Los Angeles

A private investor recently completed the acquisition of a residential asset in Encino, CA for a reported amount of $44 million. According to real estate firm Lee & Associates, the property was acquired from IMT Capital, a Sherman Oaks, CA-based company. The off-market transaction was completed with the assistance of Lee & Associates – LA North/Ventura Managing Director and Principal Jim Fisher, Lee Principal Mike Smith and Associate, Cory Stehr. The buyer was in a 1031 Exchange, and acquired the property as a long-term investment.

A Pasadena office asset was recently picked up by private real estate investment and development firm Laurus Coporation. The company announced the acquisition of 199 South Los Robles this week, which marks an expansion of Laurus into the country’s second largest office market. Pasadena is one of the best performing submarkets in Los Angeles, with the area being able to maintain a consistently low average vacancy rate over the past decade. Pasadena, along with Glendale and Burbank, is part of Tri-Cities market, one of the top three real estate markets in Los Angeles County.

The South Orange Grove Apartments recently traded hands in the Pasadena submarket. The residential property was sold for a price that exceeds the original listing price that was set at $9.5 million. South Orange Grove Apartments was acquired by a private investor from an entity of City Ventures.

A new hotel is set to take shape in Glendale, CA as R.D. Olson Construction recently announced that it has kicked off the building process for the Hampton Inn & Suites project. The Irvine, CA-based contractor is working on the hospitality facility after being employed by developer Vista Investments, LLC in order to handle construction duties. The developer of the Hampton Inn & Suites hotel has slated the project for a spring 2016 completion.

South Hills Plaza recently traded hands in a deal worth a reported $20.7 million. According to the official announcement of the transaction, the buyer was LT Global, acting as LT Holdings in the United States market, a Hong Kong-based publicly-traded investment company. The transaction was handled by CBRE Senior Vice President Philip D. Voorhees, along with a National Retail Investment Group – West team. The West Covina, CA retail center was sold by an L.A.-based partnership. The NRIG-West team consisted of Voorhees, Jimmy Slusher, Megan Read, Matt Burson, Brad Rable and John Read.

Pacific Crest Realty has completed the purchase of Alexandria Apartments in Koreatown for a fee of $6 million, in a deal brokered by Kaufman Commercial for both the buyer and the seller. Located at 435 South Alexandria Avenue, the community will be renamed as Chapman Apartments as a result of the acquisition, as a nod to Charles Chapman, a developer and philanthropist who built a residence on the site in 1915. The 1927-built apartment building offers 30 one-bedroom apartments and 19 studio units. It is located near the iconic Chapman Market, the site of the country’s first drive-through grocery back in 1929.

The U.S. Bank Tower in L.A., one of the most high-profile office properties in the downtown area was recently awarded Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Existing Buildings Rating System. The building is currently under the ownership of OUE Limited, while property management duties are being handled by international real estate firm Hines. Tenants at the U.S. Bank Tower include names such as U.S. Bank, Hinshaw & Culbertson, Regus, and the Special Olympics.

The Pebblebrook Hotel Trust recently announced the acquisition of a Los Angeles-area hospitality venue, expanding its SoCal upper upscale hotel portfolio. According to a recently issued press statement, the buyer paid a fee of $78.7 million for the Hotel Palomar Los Angeles – Westwood. The property is the 33rd to be added to the Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, and the fifth investment completed by the company in the city of Los Angeles.