Boston Properties has bought a 50 percent stake in a partnership to develop an office and media production complex in El Segundo.
The firm paid $21.2 million to join an existing joint venture of Continental Development Corporation and real estate firm Mar Ventures Inc., according to Commercial Observer.
The Beach Cities Media Campus site spans 6.4 acres at 2021 Rosecrans Avenue. It is entitled for the development of 275,000 square feet of Class A office space, a 66,000-square-foot studio and production building and 7,000 square feet of retail space.
Continental Development president Richard Lundquist said the joint venture had been searching for another partner for some time. His firm and Mar Ventures have developed several office projects together, including a 15-acre office campus in El Segundo, according to Urbanize.
The Beach Cities Media Campus project was first pitched in late 2017.
El Segundo has been encouraging new development for several years, particularly redevelopments of the wide swaths of industrial space and aging office buildings in the city. The city is encouraging tech-focused firms as a way to shake off its industrial image.
North of the Beach Cities Media Campus site, the city wants to transform 120 acres called Smoky Hollow.
There have been a number of sizable investment sales in El Segundo over the last year or so, as well as some big moves to the city. The Los Angeles Times moved to the city in 2018 and advertising giant Saatchi and Saatchi set up shop there a year ago.
In 2018, Boston Properties teamed up with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to pay $627.5 million for the ground lease to the 1.2 million-square-foot Santa Monica Business Park. [CO] — Dennis Lynch