RENTV News Headline
10.11.04
In a deal that closed on the first of October,
Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Enterprises LLP has just acquired a
majority interest in a 148.7k sf Class B office building at 626
Wilshire Blvd in downtown Los Angeles. De la Hoya purchased the stake
from Barker Pacific Group (BPG) and together, along with Christopher
Rising of Rising Real Estate Group, formed a new real estate
partnership called Golden Boy Wilshire LLP. Rising also acquired a
minority interest in the building, which was valued at $16 mil, or
about $108/sf, in this deal.
BPG acquired the building from AEW for about $8.5
mil last October when it was less than 40% leased, but since then they
have been on a leasing tear, as Michael Barker, managing director of
the Los Angeles-based development company said, “For the last
twelve months we have been quickly leasing the available space in the
building and we saw an opportunity to capitalize on the value our team
created by increasing the tenancy to over 80 percent,”
The 12-story building is located on the corner of
Hope St and Wilshire Blvd, about three blocks from the Harbor
Freeway/Interstate 110 in the heart of the financial district of
downtown Los Angeles.
Barker is retaining a reduced ownership position in
the property, and will continue to manage it as well as retain its
offices in the building. Handling the leasing will be Rising’s
firm, called The Rising Real Estate Group. Adding to the ownership
party at the building is the fact that the de la Hoya’s firm,
Golden Boy Enterprises, will relocate to into 5.5k sf at the property
next month from Library Tower, at 533 West 5th St. Other tenants in the
building include Telehouse, Gianelli & Morris, Wescom Credit Union,
Consensus Planning Group, and Nextel of California. The rest of the
tenant roster includes a number of law firms and other professional
service companies.
The building, originally designed by Langdon Wilson
and built in 1967, was renovated in 2002 under the direction of
architect Scott Johnson of Johnson Fain Partners. Johnson is renowned
for his architectural design work at
Fox Tower, 1999 Avenue of the Stars and MGM Tower
in Los Angeles, and Rincon Plaza in San Francisco. The modern
renovations included a sleek new main entrance and lobby with
translucent glass walls, rich wood framed portals and redesigned
security console with stainless steel and marble finishes.
Barker Pacific Group Inc is a 20-year-old firm that
has completed or has under development or redevelopment in excess of $1
billion in commercial projects, including the award winning Hamilton
Landing, a 550k sf Class-A office conversion project on Hamilton Air
Force Base in Marin County. Several of Barker Pacific Group's other
notable projects include: 100 First Plaza and 500 Sansome Street in San
Francisco, The Fine Arts Building and 5055 Wilshire Boulevard in Los
Angeles, the Xerox Centre in El Segundo, and The Miami Arena and
Columbus Center in South Florida.
This deal could be an appetizer for a few larger
courses to follow. As Andy Fixmer of the LABJ noted a few editions ago,
several sizable properties are now on the market in downtown LA.
Sumitimo Life Realty hired Cushman & Wakefield’s David
Hasbrouck, Richard Plummer and Anthony Gatti to market 1000 Wilshire
Blvd, the stylish 471k sf office building hovering over the 110 Fwy
with the Wedbush Morgan sign at its peak. Sumitomo picked up this asset
in 1999 for $73 mil and Fixmer suggests it might command as much as
$100 mil, or $212/sf. Wedbush occupies 113k sf pursuant to a lease with
seven years left. Another large tenant is the law firm of Buchalter
Nemer Fields & Younger, which this year committed to 70k sf here
for 10 years at an average effective rent of roughly $2.38/sf/mo FSG.
Other properties being shopped include: Figueroa
Plaza, the asset the City of LA almost bought and then decided not
too… again, which is owned by Northridge Capital who has it
listed with Secured Capital; Transamerica Tower, the 32-story
high-rise, which is owned by Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund LP and is being
marketed by CB Richard Ellis; and the Hyatt hotel on Hope, which is
being shopped by Cargill, who bought it as part of the mixed use
complex at 7th and Flower that contains the hotel, the Macy’s
Plaza mall and the 700 S. Flower St office building. Secured Capital
and Kennedy-Wilson are both handling the hotel listing.
