Maguire to Acquire Plaza in Downtown L.A.

LOS ANGELES-Maguire Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust, has entered into an agreement to acquire One California Plaza in Los Angeles from Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.

The purchase price is approximately $225 million, which will be funded through cash on hand and a $146.3 million, seven-year mortgage loan at a fixed interest rate of 4.73%. The acquisition is expected to close next month.

One California Plaza is a 42-story, Class A building located at 300 South Grand Ave. in the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles. The property is immediately across from Maguire Properties' Wells Fargo Center. Arthur Erickson designed the building.

The property totals approximately 975,000 sq. ft. of office and retail space as well as approximately 1,200 parking stalls.

The building is approximately 92% leased and is occupied by national tenants such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Bank of the West, Riordan & McKenzie and Deutsche Bank.

The property is subject to a ground lease with the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, with a 79-year remaining term.

Robert F. Maguire III, chairman and co-CEO of Maguire Properties, said the acquisition of One California Plaza is consistent with his firm's strategy of expanding ownership in the Bunker Hill sub-market.

"Upon completion of this transaction, we will own approximately 6.2 million sq. ft. and over 60% of the office space in the prime Bunker Hill market," Maguire said. "The excellent quality of the building is complementary to our portfolio."

"We estimate that the purchase price is about 65% of replacement cost and the in-place rents are 20% under the rents we are achieving in our other buildings." Maguire added. "We believe that we should be able to achieve operating savings through consolidation with our total portfolio."

Maguire Properties currently owns four major office properties aggregating 5.2 million sq. ft. on Bunker Hill: US Bank Tower, Gas Co. Tower, Wells Fargo Tower and KPMG Tower.

CT Realty Acquires 7.4 Acres in Mission Viejo Business Park

NEWPORT BEACH-CT Realty Corp. has acquired 7.4 acres of open land within a master-planned business park in Mission Viejo for $6.75 million from Equity Office Properties Trust.

The 73-acre HighPark business complex is located at the intersection of Alicia Parkway and Jeronimo Road.

Newport Beach-based CT Realty plans to develop a $12.5 million business complex called CentrePointe on 5 of the 7.4 acres, said CT Realty Senior Vice President Lonnie Nadal. The remaining 2.4 acres have been sold for $3.2 million to Todd Development, which will build 30,000 sq. ft. of medical condominiums.

CT's newly acquired parcel is among the last pieces of available land in Mission Viejo. The company plans to develop eight office buildings (ranging from 4,600 sq. ft. to 12,700 sq. ft.) for a total of 58,000 sq. ft. Nadal said that CT expects to sell the buildings to businesses for their own operations and to real estate investors.

"We believe that South Orange County will continue to evolve as one of Southern California's most dynamic office submarkets," Nadal said. "CentrePointe represents an unusual opportunity for companies that want the best of both worlds-the ability to stay in South County while owning a new facility in a fully matured community."

Designed by Irvine-based Ware Malcomb, the buildings will feature a high-image, Mediterranean architectural theme with concrete and stone finishes. One of the buildings will be two-stories tall, the remainder will be single-story construction.

The project is scheduled to be developed in a single phase. Groundbreaking is set for March, with completion slated for September 2005.