Westcore Looks to Unload 3.1M-SF Portfolio

LOS ANGELES, CA-Westcore Industrial Properties, a private investment firm based in San Diego with regional offices in Los Angeles, has placed a 3.1-million-sf portfolio on the market.

CB Richard Ellis brokers marketing the properties decline to state an asking price, but a portfolio of this size could easily command $230 million to $250 million at today’s prices for comparable properties.

The portfolio includes nearly 2 million sf in Los Angeles County, broker Darla Longo of CB Richard Ellis tells GlobeSt.com, plus 827,000 sf in San Diego County, nearly 174,000 in Northern California, about 125,000 sf in Orange County and 40,000 sf in Arizona. Longo is part of a CB marketing team including Nick Psyllos and Barbara Emmons.

CB has already fielded calls from prospective buyers, Longo says, because of the high interest among investors looking for stabilized industrial properties, one of the most popular classes of investment real estate today.

Westcore was formed in 2000 by CEO Marc Brutten to acquire and redevelop industrial properties, Longo tells GlobeSt.com, noting that the company’s primary equity partner is Starwood Capital of Greenwich, Conn.

Psyllos tells GlobeSt.com that Westcore will market the properties as a portfolio but “will maintain the flexibility to divide the portfolio geographically.” Occupancy throughout the properties is about 95%, he says.

A marketing announcement regarding the properties says they have growth potential because, “Many of the current leases are below market and the portfolio is being offered at a price below replacement cost.”

The properties include 74 buildings at 25 business parks occupying 168 acres. In Los Angeles County, all of the properties are in so-called “in-fill” markets like downtown Los Angeles, Commerce, Vernon and the City of Industry, where industrial vacancies are low and little or no land is available for new construction.