Xebec Realty, a privately held real estate developer with offices in Seal Beach, has made a rare foray into Orange County’s industrial market for an investment, and, according to city records, a potential new development.
The firm late last year paid $14 million for 17731 Cowan, a nearly 58,000-square-foot property on 2.8 acres in Irvine.
The site is near to the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway, and next to a Springhill Suites hotel.
The Cowan property, currently holding a mix of office and warehouse space, sold for about $242 per square foot for the existing buildings, or nearly $5 million an acre for the land, according to property records.
The seller of the multi-tenant property was Huntington Beach’s Sun Surgery Center, according to property records.
The building had been marketed for sale by Lee & Associates’ Sean Ahern.
How long the property stays as is remains to be seen. Irvine city records indicate that early stage plans for a new, 56,500-square-foot warehouse development have been filed.
Dallas Move
The Irvine development, if it goes ahead, would mark a rare OC project for Xebec, founded by Randy Kendrick in the mid-1990s. The firm got its start with infill developments in the Los Angeles area, but in recent years has made a name for itself with large-scale projects in Texas and other areas outside California.
Previously based in Seal Beach, it now reports its headquarters are in Dallas, where it has worked with Newport Beach’s CT Realty Investors on larger-scale projects.
Last year, Xebec bought a 405-acre rail yard site in Columbus, Ohio, where it plans to build several million square feet of industrial buildings. It also last year got a nearly $500 million investment for additional development across the country.
The company reports that it has acquired and developed, redeveloped or repositioned industrial and industrial logistics real estate projects totaling over 9 million square feet, and has approximately 15 million square feet currently in various stages of development.Â
