CIM Acquires Two Retail Properties

SANTA MONICA, CA-The CIM Group of Hollywood has acquired two retailproperties, including one near the Third Street Promenade, through its CIM Urban Real Estate Fund. The company plans to re-tenant one of them, a 52,423-sf Toys 'R' Us location at 402 Santa Monica Blvd. that the toy retailer will vacate in the spring. The other property is a 21,930-sf store at 1637 Lincoln Blvd. that is occupied by Joann's Fabrics with a lease that runs until 2006.Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed, but CIM is believed to have paid about $24 million for the Toys 'R' Us property and $6 million for the other property. In the Toys 'R' Us transaction, both the buyer and the seller were represented by Luke Palmo, John Bertram, Craig Newlands and Brian Peterson of Coldwell Banker Commercial Westmac.Shaul Kuba, principal of CIM Group, says the company was attracted to the properties both for their proximity to Third Street Promenade, one of the best retail districts in the state, as well as the continued growth along Santa Monica Boulevard near CIM's new holdings that includes a mixed-use development under construction at Fifth Street, a new public library and the recently expanded YMCA.The two-story Toys "R" Us property, built in 1995, occupies the southeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Fourth Street, adjacent to the Third Street Promenade. Toys 'R' Us will be vacating the 43,738 sf it currently occupies by April, making available a dominant retail corner in the district. Planet Action will continue to operate in its 8,640-sf space.According to Chris Kay, COO of Toys 'R' Us, the company has 13 other stores in the area and has offered jobs at the other locations to all of those who work at the Santa Monica store. The 1637 Lincoln Blvd. property, leased to Joann's Fabrics, was built in 1965. It has 130 feet of frontage on Lincoln Boulevard and 42 parking spaces.The CIM acquisitions were among three retail sites sold recently in the city. The other was a 3,813-sf building at 1131 Montana Ave. that Hollywood Holdings LLC of Los Angeles purchased from Los Angeles-based DONE Enterprises for more than $2.6 million. David Lachoff of Grubb & Ellis' West Los Angeles office represented the buyer and the seller of the two-story building, which was 100% leased at the time of sale.