Also: L-3 Sonoma takes additional space at airportThe nearly 182,000-square-foot Marin Gateway shopping center in Marin City might have a new owner soon, but there are mixed signals on who that will be.
On Oct. 17, Israel-based shopping center real estate investment trust Big Shopping Centers (2004) Ltd. filed a disclosure with the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange that a July 7 joint venture between subsidiary Big Shopping Centers USA and Developers Diversified Realty Corp. had signed an agreement to pay about $36 million to acquire rights to the center by year-end, pending due diligence.
Big would have a 75 percent stake in the center, and DDR would get 25 percent plus management of the property, said to be 92 percent occupied, according to the filing.
Bay Area Council-sponsored Bay Area Smart Growth Fund I acquired rights to the center in 2003. Marin City Community Land Corp. owns the land.
Meanwhile, the board of the Marin City Community Services District in early October appointed a committee to study the feasibility of the district's acquisition of the center, including options for financing and structures for ownership and management, according to Jonathan Logan, general manager. The district governs the 3,500-resident neighbor to Sausalito and has one of the five seats on the land corporation board.
That study would look at how rent revenue from the center would support community programs, which was an initial goal of the public-private partnership that developed the property, Mr. Logan said.
Big estimated rent revenue this year will be $3 million, according to the filing.
This would be Big's first acquisition via the venture with DDR, but it would be the third North Bay retail property in which Big had a stake. Big recently acquired a stake in the 343,000-square-foot adjacent Windsor shopping centers Lakewood and Lakewood Village in a joint venture with Kimco Realty Corp.
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Autistry Studios, a Corte Madera nonprofit that helps youth with autism spectrum disorders learn to live independently and develop job skills, plans to move Nov. 1 from a part-time home art studio to a 10,000-square-foot shop leased for five years at 37 Duffy Place in San Rafael, according to Dan Swearingen.
His wife, Mill Valley psychotherapist Janet Lawson, started the organization as an extension of her private practice.
The organization has been hindered by lack of space this year, according to Mr. Swearingen. The staff of parents, special education teachers and therapists serves 16 people now with 12 on a waiting list.
The number served is expected to grow to 50 next year.
"We will be starting several small enterprises, which will operate like small businesses providing real work experience for real customers," he said.
The first business is Autistry Graphics for print and website design.
Sliding-scale fees for services, supplemented by grants and fundraising, currently support the group. It raised $60,000 this year and is targeting a goal of $160,000 next year. The cost of moving and outfitting the new facility is estimated at $30,000.
Nathan Ballard of Keegan & Coppin represented the landlord, and Michael Golden of Cassidy Turley BT Commercial represented the tenant.
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Michael and Heather Cruciano, who operate Study Abroad Italy and Viva Italian Culinary and Cultural Center, respectively, at 7151 Wilson Ave. in Sebastopol, purchased a 9,000-square-foot building at 7190 Keating Ave. in the same city.
They acquired the building from Marigold LLC, led by Ron Basso, with U.S. Small Business Administration financing through Presidio Bank and Mortgage Capital Development Corp.
Mr. Cruciano, president of Study Abroad Italy, said the plan is to move the 12-person office to the new building early next year, sharing space with Taylor Maid Farms Coffee & Tea for at least a few years under the current lease. The organization has 1,200 college students placed in programs in Italy and London.
Barry Palma of Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank brokered the sale.
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[caption id="attachment_26506" align="alignright" width="432" caption="L-3 Sonoma EO expanded to the whole bottom floor of 420 Aviation. (courtesy of Carlos Rivas) "][/caption]
L-3 Sonoma EO, which makes remotely controlled ball-shaped camera mounts mainly for defense applications, expanded its two-building campus near Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport north of Santa Rosa. New York-based L-3 Communications has 65,000 employees and had 2009 sales of $15.6 billion.
The Sonoma EO division inked a short-term lease renewal with Schulz Family Trust for the entire 14,800-square-foot ground floor of 420 Aviation Blvd., according to Keegan & Coppin's Jeffrey Wilmore, who represented L-3 Sonoma EO in the deal. Carlos Rivas of Pacific Union Commercial Real Estate represented the trust.
