Real estate investor Passco Cos. LLC, one of the fastest-growing private companies in Orange County in the past few years, isn’t showing signs of a slowdown, thanks to a recent active acquisition push inside and outside California.
The Irvine-based firm, which reports nearly $2 billion in assets under management, added three apartment complexes in Florida and a midsized shopping center in Corona to its portfolio since early May in deals that cost about $173 million combined.
The buys should add another boost to Passco’s revenue, which has already been tracking up the past few years. It’s ranked Orange County’s 28th largest private company on the Business Journal’s list this week, with $682 million in revenue last year (see list, page 24).
The company’s earnings are up more than 40% over 2015 and by about 55% over 2014, thanks to its growing portfolio of properties across the country.
Last year, it spent more than $500 million on apartment buys alone, the most in its 19-year history.
The company was founded by Chief Executive Bill Passo, now 75 and one of the first real estate investors to use the tenant-in-common investment structure that’s become commonplace in the industry.
He made his first acquisition in 1976 when he bought an apartment project in Anaheim.
Passco buys apartments and commercial properties; its multifamily deals are typically for more than $20 million each and largely based out of state, while the bulk of its retail, industrial and land holdings are in California.
The latest batch of buys continued that trend, the three Florida apartment complexes, in Tampa, West Melbourne, and Estero, trading for nearly $50 million each. The complexes totaled 846 units.
Passco now owns more than 2,000 rental units in Florida, the most it has in any state, according to the company’s website.
Passco’s buy of Temescal Village, a 102,976-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in Corona in Riverside County, is the smallest of its four recent acquisitions. It paid a reported $16.9 million, or $164 per square foot for the property, which sits just off the 15 Freeway near Magnolia Avenue. The center is about 94% leased to 19 tenants, including a CVS Pharmacy.
Dixie Walker and Charley Simpson of Cushman & Wakefield Inc.’s Irvine office represented the seller, a private investor, in the transaction.
Passco reports that it owns more than 600,000 square feet of retail space in California.
The Corona market has a retail vacancy rate of 4.4%, limiting opportunities for expansion in the area and making retail space in demand, said Passco Vice President of Retail Acquisitions Todd Siegel in a statement.
Passco plans to modernize the 34-year-old property, updating landscaping, outdoor seating and gathering spaces for shoppers.
Architecture Design Collaborative in Laguna Hills will oversee the center’s redevelopment, according to the buyer.
