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The Ratkovich Company in the News THE ALHAMBRA BRANCHES OUT IN RENOVATION Respected developer plans for business park to draw variety of new enterprises San Gabriel Valley Tribune – February 4, 2001 By Virginia McCrum, Staff Writer ALHAMBRA — The Alhambra, a 45-acre office campus that the California Independent System Operator and California Power Exchange now call home, is attracting new tenants as the sprawling facility undergoes a major makeover. Purchased by The Ratkovich Co. in November 1999 for $86.7 million from Santa Fe International, the nearly 1 million-square-foot complex now is a $100 million project that includes capital investment funds. “We invested $13 million into renovation in 2000 and will put in a like amount in 2001,” said developer Wayne Ratkovich, founder and president “The complex was 40 percent occupied in November 1999, and today it is 82 percent leased.” The Alhambra, which has 20 buildings, is located at 1000 Fremont Ave. at Mission Road in Alhambra. “They keep signing new tenants because it is a very important piece of property on a very important street,” said Stanley Smalewitz, the City of Alhambra’s deputy director of development services. Ratkovich, who was born in Alhambra, has submitted a master plan for the site’s renovation to the city. He has not yet made a proposal for his 7-acre parking lot across the street from The Alhambra, Smalewitz said. Ratkovich said he wants to build an 80,000-square-foot retail or mixed-use center on the parking lot. “We haven’t worked out the details yet, but we’re looking at putting In 30,000 to 40,000 square-foot retail tenants, balancing it out with office tenants,” Ratkovich said. “Wherever Wayne goes, he does quality developments, and it is an asset to have a developer of his stature to invest in this town,” Smalewitz said. Both the James Oviatt Building and Fine Arts Building in Los Angeles were awarded national landmarks status after Ratkovich renovated them. The company also has received awards for restoring historic landmarks such as the art deco Wiltern Theatre, adjacent Pellissier Building, Chapman Market and Alex Theatre. The C.F. Braun family of C.F. Braun Engineering was the original owner and developer of what is now known as The Alhambra, whose moniker describes the complex as “A Campus Environment for Productive People.” The campus was developed by the Braun family from 1923 to 1980 and then sold to Santa Fe International, which sold it to Ratkovich. First Union Securities and Lehman Brothers participated with Ratkovich in the site’s purchase. Ratkovich said that in his master plan — which uses the design flavors of Spain, including The Alhambra name — not only preserves the campus style created by the Braun family, but also as much of the original buildings and design as possible. Within the past year, Ratkovich has leased more than 300,000 square feet to a variety of high-profile tenants, including the University of Southern California, Los Angeles County and several emerging technology companies. The company’s leasing program has allowed Ratkovich to increase the project’s net operating income from $3.5 million to $9 million by turning The Alhambra into a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week working environment, complete with outside electrical outlets for computer work in the courtyard, on-site restaurants, meeting facilities and other amenities. Laundry and dry cleaning services, a car detailer and sports club are among businesses Ratkovich would like to bring on site. “A lot of our tenants, like the ISO, have to be open 24 hours a day, so we have to provide a safe working environment all the time,” Ratkovich said. “With a 24/7 complex tenants would never have to leave.” The anticipated retail is expected to add even convenience to tenants of the San Gabriel Valley gateway project. Ratkovich’s master plan adds more than 700,000 additional square feet for working, or “living,” space to the land and water-scaped campus that serves as a location for Hollywood TV and motion picture productions, such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Charter Communications is one of the few complex tenants that is leaving, although its facility is not within the border and does not face the park-like courtyard that I forms the complex into a campus environment. Charter will be moving from a 46,000-square-foot facility to a 120,000-square-foot one in Irwindale. “If everything goes well we don’t have a lot of we’re moving our headquarters in August,” said Frank Maldonado, director of operations. “Pricing was not a factor he said. We just outgrew the facility. We have a large fleet of service vehicles and need more floor and parking space they can afford to offer us.” Ratkovich, however admits that his lease rates have and will continue to rise to pay for the complex renovation, in addition to real estate market adjustments. Profitably producing developments that improve the quality of urban life is The Ratkovich Co.’s mission statement. ‹‹ back |