Bomel extends La Brea Holdings in deal for KCOP site.

BOMEL Management is in escrow to buy the old KCOP building at La Brea and Willoughby avenues, marking the Los Angeles-based developer's second purchase in recent months along a seven-block stretch of the thoroughfare.

Bomel is paying about $11 million for the property at 915 N. La Brea Ave., which includes three buildings totaling 57,000 square feet on 2.3 acres, according to a source familiar with the process.

The company is considering a mixed-use project, said the source, although it is unclear whether the buildings will be razed. KCOP (Channel 13), a subsidiary of News Corp.'s Fox Television Stations Inc., vacated the site in June.

Andrew Feola, director at Cushman & Wakefield Inc., who with Cushman's Steven Marcussen represents the seller, KCOP Television Inc., confirmed that the property is under contract, although he would not confirm a buyer or a price. Robert Rechnitz, principal at Bomel, declined comment.

The mixed-use plan would be consistent with Bomel's strategy to develop residential and retail property along La Brea. The company is working on a plan to develop a $78 million mixed-use project that would include 60,000 square feet of retail and up to 200 loft apartments and condominiums at the site of the old Continental Graphics Corp. at La Brea and First Street. Bomel bought that 2-acre site in April for $17 million.

Space Passed

Fidelity National Information Solutions has signed a 7.5-year sublease for the 96,000-square-foot building at 3100 New York Drive in Pasadena and will be moving its Western regional headquarters there by the end of the year. The building is leased by EarthLink Inc., which has vacated the site.

Though financial terms were not disclosed, the deal was worth in excess of $10 million, according to a source close to the deal.

FNIS is consolidating its Monrovia and Northern California offices at the site, which will house about 700 employees, according to Andrew McDonald, broker at Cushman & Wakefield Inc. who represented the Santa Barbara-based real estate data firm.

"They'll be one of the larger employers in Pasadena," said McDonald, who added that the city provided financial incentives, including tax breaks, to lure the company.

Andrew Feola and Cushinan's David Cushman represented EarthLink on the deal.

Bank on It

Urban Pacific Builders LLC has purchased the old Bank of San Pedro building at the northwest corner of 7th and Mesa streets and is building a mixed-use project that will include 87 loft-style condominiums and 5,500 square feet of ground floor retail.

The developer, in the process of getting entitlements for the 1.4-acre property, will spend--not inclusive of land costs--about $18 million on the project, which could be completed by the end of next year, according to Mark Tolley, managing partner at Long Beach-based Urban Pacific. The project will include the 14,000-square-foot bank structure, which was built in 1924 and will be renovated, as well as two new wings flanking the old building.

"We're going to do adaptive reuse style construction with the existing building," said Tolley, who would not disclose the cost of the property. "It's going to be a combination of flats, townhomes and penthouse units."

The project gives Urban Pacific a development presence on both sides of the Vincent Thomas Bridge. The company has two projects at Long Beach's CityPlace: a 221-apartment building it's developing with PCS Development Inc. that is nearly complete and a 72-unit loft-style condominium complex slated for completion next year.

Farmed Out

Doerken Properties Inc. has sold Porter Ranch Shopping Center to a local family trust for $[5.5 million. The fully leased complex at 19300-19362 Rinaldi St., between Tampa Avenue and the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway, was purchased by Klein Family Revocable Trust for about $282 a foot.

Tenants at the 55,000-square-foot center, built in 1972, include a 36,000-square-foot post office as well as a Citibank branch and a Subway. The Whole Foods market on the site was not included in the deal.

Westcord Commercial Group's Joe Lopez represented the buyer while Marcus & Millichap's Gregory Brown and Edward Hanley represented the Santa Monica-based seller.

Filling Up

Transpacific Development Corp. continues to chip away at the empty space at its 165,000-square-foot building at Cerritos Towne Center, having lured Korean trading company LG International (America) Inc. to the nine-month-old building at 17777 Center Court Drive. LG International is taking 19,000 square feet in a 10-year deal worth about $5 million, and will be moving its headquarters from 13013 E. 166th St. in Cerritos in October.

With the deal signed, the building's occupancy has increased to about 40 percent from 15 percent in April, according to Thomas Irish, president of Torrance-based Transpacific, whose affiliate, Bloomfield Cerritos Associates LLC, owns the building. Memorex Products Inc. signed a 20,000-square-foot deal in the building in April.

Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Lonnie Riddle and Ryan Campbell represented the tenant while CB Richard Ellis' Rick Warner and Andy White represented the landlord.

Staff reporter Danny King can be reached at [phone] ext. 230, or at [e-mail].