Social media company takes full floor in Santa Monica sublease

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In a sign of the times, a 19,300-square-foot sublease has been signed in one of Santa Monica’s best office buildings. Social media distributor Demand Media agreed to pay $2 million to take over the entire fifth floor at Wilshire Palisades for 40 months.

The sublease, which begins Dec. 1, represents an expansion for Demand Media, said real estate broker Mitchell Stokes of Madison Partners. Demand Media creates content and websites for such clients as the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s livestrong.com, GolfLink and Cracked magazine.

The sublandlord in the deal is Dimensional Fund Advisors, an investment firm based in Austin, Texas.
The building at 1299 Ocean Ave. is 99% leased, according to real estate data provider CoStar. Other tenants include Anchor Mortgage, law firm Gilchrist & Rutter, and investment advisor Wilshire Associates Inc.

Overall office vacancy in Santa Monica reached 15.4% in the third quarter, according to brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. About one-third of that is sublease space.

-- Roger Vincent