Birtcher Pays $29 Mil for SoCal Industrial Portfolio

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA. - January 26, 2006 -Birtcher Anderson Realty LLC, a San Juan Capistrano-based commercial real estate investment firm, has acquired a 12-building, 251.2k sf industrial property portfolio for $28.76 mil ($114/sf) from Newport Beach-based ZMI Real Estate Inc. The SoCal portfolio includes Carson Industrial Center in Carson, Civic Commerce Center in Irwindale and Simpson Business Park in Escondido. The properties are nearly 100 percent occupied by small local tenants.

Both the buyer and seller represented themselves in the transaction. Knightsbridge Realty Capital of Newport Beach acted as the mortgage broker. Following is more information on each of the multi-tenant industrial properties:

• Carson Industrial Center: Located at 17101 - 17121 Central Ave in Carson, the two-building center built in 1970 totals 94.2k sf and is situated on 4.36 acres.

• Civic Commerce Center: Located at 16021 - 16031 E. Arrow Hwy in Irwindale, the six-building center built in 1987 totals 101k sf and is situated on 6.04 acres.

• Simpson Business Park: Located at 1305 - 1317 Simpson Ave in Escondido, the four-building center built in 1981 totals 55.9k sf and is situated on 3.23 acres.

"Birtcher Anderson Realty has made many investments recently in office product with large tenant leasing challenges. This investment in small tenant industrial product with high occupancies represented a good diversification for us," said Bob Anderson, CEO for Birtcher Anderson Realty. "The strong entrepreneurial business culture in Southern California creates strong and reliable demand for this type of product, thus making for a long-term investment that is resistant to the negative affects of cyclical economic downturns." Anderson added that there was a lot of competition for this desirable portfolio. The company was fortunate to have a solid relationship with the seller, as well as a track record of reliability for closing transactions.

Birtcher Anderson Realty acquired $156 mil in office and industrial transactions totaling 1.1 msf during 2005, primarily in Southern California and Arizona. Office acquisitions totaled 75 percent, and industrial properties totaled 25 percent of their 2005 product acquisition mix.

by RENTV.com

# # #