Chicago’s First Industrial Realty Trust Inc., one of the country’s largest industrial landlords, is starting to make a bigger push in Orange County.
The real estate investment trust just made its first buy here in several years, acquiring a 366,629-square-foot building in Santa Ana, next to the Tustin Legacy development.
Rockefeller Group Development Corp. of New York sold the building at 2001 E. Dyer Road.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, though the price is believed to be $35 million to $40 million.
Expect to see more buying by First Industrial after recent inactivity here, said Bob O’Neill, investment officer for its local office in the Irvine Spectrum.
“We’re expecting to make more deals in Orange County, as well as Los Angeles and the Inland Empire,” said O’Neill, a former broker for Grubb & Ellis Co. who joined First Industrial last year.
The company’s Irvine office now has about 11 people, up from just a handful a few years ago.
“We’re knocking down walls to fit more people,” he said.
The Dyer Road deal marks a good way for First Industrial to get in on the action in OC, where space for large industrial tenants is hard to find.
Santa Ana-based warehousing company Terry Bowman Group of Logistics uses some of the space, but the building largely is empty.
“We can deliver nearly 250,000 square feet immediately,” O’Neill said.
Another 100,000 square feet should be available within two years, he said.
Rockefeller Group had planned to turn the site into a data center a few years ago. Some technology upgrades were made. But the building still largely is warehouse space.
The vacant space can accommodate one big user, or several tenants, said Jeff Chiate, senior director for the Irvine office of Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
Chiate and Cushman’s Rick Ellison represented the buyer and seller in the deal.
More real estate investment trust, institutional and pension fund money has been making its way to OC’s industrial market in the past year, Chiate said.
“The yields are at an all-time high, but there are still buyers interested in these properties,” he said. “Everyone’s holding their breath (because of the slumping housing market). But the industrial investment market here is still dazzling.”
See page 27 for our commercial real estate special report focusing on the industrial market.
Endevco HQ Sold
The San Juan Capistrano headquarters of Endevco Corp., a maker of vibration-measurement instruments, recently changed hands for top dollar.
Newport Beach-based Pacific Capital Holdings bought the 125,000-square-foot building at 30700 Rancho Viejo Road for $33.5 million, or $268 per square foot. The seller was Sligo Properties LP.
The Endevco building, built in 1974, is a wood and concrete research and development building on 15.3 acres. The site is likely to see development following the sale, according to Dick Silva, senior vice president for the Newport Beach-based office of Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services Inc.
Silva represented the buyer. Lee & Associates’ Mike Meisenbach, John Collins, Ewan Choate and Scott Bellizzi represented the seller.
British defense and aerospace contractor Meggitt PLC owns Endevco. Meggitt said last year it was consolidating three other local units it owns in the Irvine Spectrum.
Endevco, part of Meggitt’s energy group, has no plans to leave the San Juan Capistrano site, where it holds a nine-year lease, Silva said. If development occurs, Endevco likely would move to a new building on the site, possibly in the 80,000-square-foot range, Meisenbach said.
Permitting for any new buildings likely would take a few years to complete, he said.
Santa Ana Center Sells
Bristol Marketplace, the 107,687-square-foot Santa Ana shopping center, traded hands for $20.5 million.
The center, at 1800 N. Bristol St., was built two years ago and is full. Tenants include Kohl’s, Sprint and Countrywide Home Loans.
Ralphs, CVS Pharmacy and Target also are there, but their buildings weren’t part of the sale.
Both the buyer and seller were private investors. Ryan Litrich and Brian Sperry of Irvine-based Sperry Van Ness represented the seller. David Monetta of Monetta Ventures represented the buyer.
Warmington Homes California, the Costa Mesa-based homebuilder, promoted Jim Warmington Jr. to president and chief operating officer. He’ll be responsible for day-to-day operations.
He represents the fourth generation of Warmingtons to hold one of the company’s top spots since it started operations 80 years ago. Jim Warmington Sr. served as president from 1972 until 1999, and remains involved with the company.
Warmington Jr., 36, will report to the company’s previous president, Tim Hogan, who was promoted to chief executive.
Previously, Warmington Jr. served as executive vice president and senior vice president of land acquisition. His new duties will include overseeing the company’s operations management and improvement, land acquisitions and product development, the company said.
Warmington Homes California is part of the Warmington Group of Cos., which includes five homebuilding divisions that serve California and a sixth division in Nevada. The divisions are building at about 30 housing developments.
