As we near the end of the year, many are hurrying to close deals before the final bells tolls. This week, acquisitions from Phoenix, Los Angeles and Orange County topped came through, as well as a handful of lease transactions. While constructions starts have taken a pause at the yearend, however the City Council has selected Peebles Corporation, MacFarlane Partners and Claridge Properties to build Angles Landing Site, the tallest building in the Western US. Here's a look at this week's trends, announcements and deals that you may have missed in Southern California, Utah, Arizona and Nevada.

NEW &NOTABLE

LOS ANGELES—Pircher, Nichols & Meeks LLP has hired Krista Dyer as an associate in the Los Angeles office. Prior to joining Pircher, Dyer worked as a summer associate at Kilometer Partners and as a law clerk at the Ventura County Public Defender's Office. Dyer also was a legal assistant for the Law Offices of Vincent Martinelli and the King County Bar Association.

LOS ANGELES— Caruso has hired Peter Wilhelm to Chief Financial Officer. Wilhelm will lead all aspects of the company's financial, tax, and accounting operations. Wilhelm comes to Caruso from Novita Ventures, a consulting firm, where he served as founder & CEO, advising companies in finance, operations, and investments. Previously, Wilhelm served as Chief Financial Officer for the Los Angeles Dodgers where he played an integral role in the 2004 purchase of the Dodgers. From 2004 to 2012, Wilhelm was part of the critical team responsible for doubling revenue; improving EBITDA by more than $80 million and completing $150 million in renovations to Dodger Stadium, resulting in the highest sales price ever achieved for a sports franchise in 2012.

DEALTRACKER

LAS VEGAS—David Blum, SVP/senior director of NorthMarq Capital's Los Angeles regional office, negotiated the $17.2 million refinance of a 117,914-square-foot retail plaza located on Horizon Ridge in Henderson, Nevada. The transaction was structured with a 10-year term on a 30-year amortization schedule.

LOS ANGELES, CA—Lionstone Investments has secured a $57.2 million in financing for two mixed-use properties and two creative office assets totaling 126,598 square feet in Santa Monica, California.  The properties are located at 401 Santa Monica Boulevard, 1347 4th Street, 625 Arizona Avenue and 2415 Michigan Avenue. HFF secured the funding on behalf of the borrower, Lionstone Investments. The loan has a 15-year, 3.74%, fixed-rate refinancing for 625 Arizona, 401 Santa Monica Boulevard and 1347 4th Street through Principal Real Estate Investors. Principal provided a 15-year, floating-rate loan for 2415 Michigan Avenue. The HFF debt placement team representing the borrower included managing director Mark Wintner.

SAN DIEGO— Freedom Solar has signed a new, 88-month, 21,365-square-foot flex/ industrial lease on behalf of Freedom Solar in Temecula, CA. Freedom Solar, which will use the space as its headquarters, will be relocating and expanding to its new space in March 2018. Its current location is in Murrieta and totals approximately 8,000 square feet. Avison Young Principal Stan Nowak represented the tenant, while Avison Young Principal Corey Martin represented the landlord, Johnson Asset Management, LLC. Nowak and Martin are both based in the company's San Diego office.

LOS ANGELES— KeyBank Real Estate Capital has originated a $43.3 million first mortgage loan for FedEx Arcadia, located in Arcadia, CA. The Class A, single tenant distribution warehouse facility consists of 376,466 square feet and was built in 2017. The property includes a distribution warehouse building, a vehicle maintenance garage and a gateway building. The tenant, FedEx, occupies 100 percent of the building. Jake Proctor of Key's Commercial Mortgage Group arranged the arranged the financing through a life company relationship and is structured with a fully amortizing 15-year term. The loan was used to refinance existing debt.

LAGUNA HILLS—Retail Opportunity Investment Corporation (ROIC) has acquired The Village at Nellie Gail Ranch from Vintage Real Estate.  ROIC paid $46 million for the South Orange County center. JLL's Dave Monahan, Geoff Tranchina and Cameron Pittman represented Vintage Real Estate in the transaction. ROIC represented itself. The Village at Nellie Gail Ranch is a 88,486-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center located at 26532-62 Moulton Parkway in Laguna Hills, California.   Developed in 1987 and renovated in 2015, the center is anchored by Smart & Final Extra and 98.3 percent occupied by a diverse mix of tenants including MOD Pizza, Chuck E. Cheese's, Cycle Bar and BLS Nail Resort.

PHOENIX—Cushman & Wakefield announced that Westport Capital Partners of Wilton, Conn. sold Pinnacle Park Business Center, located at 1125 W. Pinnacle Peak Road in Phoenix, to Libitizky Property Companies of Emeryville, Calif. for $14.847 million. Bob Buckley, Tracy Cartledge and Steve Lindley of Cushman & Wakefield negotiated the transaction on behalf of the seller.

LOS ANGELES—Olive Hill Group is acquiring 520 Broadway, a class-A office building encompassing 112,987 square feet in Downtown Santa Monica, for $117 million. Constructed in 1981, the 520 Broadway office building underwent $13.2 million in renovations in 2013.  At the time of Olive Hill's acquisition, the asset was 82 percent occupied.

CARLSBAD, CA—Meridian Capital Group, America's most active dealmaker, arranged $68 million in bridge financing for a class-A office building located in the North Hollywood (NoHo) area of Los Angeles, CA, on behalf of J.H. Snyder Company.

Meridian Senior Managing Director, Seth Grossman, Vice President, Jackie Tran, who are based in Meridian's Carlsbad, CA office, and Vice President, Steve Edelstein, who is based in Meridian's New York City headquarters, negotiated this transaction.

IRVINE—The Bascom Group has acquired Boulder View Apartments, a 68-unit infill class “A” apartment community located in the vibrant city of Boulder, Colorado. The $18.97 Million acquisition ($278,985/unit) closed on December 19, 2017. David Potarf, Dan Woodward, and Matt Barnett of CBRE were the listing brokers for the sale. Brian Eisendrath of CBRE arranged the $13.3 million loan with California Bank & Trust. Since 2005, Bascom and its affiliates have acquired thirty-two multifamily properties in the Colorado market, totaling 10,782 units. Over the past twelve months Bascom has completed over $1.8 Billion in multifamily transactions throughout the United States.

LAS VEGAS—JLL's Capital Markets has arranged the sale of two multifamily communities in Las Vegas on behalf of a partnership between AEW Capital Management, on behalf of one of its separate account clients, and Alliance Residential Company. LivCor purchased the portfolio, which includes Broadstone Talavera and Broadstone Flamingo West, for $115 million. Executive Vice Presidents John Cunningham and Charles Steele led the JLL team on the transaction.

TUCSON, ARIZONA—VP David Blanchette, CCIM, of the NAI Horizon Tucson office, negotiated the $1.115 million acquisition of a restaurant, vacant building, and leased parking space at 2902-2952 E. Speedway Blvd., in Tucson.

NAI Horizon represented the seller, the Elizabeth McCuistion Living Trust of Ladera Ranch, Calif., in the transaction that includes 4,505 SF of improvements (2,633 SF vacant building; 1,872 SF leased restaurant) and 23,092 SF (.53 acres) of leased parking space.

TUCSON, ARIZONA—VP David Blanchette, CCIM, of the NAI Horizon Tucson office, negotiated the $1.115 million acquisition of a restaurant, vacant building, and leased parking space at 2902-2952 E. Speedway Blvd., in Tucson. NAI Horizon represented the seller, the Elizabeth McCuistion Living Trust of Ladera Ranch, Calif., in the transaction that includes 4,505 SF of improvements (2,633 SF vacant building; 1,872 SF leased restaurant) and 23,092 SF (.53 acres) of leased parking space.

LOS ANGELES, CA—290 Markham Street, a 475,235-square-foot, newly developed, fully leased, state-of-the-art industrial warehouse in the Inland Empire community of Perris, California has traded hands between Circle Industrial and Heitman LLC purchased the asset. 290 Markham Street was developed by the seller in 2017. The one-building facility is fully leased to TechStyle, an e-commerce fashion company, and features 112 dock doors, 153 trailer stalls, 36-foot clear heights and a low office finish at 1.26 percent of the square footage.  The property's location provides easy access to Perris Boulevard, the main arterial serving Perris and Moreno Valley, in addition to Interstate 215 and State Road 60, which provide access to the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which are 75 and 81 miles from the property.  290 Markham Street is situated on 24.26 acres in the Inland Empire, one of the most robust markets in the country. The HFF investment advisory team representing the seller included Andrew Briner, Anthony Brent and Ryan Martin.

SAN DIEGO—JELD-WEN has signed a long-term lease extension for 194,734-square-feet at the North County Corporate Center in Vista, Calif. The Charlotte, NC-headquartered company is fully leasing two buildings within the prominent multi-building industrial center that is owned by Barings Real Estate Advisors. Aric Starck and Dennis Visser of Cushman & Wakefield's San Diego office represented the landlord and Darren Morgan also of Cushman & Wakefield's San Diego office represented the tenant.

PHOENIX, Dec. 20, 2017 – Cushman & Wakefield completed the sale of The Vintage, located at 1303 West Juniper Avenue in Gilbert, Ariz. Pathfinder Gilbert Holdings II, LLC of San Diego purchased the property from Clear Sky Vintage L.P., an entity formed by Phoenix-based Clear Sky Capital, for $18.55 million. Executive Managing Directors David Fogler and Steven Nicoluzakis of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.

SAN DIEGO—CBRE Hotels arranged the sale of the 178-room Radisson Hotel San Diego-Rancho Bernardo, located at 11520 West Bernardo Court in San Diego, California for an undisclosed price. CBRE Hotels represented the seller, an affiliate of San Diego-based Pinnacle Hotels USA Inc., while the buyer, KASHL Corp, represented itself. The buyer has selected RAR Hospitality to manage the hotel. Opening in 1989, the three-story hotel sits on 3.61 acres and offers approximately 4,000 square feet of meeting space, an outdoor pool in an interior courtyard, and provides guests with food and beverage service through its C3 Restaurant and Bar. Bob Kaplan and Rod Apodaca of CBRE Hotels acted as exclusive agents for the sellers. Additionally, Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Apodaca recently brokered the sales of the 207-room Comfort Suites and Holiday Inn Express San Diego-Mira Mesa, the 150-room Hyatt Place San Diego/Vista-Carlsbad, the 121-room Hampton Inn & Suites Santa Ana/Orange County Airport, and a long-term ground lease for a hotel development site in Orange, California.

IRVINE—The Bascom Group, LLC has acquired Boulder View Apartments, a 68-unit infill class “A” apartment community located in the vibrant city of Boulder, Colorado. The $18.97 Million acquisition ($278,985/unit) closed on December 19, 2017.  David Potarf, Dan Woodward, and Matt Barnettof CBRE were the listing brokers for the sale. Brian Eisendrath of CBRE arranged the $13.3 million loan with California Bank & Trust. Since 2005, Bascom and its affiliates have acquired thirty-two multifamily properties in the Colorado market, totaling 10,782 units. Over the past twelve months Bascom has completed over $1.8 Billion in multifamily transactions throughout the United States. Built in 2014, Boulder View is located just minutes from downtown Boulder and surrounding recreational areas, offering a serene location with convenient access to employment and entertainment. Boulder is home to the University of Colorado-Boulder, and frequently receives accolades in wellbeing, quality of life and education; it was also recently ranked the number one happiest place to live in the United States by National Geographic.  The eclectic town has a very affluent demographic with average household income of $122,753, and 73% of the population holding a Bachelor's degree or higher. The property's proximity to top employers like Google, IBM, Qualcomm, Medtronic, and Lockheed Martin makes it an attractive living option for Boulder residents.

PHOENIX—The Addison apartments at 6525 N. 15th Ave. in Central Phoenix have been sold to a Colorado investor for $7 million. The private equity firm is expanding its portfolio of assets with this, its first Phoenix acquisition. Hudson, Trevor Koskovich and Bill Hahn negotiated the sale transaction. GR Capital Partners,

LLP, a Colorado limited liability partnership purchased the property from Palos Verde Phoenix LLC, an Oregon limited liability company.

LOS ANGELES—NKF Capital Markets has completed the sale of the $35.5 million of 898 Sepulveda, an eight-story 89,000-square-foot office property that is 98 percent leased and a six-level parking structure leased to Central Parking in El Segundo, a city within the South Bay submarket of Los Angeles. This was an off-market transaction. NKF Capital Markets President, West Coast Kevin Shannon, Executive Managing Director Ken White and Managing Director Michael Moore represented the seller, TA Associates. The buyer, a joint venture of Stanton Road Capital and Second City was self-represented. NKF Capital Markets Executive Managing Director David Milestone arranged the financing on behalf of the buyer.

BUILDING BLOCKS

LOS ANGELES—Angels Landing Partners LLC, a 100% minority-owned team comprised of the Peebles Corporation, MacFarlane Partners and Claridge Properties, has been selected by the City Council of the City of Los Angeles, California to manage development of the coveted Angels Landing Site, and will build the tallest building in the Western US as part of the plan. Following a unanimous approval from the City of Los Angeles Economic Development Committee, the full City Council approved the approach by the team to develop the 2.24-acre site at Fourth and Hill Streets. The estimated budget, including acquisition, is $1.2 billion with a construction phase expected to run for 41 months with completion due in late 2024.