Real Estate Firm Expands Here, Buys First Property

An East Coast investment company closed on a North Hollywood industrial building in its first investment as a principal in Southern California. Penwood Real Estate Investment Management in Hartford, Conn. bought a 48,204- square-foot building on 2.35 acres at 12222 Sherman Way in North Hollywood from the trust of Ronald E. Snow in Palm Desert, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers International in Encino. The price was $7.25 million, according to real estate database firm CoStar Realty Information Inc. The trust bought the property in 2006 for $5.8 million, according to CoStar. Colliers is also handling leasing, with asking rates of 92 cents a square foot for a triple-net lease, or one in which tenants pay their portion of property taxes, insurance and common area maintenance. The property is Penwood’s first acquisition in Southern California as a principal in a deal. It recently opened a Los Angeles office in order to expand here. The company’s prior experience in Southern California has been as a partner providing capital for deals, according to Colliers. Penwood is renovating the building, which was built in 1976, by putting on a new roof, upgrading the parking lot and making other improvements. The property sits adjacent to the 170 Freeway. Colliers Senior Executive Vice President John DeGrinis, Senior Vice President Patrick DuRoss and Vice President Jeff Abraham represented both parties on the deal.