The seller of the property was Equus 2131, LLC, with David Bourne and Chad Carpenter as themanagers. Mark Emerick, Dennis Visser and Louay Alsadek of BRE Commercial/NAI represented the seller. Ron Reynolds of CA Commercial represented the buyer.

The single-story building was constructed in 1987 as the corporate headquarters of International Lottery and Totalizer Systems Inc. (ILTS), a supplier of computerized ticket processing systems. In August 1999 ILTS subcontracted most of its assembly work to outsource suppliers and negotiated a reduction in its leased space to 22,791 sf as part of a 5-year lease extension.

This allowed Equus to reconfigure the property into a two-tenant office building and complete a capital improvements program, including a separate front entrance and separate metering for the vacant space. In October 1999, Chicago-based Technology Solutions signed a 63-month lease for 19,222 sf, taking occupancy to 100%.

"We knew that the leasing market was stronger in the 20,000 sf range than in the 40,000 sf range, so subdividing and upgrading the building made a lot of sense," said Chad Carpenter, president of Equus Realty Advisors.

Equus purchased the property in December 1996 for $2.95 million, with $2.2 million of secured debt provided by Walnut Creek based Owens Financial Group.

"Our target is to earn investors in excess of 20 percent per year, so this investment was reasonably successful," Carpenter says.

Instant Insights /

Two-Tenant Building Fetches $5.45 Mil

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