L.A. Realty disbands as corporate parent sells off its portfolio.

L.A. Realty disbands as corporate parent sells off its portfolio

Los Angeles Realty Services Inc., one of the area's largest and fastest-growing commercial brokerage firms last year, has quietly been disbanded.

The Beverly Hills-based brokerage, which reported handling some $600 million in property transactions last year, effectively ceased operations because its parent company, Pacific Financial Group, is liquidating its portfolio of assets, industry sources said.

The brokerage firm was formed in 1982 primarily to handle leasing for Pacific Financial's $1 billion commercial real estate portfolio.

But with Pacific Financial's four partners deciding to go separate ways, the portfolio is being liquidated. Hence, the brokerage was no longer needed, said former L.A. Realty executives.

Separately, Richard Ziman, co-founder and lead partner of Pacific Financial, revealed that he will officially launch a new real estate venture this week with former L.A. Realty Services broker Victor Coleman.

Ziman's new firm is called Arden Investment Group, a name that insiders claim was chosen because of Ziman's purchase earlier this year of a Beverly Hills manse on Arden Drive.

Arden Investment is expected to close its very first deal this week, the acquisition of a $25 million office building, Coleman said. Several more deals are already in the works.

Ziman and Coleman refused to identify the seller or location of the $25 million building until after the deal is final.

Ziman's pre-existing company, Pacific Financial Group, began selling off what was once a $1 billion portfolio of properties about 18 months ago, industry sources said.

Included in that portfolio were the ABC Entertainment Center in Century City, the Gibraltar Savings & Loan Building in Beverly Hills, the 9000 Sunset Building in West Hollywood, and the Warner Medical and Financial Plaza in Woodland Hills.

All those sizable properties, and more, have been sold in recent months.

And just a few weeks ago, Pacific Financial quietly sold its 50 percent ownership stake in the 1.6 million-square-foot Pacific Corporate Towers office complex in El Segundo. (See related story on this page.)

Properties remaining in Pacific Financial's portfolio include the Ticor Building in the Miracle Mile district and Westwood Medical Plaza in Westwood.

Ziman maintained his long-standing assertion last week that Pacific Financial is not liquidating its portfolio, even though the company has recently sold off millions of square feet, disbanded its brokerage business and its other three partners -- Steve Beck, Bradley Addison and John Margulies -- have long since moved out of the company's Beverly Hills offices.

Industry sources said Ziman is concerned about how tenants in his remaining Pacific Financial buildings might react to news of such a liquidation. He also might be concerned that such news would have a negative impact on future sales negotiations, sources speculated.

Ziman refused to identify or discuss the current business activities of any of his three Pacific Financial partners.

But Coleman said all three are still living and working in the Los Angeles area.

As for the disbanding of Pacific Financial's meteoric brokerage firm, Los Angeles Realty Services, former executives of that firm expressed frustration and sadness last week.

"L.A. Realty's demise was a great personal upset to me," said Nelson Korchak, former president of the firm. "We were just starting to roll and the carpet was pulled out from under us."

L.A. Realty's reported volume of property transactions skyrocketed from $263 million in 1988 to more than $600 million last year, an increase of 228 percent.

And that brokerage was quickly freeing itself from its past dependence upon Pacific Financial-owned buildings, said Korchak, who is now president of Cal-Trade Center Inc., a Century City-based real estate subsidiary of American International.

"When I came to L.A. Realty in 1987, 90 percent of our business was coming from Pacific Financial-owned buildings," Korchak asserted. "By the end of 1988 it was down to 65 percent, and by 1989 it was down to 50 percent."

Korchak said all of L.A. Realty's high-flying brokers have already found jobs at other brokerage firms.

Some of the relocations include Joel Delman going to Zugsmith & Associates Inc., Brian Gibson going to City Pacific Commercial Real Estate Services, Shelley Gross Kirshner going to Bailes & Associates, and Monique Parker and Joel Frank both going to the Faulkner Co.