SAN DIEGO, CA - SR Commercial has recently completed two acquisitions in the San Diego market - an 89,120 square-foot industrial/flex property in San Diego, Calif., and a 48,208 square-foot office property in Vista, Calif., bringing its current portfolio to 715,996 square feet as of November 2013.
“Investor activity is strong in Southern California, and we believe this momentum will continue,” says CJ Stos, co-founder and Principal at SR Commercial. “We have been extremely active buyers this year, completing eight acquisitions in 2013 alone. In addition, we currently have 265,000 square feet of office and industrial properties totaling more than $30 million under contract, set to close before year end, and we plan to continue to actively pursue new investments in San Diego, Orange County, the Inland Empire, and Los Angeles moving forward.”
Stos notes that one challenge, especially in the San Diego market, is identifying the right properties that provide the opportunity to add value.
“Pricing and debt continue to make this a good time to acquire quality product; however, inventory is extremely limited,” Stos says. “For that reason, it’s essential for investors to forge strong partnerships with local brokers who can help them to identify functional assets that will be able to perform well over time.”
SR Commercial’s most recent acquisition, an 89,120 square-foot flex/R&D/industrial building located at 2727 Kurtz Street in San Diego, Calif., is an excellent example of a functional asset with strong performance potential, according to Adam Robinson, co-founder and Principal at SR Commercial.
The property was occupied by Eaton Electronics for over 25 years, but it is currently unoccupied.
“This building is unique in its positioning,” explains Robinson. “As the only available corporate headquarters building in the area, we immediately recognized the opportunity to improve and market this property to both tenants and owner-users.”
SR Commercial plans to implement extensive interior and exterior upgrades and market the property for lease or sale.
Sean Williams of CBRE and Jeff Brown of Cushman & Wakefield represented both SR Commercial and the seller, 2727 Ltd., in the $5.2 million transaction.
In addition, SR Commercial’s other recent San Diego acquisition presents the opportunity for added value, according to Robinson, who notes that tenants and investors in the San Diego market continue to seek quality, upgraded space.
“Office tenants, in particular, are seeking more modern, open spaces in which they can fuel creativity and increase efficiency,” says Robinson. “As an investor and owner, we take notice of these trends and implement improvements that will make our properties more competitive in the submarkets in which they are located.”
SR Commercial recently acquired a 48,208 square-foot office property located at 2790 Business Park Drive in Vista, Calif. The property, which was originally developed as a build-to-suit for Cox Communications and used as a call center, is currently unoccupied.
“We plan to upgrade all of the interior space in order to expose the 12 to 14 foot ceilings on both floors, and install Solartubes, as well as additional skylights,” explains Robinson. “Through these improvements, we will create a more open work environment filled with natural light which will appeal to tenants, as well as potential future buyers.”
SR Commercial acquired the property for $3.3 million, and after extensive upgrades, plans to aggressively market the property as one of the most cost-efficient office buildings in San Diego County with a lower lease rate than the competition, according to Robinson.
Bob Willingham, David Onosko and Ron King of Cushman & Wakefield represented SR Commercial as the buyer and Building Properties, Inc. as the seller in the transaction.
SR Commercial is a privately held, full-service commercial real estate investment company, which acquires, owns and develops income-producing industrial and office properties. The firm’s two Principals include Adam S. Robinson, CPM, CCIM, SIOR, and CJ Stos, MRED.
As an active commercial real estate operator with a well-established reputation as a value-added investor, SR Commercial focuses on real estate opportunities that are inefficiently priced due to a variety of circumstances. These include vacancies, rollover risk, sub-optimal management, inefficient current use, deferred maintenance, long-term undervalued leases or other unfavorable property and market conditions.
With its corporate office in San Diego and the Principals' close ties to Orange County and Los Angeles County, SR Commercial has positioned itself to become one of the leading real estate investment companies in its respective markets. In addition to owned real estate, the firm provides third-party management for more 5 million square feet of industrial, office, and retail properties. More information is available at www.sr-commercial.com.