Toda America, the U.S. division of Japanese construction firm Toda Corp., has acquired a nearly 68,500-square-foot office in Irvine for $26.2 million.
This is the first reported local investment for the company, which operates nationally out of San Francisco and previously leased an office in Cypress.
It paid about $382 per square foot for the office, which is on a 2.8-acre-lot at 111 Pacifica, in the Spectrum submarket near the 133 Toll Road.
Gary Stache, Anthony DeLorenzo and Rick Sherburne of CBRE Group Inc. led the transaction on behalf of the seller, Canopi, a local private family office that paid about $22.3 million for the office in 2016.
Kenji Sakai and Yoshio Fujiwara of CBRE represented Toda America.
The deal marks the “kickoff of their full-scale U.S. real estate expansion,” notes Sakai, senior vice president in CBRE’s El Segundo office.
Despite “current COVID-19-related travel and touring restrictions,” the buyer “was highly motivated, as they know that this Irvine Spectrum Entertainment Triangle site has scarcity value.”
The international real estate company, publicly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, has three primary lines of business: architectural and civil engineering, development and investment of commercial and residential assets.
Positive CRE Signs
Toda America plans on occupying a 900-square-foot space on the first floor of the building, which will mark its first OC location since it vacated a Cypress office several years back.
The three-story property, built in 1989, was about 92% leased at the time of sale to a mix of tenants, including Hall & Company and Qmerit.
“The Irvine Spectrum location along with limited availability of quality investment assets were major drivers for this transaction,” said Stache, an executive vice president with the brokerage’s Newport Beach office.
CBRE said that investor sentiment and transaction activity for commercial deals has recovered in recent months.
The number of signed confidentiality agreements was down by 17% year-over-year in late July, “a marked improvement from the 74% drop-off in April and May,” the brokerage said.
“We continue to see strong interest from investors for quality, well located office product,” Stache said.
