efficient appliances, low-flow toilets or solar energy systems, according to the agency’s website. Rex’s $15 Million Rex Real Estate Exchange has secured $15 million in Series B funding. The Woodland Hills company, an online agency that sells homes without using MLS listings, said it grew 300 percent last year and has plans for further growth this year. The company has raised a total of $30 million, mostly from big-name investors including Scott McNealy, co-founder and former chief executive of Sun Microsystems; Dick Schulze, founder of Best Buy Co. Inc.; Gordon Segal, founder of Crate and Barrel; Amit Singhal, former senior vice president at Google Inc.; and Jack Greenberg, former chief executive at McDonald’s Corp. “Our all-star investors and world class management team are deeply committed to improving the real estate industry,” Jack Ryan, Rex’s chief executive, said in a statement. Rex’s business model provides a digital alternative for selling homes. It is a licensed brokerage and charges a 2-percent flat fee rather than the traditional 5 to 6 percent while avoiding the costs associated with the Multiple Listing Service, according to the company. Staff Reporter Michael Aushenker can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or [email protected]