PASADENA, CA-A 28,072-sf retail property that is anchored by one of the few Tiffany's stores in the Southland generated interest among investors from around the globe, with the winning bid of $37 million coming from an overseas group financed by Anglo Irish Bank. Carlos Lopez of Irvine-based Reza Investment Group tells GlobeSt.com that the property, at 64 Colorado Ave. in the heart of Old Town Pasadena, attracted a dozen bids from prospective buyers who saw the asset as a unique opportunity in a retail district that has been attracting a growing number of top national and international retailers.
"This is one of the hottest deals I've seen as a broker in at least a couple of years," says Lopez, SVP and director of Reza Investment Group Inc.'s Urban Division. "When Tiffany's came in about six months ago, it stamped this as one of the best retail districts in Southern California."
The retail property, formerly a United Artists theater, was redeveloped by the seller in 2005 and is part of a contiguous stretch of storefront retail space. Besides Tiffany & Co., it is leased to Abercrombie & Fitch and the Swedish retailer H&M, which chose Pasadena for one of its first stores on the West Coast.
The buyers acquired the property from CIM/64 W. Colorado LP, a Los Angeles-based investment group, with Reza Investment Group representing both the buyer and the seller. Tony Campbell, president and CEO of Anglo Irish Bank-North America, says the strong market and credit tenants appealed to the buyers, who are looking for long term capital appreciation and who own other West Coast properties.
Lopez tells GlobeSt.com that the property's location at the corner of Colorado and DeLacy avenues is part of a burgeoning Old Town Pasadena retail district. He sees strong potential for upside in rents in the district.
"Old Town Pasadena was already successful five years ago, but now it has shifted into a higher gear," Lopez comments. He says the district has benefited from the overall development in the area as well as the addition of 3,000 new residential units, many of them condominiums and lofts.
Reza Etedali, CEO of Reza Investment Group, notes that the buyer completed due diligence in under a week and closed in 21 days. Many of the bidders, Lopez notes, were investors who already own upscale retail properties elsewhere and sought to snag the Pasadena property.
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