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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Investor Flips Over Easton Sports Headquarters

The Van Nuys building that served as the headquarters of Easton Sports and its successor companies for two decades is back on the market less than two years after it was sold for $12.3 million to a Los Angeles investor. The 79,000-square-foot office building, at 7855 Haskell Ave., is being marketed for $15 million, or nearly $190 a square foot. Private investor Sandy Hyun, of VNSH LLC of Los Angeles, purchased the property in November 2013 from the Easton family. “She decided it’s the right time to sell,” said broker Thomas Kim of GTR Consulting Group Inc. of Los Angeles. The three-story building was constructed in 1986 and is fully leased. Easton Sports, which makes baseball and softball bats, helmets and other gear, and Easton Hockey Inc. are headquartered in 57,000 square feet of the building. But the 20-year leases for those companies will expire in the first quarter and it is unclear whether they will renew, Kim said. Easton Foundations, a non-profit youth sports foundation primarily associated with archery, has a small office in the building but has already relocated most of its 10-member staff to a building at 15026 Oxnard St. in Van Nuys. It does not plan to renew its lease on Haskell Avenue, Executive Director Caren Sawyer said. The sporting goods company, founded by archery enthusiast Doug Easton in 1922, expanded into hockey and cycling gear in the 1990s under the leadership of Doug’s son, Jim. He sold the business to New York private equity firm Fenway Partners LLC in 2006 for $400 million and put some of the proceeds into the foundation, Sawyer said. Fenway attempted to create a large, diversified sporting goods manufacturing company under the name Easton-Bell Sports Inc., combining the original Van Nuys company with Riddell Sports Group, a maker of football helmets, and Bell Sports Corp. a maker of helmets for bicycles and motor sports. Other acquisitions included Talon Lacrosse. However, the recession hit sporting goods sales hard and Fenway began dismantling the company. Last year, Fenway sold off the baseball and softball business to Canadian manufacturer Bauer Performance Sports Ltd. for $330 million, renamed the company BRG Sports Inc. and moved the company’s headquarters to Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz. Performance Sports Group Ltd of Exeter, N.H., acquired Easton Sports, and Chartwell Investments, a New York-based private investment firm, bought Easton Hockey last summer. Neither responded to requests for comment about the property. Deals in Brief Dole Fresh Packaged Foods LLC signed a new, 10-year lease at Westlake Plaza Center East in Thousand Oaks. The company will take nearly 77,000 square feet at the property, located at 3059 Townsgate Road. Tim Foutz, named chief executive officer of NAI Capital in March, brokered the transaction. He was instrumental in bringing Dole’s world headquarters to Westlake Village in the mid-1990s. /// Law firm Pearlman, Borska & Wax is expanding its headquarters at Encino Plaza. The attorneys signed a new, 18,700-square-foot lease at the 192,500-square-foot property at 15910 Ventura Blvd. The law firm has occupied the building’s penthouse for more than 16 years; the new lease adds additional space on a portion of the 10th floor. Dan Sanchez and Tony Acerra, of Los Angeles brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle, represented the law firm in the lease. Landlord Douglas Emmett 1998 LLC was represented in-house by Kevin Housman and David Hitzel. /// Phillip Thong, of Allee Investments in Rosemead, bought The Atrium, a medical office building in Valencia, for $16.3 million, or about $369 a square foot. The property, at 23838 Valencia Blvd., was sold by Alan Barbakow of VPIP LLC in Newhall and Richard Jacobsen of Two Way Option LLC in Pacific Palisades. The 44,000-square-foot building is located near Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital and is leased to 18 medical and dental office tenants. NAI Capital’s Ryan Ramage and David Stassel represented the buyer and Mark Oliver, of Realty Executives International Inc. represented the sellers. Staff reporter Karen E. Klein can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or at [email protected].

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