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Westcore and Longwing Acquire Office/R&D Property for $12M
Last updated: January 21, 2005 08:39am from GlobeSt.com
SAN DIEGO-Westcore Properties LLC waited little time in closing its first deal of 2005. After a record-setting year in 2004, which saw the company complete some $243 million in transactions, Westcore and Longwing Real Estate Ventures partnered again and acquired a five-building, 102,200-sf office/R&D property for approximately $12.8 million. The partnership acquired the portfolio from 805 Properties. The property is located on eight acres along the corner of Aero Drive and Sandrock Road in Kearny Mesa.
The buy is a “classic opportunistic deal,” according to Westcore's president and CEO Marc Brutten. Currently, the portfolio counts R&D buildings and a corporate headquarters building. “We plan to eventually redevelop the site to a mixed-use or office campus,” says Brutten. He says the Westcore/Longwing partnership hasn’t made a final decision on which direction to go yet.
In the short term, Westcore intends to renew leases of three of the major tenants. “We’re going to renew three tenants in the projects, whose occupancies rollover shortly,” he says. “We’re looking to renew for a three-to-five-year period.” Two of the tenants are telemarketing firms while the third is Gamma Scientific, a maker of defense-related high-tech instrumentation, according to Brutten.
In the long term, Westcore wants to demolish at least half of the buildings on site and then decide which route to go with the site. Brutten says that by the expiration of the new leases, Westcore should have maneuvered through the approval process and the property would be ready for the new development.
For now, the portfolio is 50% leased and Westcore will look to fill space in the short term. “One of the buildings, that is 50,000 sf, is completely vacant,” says Brutten. Brent Wright and Bret Gossett of the San Diego office of CB Richard Ellis represented both parties in the transaction.
The company set plans to invest $300 million in industrial, retail and office properties in 2005; however, its partner Longwing has allocated $150 million for investment for core property, according to Brutten. “This will allow us to acquire up to $500 million this year,” he says. Besides continuing to acquire opportunistic and core-plus properties, Westcore has announced that it is now aggressively seeking core assets as well.
"By adding core properties to our investment criteria, we are now positioned to acquire the full spectrum of industrial, retail and office properties, both individually and on a portfolio basis," says Brutten.
Westcore Properties, LLC ACQUIRES OFFICE/R&D PROPERTY
IN SAN DIEGO, CA FOR $12.75 MILLION
Acquisition Marks Westcore’s and Longwing's First in 2005, Company to Invest $300 Million This Year
SAN DIEGO, CALIF., January 20, 2005 – Westcore Sandrock, LLC, an affiliate of Westcore Properties, LLC, an entrepreneurial real estate investment company headquartered in San Diego, and its partner in the transaction, Longwing Real Estate Ventures, have acquired a five-building, 102,200-square-foot office/R&D property for $12.75 million. The seller was 805 Properties, a California General Partnership. The development is located at 8581-8601 Aero Driveon the southwest corner of Aero Dr.and Sandrock Rd.in the Kearny Mesa submarket of San Diego.
This acquisition marks Westcore’s first for 2005. According to Westcore’s president and CEO, Marc Brutten, this is just the beginning, as the company has plans to aggressively acquire a minimum of $300 million in industrial, retail and office properties this year through its offices in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Brent Wright and Bret Gossett of the San Diego office of CB Richard Ellis represented both parties in the transaction.
The property is 50 percent leased to tenants including Arrow Financial, Directions in Research and Gamma Scientific. The site is in an excellent location with easy access to the 163 and 15 freeways and across from Montgomery Field, a municipal airport.
“Westcore is very bullish on the Kearny Mesa submarket and has owned several projects there over the years,” said Gary Katz, director of acquisitions for Westcore Properties. “For this acquisition, we saw an opportunity to add value to the property by leasing available space and possibly refurbishing or redeveloping it in the future.”Katz added that Westcore currently owns the Kelco campus on Aero Dr. just down the street from the newly acquired property, as well as a shopping center nearby on Convoy Street.
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