Harbor, Gemdale JV Buys $30M LA Office Campus

Agoura Hills Business Park. Image courtesy of Harbor Associates

A joint venture between Harbor Associates and Gemdale USA has acquired Agoura Hills Business Park, a low-rise office campus in Agoura Hills, Calif., for $29.7 million, in an off-market transaction.

The acquisition represents a recapitalization of the 113,991-square-foot property that Harbor Associates purchased for $22 million in January 2020 alongside its original joint venture partner, a Kansas City-based real estate investment firm, which now exits the investment after meeting its business plan.

Built in 1987, the property features two two-story office buildings around a central plaza. The campus underwent a cosmetic renovation in 2004. A portion of the property, which covers 6 acres, has since been converted into lab space.

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Agoura Hills Business Park offers a total of 193 parking spaces, with a ratio of 3.8 spaces per 1,000 square feet. Tenants include IBM, Informa Research Services, Relation Insurance Services and Amplio. According to Tim Nguyen, Gemdale’s Executive Director and Head of Acquisitions, Harbor has managed to increase the property’s occupancy to 94 percent, despite the COVID-19 headwinds, by attracting life science groups.

Located at 30401-30501 Agoura Road, the property sits at the eastern edge of the Conejo Valley, which is home to Amgen and other major life science and biotech firms and start-ups. The office campus fronts Ventura Freeway, offering easy access into Los Angeles.

Matt Heyn and Caitlin Hoffman of CBRE will lease the property on behalf of the joint venture. Andrew Harper, Will Poulsen, Matt McRoskey and Chad Solomon of JLL represented the seller in the transaction.

Set on niche office conversion

Last month, Gemdale sold the 3.5-acre Hollywood Media Campus, which is fully leased to Netflix, for $93 million. According to Lisa Colacurcio, Gemdale’s managing director & head of fund management, the company’s planned second value-add fund is focused on niche office conversion, which includes the life science sector.