Spigen Inc., an Irvine-based maker of smartphone cases, screen protectors and related accessories, appears to be expanding its local operations after entering into a deal to buy an office in the Spectrum area.
The company late last month entered into a contract with El Segundo-based PCM Inc. to buy 19 Morgan, a roughly 60,000-square-foot building near the southern edge of the former El Toro Marine base.
The U.S. affiliate of Spigen Korea Inc. will pay $13.2 million for the property, according to regulatory filings. The building includes about 40,000 square feet of offices, in addition to warehouse space, and is on about 3.4 acres.
The deal works out to about $220 per square foot and is expected to close within two months, according to PCM, a direct marketer of technology products and services for consumers as well as business, government, and educational customers.
PCM has been using the facility for a local sales office and distribution facility. It hasn’t disclosed plans for its local operations beyond a two-month leaseback of the property following the sale’s completion.
The deal looks to be a quick money-maker for PCM, which paid $5.8 million for the property about a year ago, according to regulatory filings.
The company said it anticipates a pretax gain of approximately $7.4 million on the deal.
Louis Tomaselli, Steve Wagner and Baker Morphy with the Irvine office of JLL had been marketing the property, which was advertised as a potential corporate headquarters building.
Spigen currently is based out of a nearby building in Bake Technology Park, which is owned by Newport Beach-based Irvine Company.
It also previously owned a roughly 10,000-square-foot building on Research Drive in the Spectrum but sold it about a year ago for $3.5 million, according to property records.
It’s one of several area companies that makes smartphone cases and accessories. Others include Irvine-based Incipio Technologies Inc., SKITS in Santa Ana, and Mophie Inc. in Tustin, which was acquired earlier this year for at least $100 million by rival Zagg Inc. in Utah.
Phoenix Push
Birtcher Anderson Realty’s recent acquisition push has taken the San Juan Capistrano-based real estate investor to Phoenix, where it recently added a trio of area business parks to its portfolio.
The company partnered with JCR Capital in Denver to buy three Phoenix-area properties totaling 312,193 square feet from Phoenix-based Presson Properties.
The business parks, in Tempe and Mesa, sold for about $26.5 million, or some $85 per square foot.
Financing for the deal was provided by CIT, and debt and the equity were arranged by Knightsbridge Realty Capital, according to the buyers.
“In light of the strong recovery currently underway in this type of property, we were pleased to be able to invest at such a basis at this point in the local real estate cycle,” said Birtcher Anderson Realty Chief Executive Bob Anderson in a statement.
“With the average occupancy and in-place rents lagging current market conditions, we are anticipating some healthy near-term upside,” he said.
The deal comes two months after a venture including Birtcher Anderson paid close to $64 million for 18 light industrial and flex buildings in Northern California. That deal was its largest purchase in several years.
Silicon Valley Buy
Irvine Co. has its eyes on another Silicon Valley site that could hold a big apartment development, according to local reports.
The company, already one of the most active office and apartment developers in Silicon Valley, is said to be under contract to buy the Sunnyvale headquarters of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, according to Silicon Valley Business Journal, which first reported the impending deal.
The property has about 320,000 square feet of offices, but Irvine Co. is buying the 32.5-acre site with plans to build hundreds of apartments, according to local reports.
A sale price hasn’t been disclosed. The campus is owned by New York-based W.P. Carey, which paid a reported $95 million for the property more than 15 years ago.
Advanced Micro Devices plans to lease a smaller amount of office space elsewhere in the area, according to local reports.
