$24M Office Deals Include Condo Conversion

This is one of two local office deals that have closed recently. The second was a $9.6-million sale in Los Angeles that traded at a 5.5% cap rate despite the difficult capital-markets environment.

The buyer of the 5900 Canoga Ave. building was Larkspur-based Venture Corp., according to Colliers International, which brokered the deal. The four-story, multi-tenant building was completed in 1979 and is in Warner Center, one of the largest and most popular office complexes in the San Fernando Valley.

Venture Corp. plans to rename the property Venture Warner Center, according to senior vice president John DeGrinis and vice president Roger Beck of Colliers International's Encino office, who point out that the conversion will create the first office condo suites of their kind in the area. DeGrinis and Beck represented both Venture Corp. and the seller, consumer electronics trading company Ashrad LLC of Van Nuys.

[IMGCAP(2)]In the other recently closed deal, a locally based buyer acquired a 24,110-sf multi-tenant office building at 2211 Corinth Ave. in Los Angeles from PMI Financial for $9.6 million in an off-market transaction, according to Madison Partners. The property is a three-story building on about a third of an acre, according to principal Bob Safai of Los Angeles-based Madison Partners, who represented the buyer. Safai notes that the property traded at a 5.5% cap despite the credit crunch.

Built in 1988 and renovated in 1998, Corinth Gardens is an ivy-covered Mediterranean-style building that features a landscaped courtyard with water features. Safai notes that the building offers above-standard improvements including skylights, private balconies, high ceilings and operable windows. It is in the Olympic Corridor submarket, just south of Olympic Boulevard near the Interstate 10 Freeway.