Buchanan Buys Industrial-Office Park in Lake Forest

Buchanan Street Partners has bought a 16-building industrial and office park in Lake Forest for an estimated $63 million.

The Newport Beach-based investor purchased the 227,800-square-foot Spectrum Centre Business Park at 20902-21098 Bake Parkway, according to the Orange County Business Journal, which pegged the sale price.

The seller, identified as a Los Angeles-based fund manager, was undisclosed.

The deal for the nearly 17-acre park works out to $277 per square foot, or $3.7 million an acre. Brokers Jeff Chiate, Rick Ellison, Matt Leupold and Aubrie Monahan represented the seller.

The single-story, industrial park, built in 1999 near the 5 and 405 freeways and the 241 toll road, was 80 percent occupied at the time of sale. Tenants of the small bay complex of industrial, office and retail units, were undisclosed.

Its purchase is part of a strategy by Buchanan to buy infill properties across OC, according to Matt Haugen, senior vice president and co-head of commercial investments.

“It’s great real estate to hold on to,” Haugen told the Business Journal, saying properties like Spectrum Centre are being replaced in South OC for housing. “This investment aligns with our strategy to target large infill sites in Orange County, featuring well located real estate that is in high demand and well below replacement cost.”

Haugen said Buchanan Street’s plan is to cut back on the park’s offices for more industrial tenants. In coming years, he predicted the Spectrum Centre would have a larger consumer base surrounding the industrial campus.

Demand for industrial property in OC fell last quarter from late last year, with industrial vacancy rising 0.4 percent to 4.8 percent, according to Kidder Mathews.

“While Orange County remains in the lower half of the nation’s leading industrial markets, lease activity is expected to be lower than the median level amid tenant competition,” Kidder Mathews said in its first-quarter report. “The vacancy rates have changed in alignment with the completion of various developments.”— Dana Bartholomew