South and East Hercules Campuses at Playa Vista Complete Recapitalization

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ratkovich Company, along with partners Penwood Real Estate Investment Management, LLC and Invesco Real Estate, announced today the recapitalization of the south and east Campuses of the Hercules Campus at Playa Vista.

"The Hercules Campus is one of the few locations in Los Angeles where innovative companies can truly embrace the campus-style culture that is so desired in today's marketplace, particularly within the creative industry," said Wayne Ratkovich, president and CEO of The Ratkovich Company. "Our new partnership with Invesco will allow us to continue to foster and grow the south and east-ends of the campus for creative companies, while we focus our work with our partner Penwood on the renovations for the historic Hangar and West Campus."    

"This recapitalization opens news doors for The Hercules Campus as a whole," said Karen Nista, a principal with Penwood Real Estate Investment Management. "We're keen to bring the Howard Hughes Hangar back to its past glory and share the facilities with our neighbors across the campus."

The Hercules Campus is a landmark property comprised of 11 historic buildings, including the hangar where Howard Hughes' legendary Spruce Goose was built. The Ratkovich Company's new partnership with Invesco specifically addresses the buildings on the south and east campus, which comprise 14.8 acres of the total 28-acre campus, and are home to 72andSunny, Konami and YouTube. The Ratkovich Company will continue to actively manage The Hercules Campus on behalf of its institutional investment partners.

"The Playa Vista market is undergoing dramatic rent growth as leading creative companies and investors seek to capture space in this dynamic West Los Angeles sub market," said HFF Director John Crump. Crump, along with HFF senior managing directors Doug Bond and Michael Leggett led the investment sales team.

About The Hercules Campus at Playa Vista

The Hercules Campus at Playa Vista is made up of more than 28 acres of land in Playa Vista, Calif., the first mixed-use community to be built in West Los Angeles in the last 50 years. The property is comprised of 11 existing buildings on four parcels of land, including the hangar where Howard Hughes' legendary Spruce Goose was built. In October 2010, The Hercules Campus at Playa Vista was purchased by The Ratkovich Company, in partnership with Penwood Real Estate Investment Management. The campus recently underwent a $50 million renovation that resulted in the project winning a 2014 Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Award. For more information, visit www.herculescampus.com 

About The Ratkovich Company

The Ratkovich Company is a Los Angeles development company that engages in both new development and the imaginative reuse of existing buildings. The company has completed, or has under development, nearly 18 million square feet of commercial space in Los Angeles County, including The Bloc, a 1.8 million square foot, mixed-use property at the heart of downtown Los Angeles that will become the premier urban retail, office and hospitality destination. The company has also redeveloped The Alhambra, a 45-acre mixed-use urban community in the city of Alhambra, and The Hercules Campus at Playa Vista, a landmark property comprised of 11 historic buildings, including the hangar where Howard Hughes' legendary Spruce Goose was built. The Hercules Campus is home to YouTube, Konami and 72andSunny. The Ratkovich Company has won numerous awards for its restoration of Los Angeles landmarks, including the art deco Wiltern Theatre and adjacent Pellissier building; the iconic 31-story 5900 Wilshire in Miracle Mile; the Chapman Market and the city of Glendale's Alex Theatre. The James Oviatt and Fine Arts buildings were also both awarded national landmark status after successful renovations by The Ratkovich Company. For more information, visit http://www.ratkovich.com.

About Penwood Real Estate Investment Management, LLC

Penwood Real Estate Investment Management, LLC is a principal-owned firm dedicated to managing value-added real estate investments for the institutional marketplace.  They combine the comprehensive investment management experience of their principals with the local-market expertise of our long-established strategic relationships to optimize value for our investors. For more information, visit www.penwoodre.com.

About Invesco Real Estate

Established in 1983, Invesco Real Estate manages $61.5 billion of real estate investments, which includes $34.7 billion in direct real estate portfolios and $26.8 billion in real estate securities (as of June 30, 2014). Invesco Real Estate has more than 389 employees in 20 offices through the U.S., Europe and Asia. The group focuses on top-down market and property type fundamentals combined with bottom-up local market intelligence. Senior members of the management team have worked together for 24 years, contributing to the consistent implementation of Invesco's investment strategy. Additional information is available at www.invescorealestate.com.

About HFF

HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) and HFFS (HFF Securities L.P.) are owned by HFF, Inc. (NYSE: HF).  HFF operates out of 23 offices nationwide and is a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the U.S. commercial real estate industry. HFF together with its affiliate HFFS offer clients a fully integrated national capital markets platform including debt placement, investment sales, equity placement, advisory services, loan sales and commercial loan servicing.  For more information please visit hfflp.com or follow HFF on Twitter at twitter.com/hff.  

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P., acting by and through Holliday GP Corp., a real estate broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate, License Number 01385740.

Media Contacts
For The Ratkovich Company
Spring Harris
[email protected]
(323) 761-6599

For HFF
Doug Bond
HFF Senior Managing Director
[email protected]
(310) 407-2100

SOURCE The Ratkovich Company