LOS ANGELES—Rent growth may be slowing in the Southern California markets, according to the latest report, which shows that multifamily rent growth has now slowed for two months in a row after a prolonged period of growth. This slowdown, however, isn't detouring investors, which are still actively investing in the market. Read below to find out more projects, reports and industry trends from the week.

BY THE NUMBERS

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA—Multifamily rent growth in the Southern California markets or Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire slowed in the month of November. This is the second consecutive month of slowed rent growth after six straight months of strong rent performance.

(SOURCE: AXIOMETRICS)

NEW & NOTABLE

LOS ANGELES—Carrier Johnson + CULTURE has added architect J.K. Lim to its roster of veteran designers and its expanding Los Angeles practice. Lim has more than 25 years of professional project experience in design and project management in the multi-family residential, mixed-use, and commercial sectors, and joins Carrier Johnson + CULTURE as a senior project manager. The majority of Lim's considerable experience in the architecture profession has been in senior project management roles, though he has also served as designer, senior project architect, and principal.

SANTA ANA, CA—The SVA Architects-designed Quartz Hill Library has achieved a LEED Gold Certification. The development team, which includes SVA Architects and Griffin|Swinerton, worked to dramatically exceed the minimum requirement to certify the new library LEED Silver. The $12 million Quartz Hill Public Library replaces a 3,500-square-foot facility, which the community had outgrown. The new 12,514-square-foot library is set on a 1.7-acre, campus-like environment and features public gathering spaces; outdoor courtyards; adult, teen and children's reading areas; and a 100-seat community meeting room with audio/visual equipment. The new library also includes an early childhood/family area, a homework center, two group study rooms, express checkout machines, informational pods, vending machines, staff areas, and public restrooms.

SAN DIEGO— The Christmas holiday season just became a whole lot merrier for 14 San Diego nonprofit organizations that were recipients of $17,000 worth of donations made by all 45 employees of Cavignac & Associates, a downtown San Diego-based risk management and insurance brokerage firm. The donations were distributed from Cavignac & Associates' Employee Charity Fund, a program established 17 years ago to enable individual employees to support and uphold the company's mission to be an “effective corporate citizen” by donating both time and money to nonprofit organizations that most deserve support. Employees are given the option to participate by having specific amounts deducted from their paychecks throughout the year. As in past years, 100% of the employees pitched in.

DEAL TRACKER

IRVINE, CA—Westlake Spectrum, a five-building office park in Westlake Village, California, has sold for $23.1 million to Majestic Asset Management, an investor that has completed nearly $100 million in transactions during 2016. CBRE's Mike Longo, Todd Tydlaska, Sean Sullivan, Michael Slater and Tom Dwyer represented the buyer and the seller. CBRE ran a broad marketing process that was able to create strong interest in the property, producing multiple offers. The property, located at 31355 and 31365 Oak Crest Drive, and 4333, 4353 and 4373 Park Terrace Drive, houses more than 20 tenants. It sits within a half mile from the Four Seasons Hotel and near many of the area's major shopping centers.

LOS ANGELES—Harbor Associates and the Bascom Group have partnered to purchase a two-property flex office portfolio totaling 160,000 square feet in Thousand Oaks. The sales price was not disclosed, but the buyers did say that it is the cheapest transaction per-square-foot since 2001 in the market. In fact, the sales price is a 36% discount to the previous 13 building transactions this cycle and a 48% discount to the previous 17 building transactions last cycle. The portfolio is currently 78% leased to six different tenants, and the buyers are planning to reposition and lease-up the asset through a comprehensive rebranding and renovation program that includes a fresh multi-color paint scheme, modern lobbies, drought tolerant landscaping package, along with new building and project signage.

IRVINE, CA— WNC has closed WNC California Preservation Equity Fund, an institutional fund The fund will aim to acquire and preserve $120 million of affordable housing communities. To date, WNC has invested equity from the fund into the preservation of five low-income housing communities in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Madera. Combined, the five properties offer 507 affordable housing units to seniors and families. WNC California Preservation Equity Fund is anticipated to be fully invested by the fourth quarter of 2017. The fund is structured to provide investors a cash-on-cash return.

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LOS ANGELES—George Smith Partners has arranged $34.4 million in refinancing for Crenshaw Imperial Plaza in Inglewood on behalf of its clients, NewMark Merrill Companies and Upside Investments, according to George Smith Partners' Principal Steve Bram, who along with SVP David Pascale and Analyst Ali Akbar, secured the financing. Originally constructed in the early 1960s, Crenshaw Imperial Plaza is currently a mixed-use center consisting of 238,000 square feet of retail and a 67,000-square-foot office building. The property is located at a high-traffic intersection with more than 60,000 cars per day, directly off the 105 Freeway at Imperial Highway and Crenshaw Boulevard.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ—LVA Urban Design Studio has broken ground on a luxury, mid-rise condominium complex designed to feel like an urban cul-de-sac set on the “quiet side” of Main Street in downtown Scottsdale. Main Street Place's 12 condos—averaging 2,400 square foot each—are located on the upper three floors, with a smartly designed common area on the second floor featuring a hot and cold spa/plunge pool, community room with kitchen and meeting space, a fitness studio with sliding doors for open air workouts, and an expansive outdoor deck for private parties or community gatherings with a large fire pit and two commercial barbecue gas grills. According to Bob Nathan of Engels-Voelkers, the brokerage firm handling the project's sales, among the most popular amenities is the 575 square-foot average sized patio that comes with each condo, complete with collapsing doors and windows that open to the patio area.

BUILDING BLOCKS

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—Marriott International has named R.D. Olson Development as Development Partner of the Year at the hotelier's Full Service Owners Conference in Washington D.C on Nov. 30 through Dec. 2, 2016. The prominent national award honors companies with outstanding accomplishments in the hotel industry that develop upscale full-service hotels that stand above the rest. The firm has several projects underway for in 2017, including the 130-room Lido House Hotel in Newport Beach, California, and a 271-room full-service Irvine Spectrum Marriott in Irvine, a 118-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Goleta, California as well as a 204-room Residence Inn by Marriott Silicon Valley in San Carlos, California.
GLENDALE, AZ—Rendina Healthcare Real Estate has completed completion of a 62,835-square-foot medical office building on the Dignity Health St. Joseph's Westgate Medical Center campus in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale. The new state-of-the-art MOB will provide patients improved access to the highest quality health services in the area. As an extension of the hospital, the new MOB includes multispecialty office space for physician practices, including the Dignity Health Medical Group. Rendina embraced Dignity's “Hello Humankindness” initiative, which focuses on humanity and kindness as vehicles to improving the healing process and quality of everyday life. Various aspects of kindness are integrated into the design and operations of the facility. To create a place for tranquility and peace, a healing garden was creatively placed between the new hospital and the MOB. Arizona-inspired landscaping and a contemporary water feature bring a sense of tranquility and peace to visitors in the garden. Shade sails, aromatic plants and comfortable seating provide a place of respite in an environment that promotes personal, psychological, and spiritual wellness for patients, visitors and staff.

BY THE NUMBERS

(SOURCE: AXIOMETRICS)

NEW & NOTABLE

DEAL TRACKER

PHOTO

BUILDING BLOCKS

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