General Motors Purchases 3-Building Property in Northeast Pasadena for $49.5 Million

General Motors Corporation closed escrow Wednesday on an 8-acre property in Northeast Pasadena for $49.5 million, according to Eric Duyshart, economic development manager with the city of Pasadena.

Known as The Sierra, the 3-building, the 150,000 square foot campus is located at Rosemead Blvd. and Sierra Madre Villa Ave. and was built in 1988. The buildings comprise 21,579 square feet at 565 N. Rosemead Blvd., 20,113 square feet at 580 Sierra Madre Villa Ave. and 105,004 square feet at 600 Sierra Madre Villa Ave. The deal was brokered by CBRE at about $337 per square foot.

“General Motors plans to relocate their west coast automotive design division from North Hollywood to Pasadena,” Duyshart said in a statement. “It is anticipated that General Motors will spend considerable capital on modifications to the buildings for their intended uses.”

A facility called General Motors Design Studio is located at 5350 Biloxi Ave., North Hollywood.

GM and CBRE declined to comment.

CBRE’s marketing brochure for the property listed features such as planned common area upgrades to include a tech lounge, flexible, workspaces, outdoor seating and upgraded exteriors; abundant free surface parking with a 3.0/1,000 ratio; multiple points of entry and identity off of two major streets; efficient open-plan floor plates; building top signage opportunities; 12’-18’ ceiling heights; park-like campus setting; and high-speed fiber-optic connections.

The deal means Pasadena has attracted a new major tenant to the city, which will likely have a large impact on Pasadena’s employment and economic outlook. GM designs, manufactures, markets and distributes Chevrolets, Buicks, GMCs and Cadillacs and has 379 employees, 215 dealers, 326 suppliers and 15 facilities in California.

Duyshart also announced that through a recent $72.5 million sale of nearby 465 N. Halstead St., Lincoln Property Company has signed a lease with biotech company Xencor, a former Pasadena business and Caltech biotechnology startup that works to expand the therapeutic boundaries of monoclonal antibody and cytokine drugs. Xencor will move its headquarters and laboratory from Monrovia to the newly purchased Pasadena site. The publicly traded company will initially take approximately 83,000 square feet with a phase two that includes an additional 40,000 square feet.

“These two deals represent about 270,000 square feet of office space bringing new investment and jobs to East Pasadena,” Duyshart said. “This is great news for our office market and gives the entire market two exciting industries to leverage for future growth. Welcome back Xencor and welcome to Pasadena, General Motors Corporation!”