Southwest Renews for $47M

ALHAMBRA, CA-Southwest Administrators, which administers health plans for a number of organizations, has signed a new $47.2-million lease that renews for 70,802 sf the Ratkovich Co.’s one-million-sf Alhambra complex. The new agreement adds 10 years to the two and three quarter years that remained on Southwest Administrators’ former lease, according to Wayne Ratkovich, president of the Ratkovich Co., which developed the Alhambra complex and owns it in partnership with Cigna.

The Alhambra is the headquarters location for Southwest, which is a 50-year-old third party administrator of health benefit plans for union members and their families, as well as for a variety of trust funds, covering more than 190,000 members. The company has been a tenant at the Alhambra since 1997.

Linda Lee and Brendan Monaghan of the Downtown Los Angeles office of Grubb & Ellis are the leasing agents for the Alhambra and represented the building ownership. Southwest was represented by Leonard Bailes of Bailes and Associates.

The Alhambra, situated on Fremont Avenue immediately north of Mission Avenue, is home to the Keck School of Medicine of USC, Tenet Healthcare, SBC, the County of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the county’s Department of Health Services, among others. Southwest Administrators’ offices are at 1000 S. Fremont Ave. in the 45-acre campus. The company occupies four floors of a five-story building on the 20-building campus, which overall is 94% leased.

Last year, the Alhambra added a new 17,750-sf retail center called the Shops at the Alhambra. The 2.2-acre retail project was designed to draw customers both from the office development and from nearby neighborhoods.