College, School Acquire Two Buildings

CULVER CITY, CA-An office building here and a former hospital in Lincoln Heights have traded in deals that will convert both to education-oriented uses. In the Culver City deal, ICDC College has acquired a 24,000-square-foot office building at 5995 S. Sepulveda Blvd. for $7.9 million. In Lincoln Heights, the Los Angeles Leadership Academy, a charter school, has acquired a 70,000-square-foot former hospital from the Salvation Army and will use it for classrooms.

The 5995 S. Sepulveda Blvd. building is one of only five office buildings to be sold in the West Los Angeles area this year, according to Andrew Jennison, a Madison Partners senior director who teamed with Madison Partners director Travis Landrum to represent both the buyer and the seller in the deal. The building will serve as the headquarters for ICDC, which was founded in 1995 and offers three associate degree programs, as well as 20 other diploma programs.

Built in 1973 and later renovated between 2004 and 2005, 5995 S. Sepulveda is a two-story, brick façade office building with subterranean parking. The building is located just off the 405 freeway and directly adjacent to the newly renovated Westfield/Fox Hills Mall.

In the Lincoln Heights sale, the Los Angeles Leadership Academy bought a building at 2670 Griffin Ave. known as the Booth Memorial Center in a deal brokered by vice president Barry Baker and senior vice president David Lachoff of Grubb & Ellis Co. The building was originally built in 1931 as a hospital and has undergone numerous expansions and renovations. The Salvation Army used the property as a maternity hospital, shelter and training center for unwed teenage mothers for many years.

Baker points out that the sale was challenging because the property, which served as a hospital for so many years, “is now obsolete for that function and is set in a historic preservation overlay zone that does not allow for a demolition or any significant modifications to the existing improvements.” Fortunately, Baker adds, the Los Angeles Leadership Academy will be able to utilize the space for its needs and fits the most important criterion the Salvation Army was searching for in a buyer–a community-oriented organization. The Leadership Academy was represented by Howard Sadowski of Creative Environments. Terms were not disclosed.