Irvine real estate investor IRA Capital, which made its share of local headlines buying medical office properties in Southern California during the pandemic, has chosen a different product type for its latest purchase.
The investor said late last month that it bought The Post, a recently redeveloped office building in downtown Beverly Hills.
IRA paid $153 million, or nearly $1,500 per square foot, for the 102,500-square-foot property that has long served as a post office for the city. The office sold for more than triple the typical per-square-foot price paid these days for a higher-end office in Orange County.
The Post is at 325 N. Maple Drive, just south of Santa Monica Boulevard.
It is more than 90% leased to Beverly Hills-based Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: LYV), the world’s largest live entertainment company.
The four-story building serves as Live Nation’s concerts division headquarters, “a mission-critical segment of their operations which accounts for 80% of their consolidated revenue,” according to IRA.
Live Nation signed an 11-year lease for the bulk of the building two years ago.
The rest of the building is leased to the US Postal Service.
Recent Upgrades
The Post underwent a $44 million redevelopment in 2019, according to the buyer. Gensler reportedly headed the redesign of the building.
The “highly-amenitized LEED-certified building provides the optimum environment for Live Nation’s brand and makes the project one of the most prominent creative-office developments in Beverly Hills,” IRA said.
IRA Capital co-founder Samir Patel, in a statement announcing the buy, said “the property’s irreplaceable location and thriving tenant align with IRA’s investment thesis of pursuing best-in-class properties. Despite the impact of COVID-19 on the live entertainment sector, the industry is now experiencing record-setting volumes.”
The building was sold by a venture between Worthe Real Estate Group and Invesco Real Estate; they paid a reported $77 million for it five years ago.
Medical Portfolio Sale
IRA has the money to spend. This summer it sold a 29-property healthcare real estate portfolio to Nuveen Real Estate for $620.4 million.
That portfolio sale included the new Aliso Viejo headquarters of ophthalmic-focused device maker Glaukos Corp. (NYSE: GKOS), among other local properties.
The investor said it is continuing to expand its real estate portfolio in various sectors including healthcare, multifamily, and office, and plans to exceed $1 billion of acquisitions by year-end 2021.
