Harbor Associates and The Bascom Group Acquire First Assets in New $500 Million Joint Venture

LONG BEACH, Calif. - May 16, 2018 - PRLog -- Harbor Associates, LLC (Harbor), and joint venture partner The Bascom Group LLC (Bascom), has acquired office buildings in Los Angeles and Del Mar, CA in separate transactions totaling $37.4 million.

The latest transactions extend the relationship enjoyed by the two companies, who over the last three years have invested more than $250 million in a portfolio of 18 office buildings with an aggregate square footage of 1.2 million square feet in Southern California and Colorado.  Harbor and Bascom plan to expand the platform and invest an additional  $500 million throughout the Western U.S. over the next two years.

The expansion of the joint venture platform is an example of the collaborative vision the two companies share, according to Bascom Managing Partner Jerry Fink,

"Harbor has proven to us its ability to identify solid value-add investments with potential for excellent risk adjusted returns," said Fink. "We look forward to continuing our relationship and work toward our goal of acquiring $500 million in office assets over the next 24 months."

In the larger of the two acquisitions, the joint venture acquired a 75,000-square-foot office building at 4130 Cahuenga Boulevard in the Los Angeles submarket of Toluca Lake for $21.7 million.  Situated next to the NBC Universal Motion Picture and Television campus, 4130 Cahuenga Blvd is within five miles of six major studios: NBC Universal, CBS, Warner Bros., The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks, companies that produce more than $10 billion of sales volume and provide 40,000 entertainment jobs. The property is located within a half-mile of Highways 101, 134, and the Universal City/Studio City Metrolink station, providing easy access to Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles.

Aside from the project's A location, the architectural wood on the exterior and unique physical features cater well to the rapidly expanding media, entertainment, technology and advertising fields. The business plan calls for a multimillion-dollar capital improvement program to modernize and refresh the asset.  As part of the renovation the project will receive substantial cosmetic upgrades to the building exterior, lobby and common areas, according to Harbor Principal Joon Choi.

"4130 Cahuenga represents a tremendous opportunity to reposition and lease-up a tired asset and design a modern, creative office campus in Los Angeles' No. 1 submarket for media and entertainment," said Choi.

The Harbor led joint venture also acquired a 39,000-square-foot office building at 2010 Jimmy Durante Boulevard in Del Mar for $15.7 million.   The two-story property is located within a half-mile of the beach and downtown Del Mar and within a quarter-mile of the 370-acre Del Mar Fairgrounds.  The project offers convenient access to all of San Diego via the 5 Freeway.

Harbor will rebrand the project as The Bungalows at Del Mar with major renovations to include; new modern paint scheme throughout the project, installation of bike and surfboard storage along with new outdoor showers and new outdoor seating and collaboration areas.  The tenant suites include operable windows and vaulted ceilings presenting the most unique creative office experience in coastal San Diego, according to Harbor Principal Paul Miszkowicz.

"This asset fits perfectly into our business model," said Miszkowicz.  "We're confident we can transform this well-located and architecturally unique but tired asset into a modern Class A coastal creative office campus. Our vision is to make The Bungalows one of the most unique properties in coastal San Diego."

Sean Fulp of Newmark Knight Frank represented the seller in the Los Angeles transaction. Brian Halpern and Alex Kane of JLL arranged the financing for the project with Ready Capital Structured Finance, a subsidiary of Sutherland Asset Management Corporation.

For Del Mar, Joe Anderson of Cushman and Wakefield represented the seller and will handle leasing efforts for the buyer.  Greg Brown and John Chun of HFF arranged the financing for the project with Ready Capital Structured Finance, a division of a subsidiary of Sutherland Asset Management Corporation.

About Harbor: Harbor Associates, LLC (www.harborassociates.com) is a value add operating platform focused on acquiring and repositioning under-performing commercial real estate assets throughout Southern California. The three Principals of Harbor have more than 30 years of experience in Southern California and have closed over $1.7B in acquisitions and asset managed over $2.5B in assets totaling over 3M SF of office. The company is a joint venture with The Bascom Group, LLC.

About Bascom: The Bascom Group, LLC (http://www.bascomgroup.com) is a private equity firm specializing in value-added multifamily, commercial, and non-performing loans and real estate related investments and operating companies. Bascom sources value-added and distressed properties including many through foreclosure, bankruptcy, or short sales and repositions them by adding extensive capital improvements, improving revenue, and reducing expenses by realizing operational efficiencies through implementation of institutional-quality property management. Bascom, founded by principals Jerry Fink, David Kim and Derek Chen, is one of the most active and seasoned buyers and operators of apartment communities in the United States. Bascom has completed over $13.2 billion in multi-family and commercial value-added transactions since 1996 including more than 250 multifamily properties containing over 66,000 units. Bascom has ranked among the top 50 multifamily owners in the US.