Newport Beach-based Bixby Land Co. said Monday it is paying $345 million for a number of Orange County offices put on the market by Maguire Properties Inc. following its February buy of Equity Office Properties Trust’s local buildings.
Bixby is buying 11 Maguire buildings at five locations, the company said. The mid- and low-rise buildings, in Newport Beach, Irvine and Seal Beach, total 816,000 square feet.
Also included in the deal is a 3.5-acre development site.
Prominent buildings trading hands include Redstone Plaza in Newport Beach and Fairchild Corporate Center in Irvine.
Bixby is led by chief executive Bill Halford, the former head of The Irvine Company’s office division. This is his first major office purchase, and biggest local deal, since taking over the top role at Bixby about a year ago.
The company had been focused more on industrial deals as of late.
The properties are being bought through a venture between Bixby and Mercantile Real Estate Advisors Inc.
Los Angeles-based landlord Maguire Properties said in early March it planned to sell 3 million square feet of local office space,about one-third of its existing Orange County portfolio,to help finance its $2.9 billion buy of Equity Office’s OC and Los Angeles portfolio from Blackstone Group LP.
