A real estate investor based in Japan is in line to buy the most distinctive office building in Cypress in the recently vacated headquarters of toy company Bandai America Inc.
Global Hospitality Service, a Japanese investor that has traditionally bought hotel properties in its home country, is under contract to buy 5551 E. Katella Ave.
The deal, whose financial terms haven’t been disclosed, is expected to close in about a month.
The building was listed for sale in mid-2015 at about $17 million, or $220 per square foot, according to marketing materials from the Irvine office of brokerage JLL.
The 77,000-square-foot steel and glass office sports one of the area’s most unique designs, punctuated inside by a giant circular lobby area.
“It’s a beautiful building” with architecture on par with the Cesar Pelli-designed Plaza Tower near South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, according to Louis Tomaselli, JLL senior managing director.
Bandai America built the three-story office for its U.S. operations in the late 1990s when it relocated from Cerritos.
The subsidiary of Tokyo-based Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. makes a variety of children’s toys and interactive entertainment, including products under the Power Rangers and Pac-Man brands.
The Cypress office, which is on about 8.5 acres near the Los Alamitos Race Course, is estimated to have cost Bandai America more than $30 million to build.
“They expected to be here forever,” said Tomaselli of the building, which has a pair of glass elevators, a 62-seat theater, and a ground-floor showroom.
Bandai America and its Bandai Namco Holdings (USA) Inc. affiliate relocated again late last year to El Segundo in order to be closer to the headquarters of partner Mattel Inc., the largest toy company in the U.S.
The move also puts Bandai closer to Burbank-based Walt Disney Corp., another of its major partners.
Bandai America was estimated to employ about 100 in Cypress prior to the move.
Its old headquarters has been vacant since November, according to Tomaselli, who along with JLL Senior Managing Director Jeff Ingham marketed the property for sale and will handle leasing for the new owners.
The building is being targeted to prospective tenants seeking corporate headquarters space. Asking rents hadn’t been disclosed; monthly office building rents in Cypress average about $2.10 per square foot, according to JLL data.
The new owners are also exploring building an additional office or hotel property of about 40,000 square feet on excess land at the property.
The Cypress investment is expected to be the first nonhotel purchase in the U.S. for Global Hospitality Service, which also operates under the GHS name. There are no records of the company owning any local hotels or other area buildings.
GHS marketing materials show it owns a number of hotels in Japan.
The company couldn’t be reached for comment last week.
The departure of Bandai America marks another notable company’s departure from Cypress. Last year, Vans Inc. bought a new office along the San Diego (405) Freeway in Costa Mesa, where it will move its operations.
Cypress’ office market encompasses about 1.5 million square feet. Bandai America’s exit pushed vacancy rates in the city to about 23% at the end of last year, well above the 11.2%county average, according to JLL data.
