In a deal with Irvine-based Legacy Partners, Crown acquired two Class A, campus-style office buildings in a transaction valued at $25 million. The smaller of the two-story buildings, which has a total of 89,650 sf, is currently leased to the North American headquarters of Perrier, a subsidiary of Nestle USA. The larger building, which has 104,662 sf, is available for lease. Both structures were recently renovated.

Crown paid $8 million for the Colorado Springs property. The 126,200-sf modern logistics facility is situated on a 13.04-acre site, of which 6.7 acres are available for future development or expansion of the current building. The facility is currently leased to Entertainment Publishing Inc., a national distributor of entertainment coupon books that offer discounts on restaurants, movies, sporting events, hotels and other activities.

"Crown Realty & Development is continuing to pursue viable properties in strategic markets where we see investment growth potential," says Jamie Sohacheski, Crown's chairman. "Our primary portfolio focus is on properties in the Los Angeles Basin, with emphasis on Burbank, West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Orange County. When we finished our analysis of the market conditions in Colorado Springs, we made a decision to expand the geographic base of our portfolio to include property in this growth market."

This is the second recent transaction for Crown with Legacy Partners. Last August Crown paid Legacy $50 million for Wateridge Park office complex in Culver City, CA, which consists of four buildings with at total of 330,000 sf. Crown has begun a second phase of development on that property, with speculative construction of a 200,000-sf Class A office building.

"We're not a volume company," says company president Robert Flaxman. "We're looking at absolute returns. We're doing deals that are very profitable and, for the most part, we're finding unique infill sites to build retail and office product."

Crown both acquires suitable properties to reposition and engages in new development. Past projects in Southern California include the Stadium Crossings complex in Anaheim, Venice Crossroads in Culver City, Gateway at Burbank in Burbank and Wateridge.

Instant Insights /

SoCal Firm Moves Into Rocky Mountain Market

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