The Irvine Company has finalized the buy of two downtown San Diego buildings, including the city’s marquee One America Plaza.
The Newport Beach company bought the 34-story, 570,000-square-foot One America Plaza for about $300 million and the 360,000-square-foot Koll Center for about $150 million.
The Irvine Co. confirmed the buys. The prices were reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, but not confirmed by the Irvine Co.
“We believe that San Diego is already an outstanding place to do business and has great potential for a bright future,” said Irvine Co. spokesman Bill Rams. “It is undergoing a tremendous renewal and the downtown area continues to attract more and more people,and jobs.”
The price for One America Plaza it believed to be the highest paid for a building in downtown San Diego.
Koll Center was developed by OC developer Donald Koll in 1989.
The acquisitions give the Irvine Co. six of the 10 most prominent office towers in San Diego.
Since 2003, the Irvine Co. has bought four other downtown San Diego buildings for about $550 million.
The buys signal the Irvine Co. “is very bullish on rents going up,” said Jason Hughes, a principal at San Diego real estate brokerage Irving Hughes Group Inc.
“These are very, very smart investors,” he said. “They know what they are doing. And, it’s almost a self-fulfilling prophecy now. With them controlling so much space, they can manipulate the market.”
GE Asset Management, the real estate unit of General Electric Co., sold the two buildings in partnership with Sentre Partners, a San Diego-based real estate investment and management firm.
GE and Sentre bought Koll Center in late 2003 for $93 million. One America Plaza was acquired about a year earlier, reportedly for $166 million.
The Irvine Co. reportedly bid on One America Plaza at that time.
