Playa Vista office buildings bought by JPMorgan

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Two Playa Vista office buildings have changed hands, marking one of the largest commercial property sales in Los Angeles County in recent years.

The buildings, rented mostly by Fox Interactive Media, were purchased by a JPMorgan-managed investment fund from developer Lincoln Property Co. and its partner ASB Capital Management. The price wasn’t disclosed but real estate experts familiar with property values in Playa Vista said the buyers paid nearly $300 million.

Lincoln started work in 2007 on a campus called Horizon at Playa Vista intended to appeal to young information-industry workers. Fox Interactive agreed to a lease valued at about $350 million in 2008 to occupy all 421,000 square feet in the first two buildings — but balked at making the move when they were completed a year later.

Fox still leases nine out of 10 floors in the two buildings but occupies only one with its Fox Sports online team. It is attempting to sublease empty space to other tenants.

Lincoln and ASB Capital still own the two buildings in the second phase of the Horizon campus that will be completed later this year. They will also continue to develop in Playa Vista, where they own about 14 acres of additional land, including 10.5 acres purchased in December, said David Binswanger, an executive vice president at Lincoln.

“Despite continued stress in the commercial office sector, this transaction proves that there is demand for the right kind of office property, even in this market,” said David Quigley, chief investment officer of ASB Capital Management.

-- Roger Vincent