Two industrial buildings in Costa Mesa next to John Wayne Airport, including the former headquarters of Karma Automotive, have traded hands for about $33.7 million.
Pacific Industrial, a Long Beach-based developer of warehouses and distribution facilities, recently closed on the purchase of 3030 and 3080 Airway Ave., similarly sized buildings totaling about 158,000 square feet on the western edge of the airport next to the Lyon Air Museum.
They sold for about $213 per square foot in a deal brokered by Voit Real Estate Executive Vice President Trent Walker.
Pacific Industrial said it bought the property in a venture with a private equity fund advised by Crow Holdings Capital.
Both buildings were previously owned by an affiliate of Ontario-based Guardian Commercial Real Estate LP, which paid a reported $25.7 million for them in late 2015.
The 3030 Airway property is used by surf apparel firm Rip Curl USA under a long-term lease, according to the buyers, and 3080 Airway was last used by luxury hybrid automotive maker Karma, which had its headquarters there until relocating to a larger facility in the Irvine Spectrum about seven months ago. The building is now vacant and available for lease; Voit has the listing.
Pacific Industrial said it’s created a renovation plan for the project that includes significant interior and exterior enhancements to 3080 Airway, including brand-new office space, roof and HVAC units, along with other employee amenities.
The buy “is perfectly aligned with our company’s ongoing strategy to acquire irreplaceable assets in exceptionally well located pockets that will attract a wide variety of users,” Pacific Industrial co-founder Dan Floriani said in a statement.
It’s Pacific Industrial’s second notable OC deal in about six months. In November, it was part of group that paid a reported $14.6 million for 8.6 acres in Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle.
The 222 E. Howell Ave. property, now home to an auto repair shop and other small tenants, is being eyed by the new owners for a variety of potential development types. Office, retail, hospitality and multifamily product types are being considered, the buyers said at the time of the deal.
Pacific Industrial owns about a 3.5-million-square-foot portfolio of assets in Southern California, according to Floriani.
Bascom Buy
Irvine-based Bascom Group LLC has made another big local acquisition, for an apartment complex in Costa Mesa.
The real estate investor and developer, best known for its large portfolio of apartments, recently bought Sunset Cove Apartments, a 123-unit complex on Merrimac Way across the street from Orange Coast College.
The property was sold for $33.3 million, or about $270,000 per unit, by an affiliate of Centreville, Va.-based Klingbeil Capital Management, which had owned it since 2002, according to CoStar Group Inc. records.
It’s Bascom’s largest reported apartment buy in Orange County in a year after last April’s $94 million purchase of the Villas at Tustin, a 406-unit rental complex in Santa Ana. That was its priciest-ever apartment acquisition here.
The deal for Sunset Cove was brokered by Jim Fisher, Jeff Rowerdink, Joe Leon and Mike Smith of Berkadia, and Brian Eisendrath, Annie Rice and Brandon Smith of CBRE Group Inc. arranged debt financing.
Sunset Cove was built in 1970. Units at the three-story buildings average about 717 square feet, according to property records.
“We plan to implement some modest property upgrades that will make Sunset Cove a top choice among multifamily properties in the immediate area,” said Bascom Senior Vice President of Operations Paul Diamond in a statement.
Sunset Cove represents Bascom’s 170th multifamily property acquisition in California. The company said it’s done $1 billion in multifamily transactions over the past year throughout the U.S. It has 18,305 units in its portfolio.
