IDS Acquires 68,000-SF Office Property

Rob Fuelling, director of marketing for Downtown Los Angeles-based IDS, cites single-digit office space vacancy rates in Pasadena's financial district and the difficulty of reproducing such prime real estate in a mature market like Pasadena. IDS bought the 68,000-sf building, which is at 80 S. Lake St., through IDS Realty JV.

The new IDS asset is a class A, four-story steel frame and glass structure is built over a four-story parking structure accommodating more than 200 cars. Fuelling and Dan Sibson, principal for IDS, were the buyer's representatives in the transaction and will manage and market the remaining space in a building that is 92% occupied. CB Richard Ellis brokers Tom Bohlinger and Mark Perry in the firm's Downtown Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks offices, respectively, represented the sellers.

Fuelling notes that Wells Fargo Bank and Starbucks are notable tenants, both occupying high identity ground floor space. He says that IDS targeted the building based on what many believe to be the premier intersection along the Lake Avenue business corridor.

The site is close to numerous restaurants, financial services and other amenities. "You simply cannot reproduce such a building today in one of the strongest submarkets in Southern California," Fuelling says. He adds that the 80 S. Lake Building underscores IDS' confidence in the Pasadena office market and complements the company's Crown City Center.

The Crown City Center is a new six-story 230,000-sf office building about three blocks north at the southwest corner of Lake Avenue and Walnut Street that is designed for larger tenants. The 80 S. Lake Building is tailored to multi-tenant use for smaller tenants, he says.

The other Pasadena trade reported this week on GlobeSt.com was the purchase of the 231,000-sf Pasadena Tech Center office building at 465 Halstead St. by Broadreach Capital Partners for $39.3 million. Like IDS, Broadreach sees Pasadena as a very desirable office market, according to David Simon, Broadreach managing director and head of the company's Southern California operations.