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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024

Rock Star, Whales, Retail Make for Interesting Transaction

As a real estate reporter for a small business publication, it’s rare I get a chance to tie together disparate themes and terms such as “rock star,” an international incident, and a local commercial real estate transaction. But this is L.A., and those three elements collided recently in the sale of a piece of property located at 19855 Ventura Blvd. in Woodland Hills. George Stavaris of Grubb & Ellis represented Rock Star Properties LLC in the purchase of a 10,757 square foot retail building from Woodland Casual Real Estate Holdings. The latter was represented by Anthony Behar of Major Properties, and the all cash deal went down for $2 million. This is the first time the building, an architectural landmark constructed in 1964, has changed hands. Woodland Casual occupied the space prior and Stavaris said the previous owner was scaling back on its patio and furniture business. Here’s where the details of the transaction get juicy. Ady Gil is one of the owners of Rock Star Properties. And for those who don’t recognize the name, he is a founding partner of American Hi Definition and Sweetwater Digital Productions in Van Nuys. He also happens to be the local character who donated his “Water World”- looking speed boat to the environmental activist group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. A Japanese whaling ship recently crashed into that boat, literally sawing off its nose, in waters near Antarctica. In fact, the vessel is named “Ady Gil.” On Jan. 8, Sea Shepherd reported on its web site that, despite efforts to tow the speed boat to a nearby base, it was sinking. Mr. Gil himself, however, was not on the boat during the incident. Sea Shepherd was using the speed boat to track-down and physically impede what it said was the illegal slaughter of whales in the area, according to news reports. Japanese whalers said they consider the environmental group to be “terrorists.” Sea Shepherd also has a ship named the “Bob Barker” and one named after the late Steve Irwin. According to Stavaris, Gil has owned a number of commercial properties in the Valley. The plan is to make the four-level Ventura Blvd. building into a multi-tenant mall for boutique retailers. There’s also a slight possibility it will be converted into a night club sometime down the road. Another piece of gossip is that Stavaris, well-known in the Valley for his industrial real estate transactions, invested in Rock Star Properties. He has worked with Gil on a number of transactions and said the guy has a knack for turning buildings into sought-after properties. It’s a buy and hold investment, said Stavaris. And not surprisingly, Gil said he wants the building to be animal friendly. American Greetings Consolidation Another noteworthy transaction that made the “Done Deals” list is American Greetings Corp. leasing 6,300 square feet of space at The Academy Tower, located at 5200 Lankershim in North Hollywood. The company is re-locating from Santa Monica. The publicly traded greeting card business is consolidating its regional operations, said Lee & Associates broker Darren Casamassima, who represented the tenant. Scott Romick and Trevor Belden of Lee & Associates represented the landlord, Jamison Services Inc. Total consideration for the 65-month lease is valued at approx. $1 million. American Greetings will bring its West Coast regional offices, electronic greeting card division and licensing divisions under one roof. The space also allows the company to have its own in-house production facility. Casamassima said American Greetings will save approx. $1.50 per square foot from what it would have paid in Santa Monica. The space includes 2,200 square feet on the ground floor, which will serve as the sound stage. Class A offices will be located upstairs. The production area has 14’ clearance height and a separate entrance. American Greeting had been renting outside sound stages on a case by case basis, since the electronic greeting cards division opened in 1996. Staff Reporter Eric Billingsley can be reached at (818) 316-3124 or at [email protected].

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