Universal Music’s Santa Monica headquarters sells for $185M

Universal Music Group’s Santa Monica headquarters office has a new owner in Drawbridge Realty.

San Francisco-based Drawbridge paid New York-based Clarion Partners $185 million, according to an industry source, for the 225,773-square-foot office building. The purchase price pencils out to about $819 per square foot.

Drawbridge represented itself in the deal. Newmark’s Kevin Shannon, Alex Foshay, Ken White, Rob Hannan, Laura Stumm and Michael Moll represented the seller.

The Class A space at 2220 Colorado Avenue totals six stories and is fully occupied by Universal Music Group, which reportedly holds its lease there until July 2036.

The music giant first moved there in 1999, the same year the property was built, bringing workers from across its former offices in West Hollywood and Los Angeles under one roof. The building is outfitted with two recording studios, conference areas, parking, on-site cafeteria and outdoor workspaces.

Arboretum Gateway, the building’s official name, is located near other major media and entertainment companies, including Starz, AMC Networks, Amazon.com, Roku and Sony.

The deal marks Drawbridge’s first buy on Los Angeles’ Westside, with the firm’s existing portfolio totaling more than a dozen properties in Westlake Village, the Bay Area, Orange County and San Diego County among other markets.

Santa Monica’s office market had an overall vacancy rate of 21.3 percent, with average asking rents of $6.01 per square foot in the second quarter, according to CBRE data. That compares with a 21.6 percent overall vacancy and average asking rent of $5.64 per square foot in the same quarter for the overall Westside, which includes Beverly Hills, Century City, Culver City and West Hollywood.  

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