Online Grocer Enters L.A. With Big Warehouse Lease.

HOMEGROCER.COM is coming to town, marking the first major foray by an outside e-grocer into Los Angeles.

The Seattle-based online grocer has leased 330,000 square feet in the former Thrifty distribution building on La Brea Avenue at Rodeo Road, which is about half a mile south of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, said Bryan Ezralow, president of Ezralow Co. The value of HomeGrocer's 15-year lease is about $30 million.

Ezralow recently bought the two-story industrial building, which has sat vacant for several years. The acquisition, rehab and retrofit will place the value of the building at around $25 million, Ezralow said. About 50,000 square feet remains available for lease for storage and distribution uses.

After Thrifty vacated the building several years ago, it was used as a swap meet, but was shut down and red-tagged after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

While the building needs some work, its central location in a densely populated area was perfect for HomeGrocer, which allows customers to order home-delivered groceries at the click of a mouse.

"They were able to secure a 300,000-square-foot building located within the West L.A. marketplace. There are no other buildings like that. They will be the only game in town for awhile," said Blake Mirkin of CB Richard Ellis, who along with Bob Dubbins represented Ezralow in the deal.

Pink Dot has a major presence in L.A., but other online grocers have been unsuccessfully hunting for warehouse space. HomeGrocer plans to open for business in April, and to secure other facilities around L.A. as well. It already operates in Orange County.

Ezralow, incidentally, is one of the most active developers around the county. The Calabasas-based company has acquired half a million square feet of industrial and distribution space on the Westside in the last year or so.

And it has several development projects in the works, including a 500,000-square-foot power center anchored by Target and a home improvement store, which will be adjacent to the 60 freeway in Monterey Park. The center is already 95 percent leased, a good six months before ground-breaking.

Ezralow is also in the running to develop a massive project in Downey that could encompass up to 2.2 million square feet of office, industrial, retail and studio space. The City Council is scheduled to decide next week on a developer.

Ezralow also bought a 100,000-square-foot industrial building on Fairfax Avenue, just north of the Santa Monica Freeway, that was formerly occupied by Aramark Corp. It subsequently leased the building to Sony Pictures Entertainment for warehousing and production.

Finally, Ezralow earlier this year purchased a 100,000-square-foot Albertsons-Rite Aid store next door to HomeGrocer's soon-to-be home.

"We have the real market next to the Internet market. We'll see who wins," said company President Bryan Ezralow.

Downtown Purchase

Mark Weinstein has added to his growing portfolio of downtown properties. He and partner Brian Fagan have purchased the 91,000-square-foot 728 S. Hill St. for $1.7 million.

The building is 85 percent leased, with retail on the bottom and jewelry and garment operations upstairs. Weinstein said he plans to do some cosmetic renovations.

Weinstein, who owns Santa Monica-based MJW Investments, last year bought 10 buildings in downtown's garment district. He said he has divided the spaces in several of the buildings into smaller rooms, which have quickly been leased up.

"There seems to be a pent-up demand for that," Weinstein said.

Office Sales

Two 44,000-square-foot office buildings have been sold, one in Torrance, one in Hawthorne.

Investor Donald Lam bought the Torrance building, at 23133 Hawthorne Blvd, from Japanese firm Sunrise Asset Management for $3.2 million. This was Sunrise's last property in California, with the rest of its portfolio already sold, said Tom Torabi of Lee & Associates, who represented both sides in the deal.

First Bank & Trust is the major tenant in the building, which is 60 percent leased.

In Norwalk, an affiliate of Pacific Industrial Partners purchased Carmenita Plaza on Carmenita Road. It is completely occupied by the computer services division of the county's Department of Public Social Services.

The seller, KD Partnership, was represented by Ted Konopisos of TheoPacific Corp. and Mike Austin of Sperry Van Ness represented the buyer. No price was disclosed.

Orange County's Loss

Hitachi Transport System (America) Ltd. plans to return to the Torrance area from Anaheiin, where it moved six years ago.

Fremont Development Co. is building a 123,000-square-foot headquarters for Hitachi at 1640 W. 190th St. in the Harbor Gateway Commerce Center, said Todd Taugner of Klabin Co.

Hitachi will lease the property for a seven-year term starting in April. The move will bring 100 jobs in warehousing and distributing Hitachi products.

Taugner and Murray Smith represented Hitachi in the $7 million lease deal. They and Louis Tomaselli of Voit Commercial also represented Hitachi in the sale of its 340,000-square-foot property in Anaheim for $11 million.

News & Notes

New Wave Entertainment expanded and relocated its headquarters to almost 40,000 square feet at 2660 W. Olive Ave. in Burbank. Jeff Cowan and Mark Sullivan of Julien J. Studley represented New Wave and Jeff Dinkin of Regent Properties represented the landlord, West Olive Investors Inc. ...

Several leases have been reported in Wilshire Center of late, including Multi-Culture Marketing Inc.'s deal for 17,000 square feet at 3350 Wilshire Blvd. John Anthony of Charles Dunn Co. represented the landlord.