Boston Properties Lands New Tenant at Santa Monica Office Campus

Colorado Center

Boston Properties has signed Roku Inc. at the 1.2 million-square-foot Colorado Center office campus in Santa Monica, Calif. The San Jose-based entertainment platform will occupy 72,000 square feet at the six-building, Class A property under a 10-year lease.

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LA Realty represented the landlord, a joint venture between Boston Properties and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, while Colliers and CRESA assisted the tenant in the negotiations.

Situated less than 2 miles from downtown Santa Monica, the office campus sits across from the 17-acre Water Garden business park, Roku’s current location. Easily accessible through public transportation, the property is near several bus stations and the Bergamot light-rail station connecting it to downtown Los Angeles.

A Class A property

In 2016, Boston Properties acquired a 49.8 percent interest in Colorado Center from Blackstone for $511.1 million, with TIAA owning the reminder 50.2 percent. Following the purchase, Boston Properties also became the joint venture’s managing partner.

The campus occupies a 15-acre parcel at 2401-2500 Colorado Ave. within Santa Monica’s Media and Entertainment District. Completed between 1984 and 1991, the buildings were most recently renovated in 2016, according to CommercialEdge data.

The property also encompasses a three-level underground parking structure with 3,100 spaces, the 3.5-acre Colorado Center Park and a 3.7-megawatthour energy storage system, considered the largest indoor project of its kind in the country.

The owner spent $40 million in property renovations, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. Upgrades feature a new public plaza and a food hall, as well as the 29,000-square-foot TriFit Club and Studios, which has two tennis courts and a swimming pool.

Office leasing activity still sluggish

Direct vacancies have continued to increase across the metro during the first quarter of 2021, reaching an all-time high of 12.6 percent, according to a recent Kidder Mathews report. However, despite the various challenges associated with the pandemic, several large lease agreements were signed. The most prominent was the 281,110-square-foot lease signed by Beyond Meat at a 390,000-square-foot office property in El Segundo, Calif.

In another significant transaction, the U.S. General Services Administration signed a lease renewal at the Shoreline Square office building in Long Beach, Calif. GSA’s lease totals more than 140,000 square feet at Parallel Capital Partners’ property, keeping its occupancy at 87 percent.