DreamWorks’ Glendale campus sells for $215 million

DreamWorks Animation’s Tuscany-style campus has been sold again, just months after the studio unloaded the Glendale complex but remained as a tenant.

The buyer was Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT, which scooped up the 15-acre site from an investment arm of SunTrust Banks Inc. for $215 million.

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The real estate investment trust’s president, Michael Escalante, said the purchase fits the El Segundo company’s strategy of investing in properties in desirable areas that are leased to a single tenant.

“We are very happy to add this iconic ... headquarters campus and to be associated with one of the leading companies in the animation world,� he said.

A spokesperson for SunTrust did not respond to an email seeking comment. Representatives of CBRE Group Inc., the real estate brokerage that represented SunTrust, declined to comment.

DreamWorks sold its campus in February for $185 million as a cost-cutting measure following a series of box-office flops. The studio behind the “Shrek� movies has nearly 20 years left on its lease at the campus near the Los Angeles River.

The animation company will also share in the rewards from the second sale of its campus.

As part of the deal with SunTrust, DreamWorks got a profit-sharing agreement for a future sale. According to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, DreamWorks would make $15 million on the sale to Griffin.

The complex was developed two decades ago and is landscaped with olive trees, oaks and a koi pond.

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