Irvine Building Occupied by Tesla Sells for $21 Million

Amid Tesla’s crashing stock prices, an Irvine building occupied by a Tesla Collision Center just sold for $21 million.

Costa Mesa-based Steiner Investments bought the 35,616-square-foot building at 18011 Mitchell South from Los Angeles-based developer and investment firm North Palisade Partners, the Orange County Business Journal reported. The deal works out to $592 per square foot.

Tesla has a 10-year, corporate-guaranteed triple-net lease in place with options to extend; that lease began in 2023. Steiner Investments was purportedly attracted to the property because of the lease length and triple-net lease structure, the OCBJ reported, citing CoStar data.

SRS Real Estate Partners division SRS Capital Markets represented North Palisade Partners in the sale. There was interest from a wide range of parties in snapping up the property, SRS’ Pat Weibel said.

“We received national and international buyer interest from every active investor class, including institutional, private high-net worth family offices, 1031 exchange groups and even non-traditional real estate investors within the automotive and green energy spaces, that were looking at alternative investments,” Weibel told Connect CRE.

Though Tesla, fronted by Elon Musk, moved its headquarters from California to Texas in 2021, the company hasn’t backed away from keeping a large presence in the Golden State, including Greater Los Angeles.

Last month, the electric vehicle maker renewed its lease at a 82,000-square-foot service center at 1100 Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica. That facility, like the one in Irvine, is a Collision Center for Tesla customers in need of auto body shop services.

Elsewhere in Los Angeles, Tesla is finishing construction on its Tesla Diner concept. The charge-and-dine prototype is going up at 7001 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, though an opening date has yet to be announced.

Tesla still maintains a presence in the Bay Area. In 2023, the EV juggernaut leased two industrial buildings in Livermore owned by Westcore.

The company is facing severe sales declines across Europe and a slashed stock price in the U.S. compared to just a few months ago before Musk began his controversial stint in government, SeekingAlpha reported.

— Chris Malone Méndez