Cigna, Ratkovich Team for $115M Development

A Ratkovich affiliate and Cigna Investments formed a partnership that has purchased the interests of Lehman Brothers and Wachovia Securities, which joined Ratkovich in purchasing the property from Santa Fe International in 1999. Lehman and Wachovia owned about a 90% interest in the project. Financing for the new partnership was arranged by Houston-based LJ Melody & Co. and George Smith Partners of Century City.

Clare De Briere, Ratkovich's vice president for development., tells GlobeSt.com that the new partnership now owns 100% of the Alhambra. Ratkovich says the new partnership will provide the resources to implement the developer's long-standing master plan to turn the Alhambra into a combination of retail, recreational and, possibly, housing uses, along with the existing office space.

According to De Briere, Ratkovich will start construction soon on 37,000 sf of retail space that is slated to open in mid-2004. The company has letters of intent from Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, Red Brick Pizza and a number of other likely tenants, she says.

Within the next year, De Briere says, the developer will formulate a master plan that could include more office space and more retail, and most likely will include recreational and housing projects as well.

The Alhambra is located along Fremont Avenue immediately adjacent to the San Bernadino (10) freeway. The project consists of 20 buildings surrounding a landscaped common area. Originally constructed to house the headquarters of CF Braun Engineering, one of San Gabriel Valley's first technology companies, the campus currently is home to a roster of tenants that includes the USC Keck School of Medicine, Tenet Healthcare, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Services, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and Care 1st Health Plan.

Founded in 1985, the Ratkovich Co. has completed restoration projects including the James Oviatt Building, Fine Arts Building, Pellissier Building and the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. The company also represented the US Postal Service in the disposition of its historic 500,000-sf Terminal Annex property in 2001. Cigna Investments Inc., is a subsidiary of Cigna Corp., which is headquartered in Philadelphia. It is one of the largest publicly owned employee benefits organizations in the United States.