Calling from a cell phone in Las Vegas, where Harsch has been busy as of late, company president Jordan Schnitzer tells GlobeSt.com he picked up the building, on a 10,000-sf lot at 1022 SW Salmon, for $2.7 million. He says his motive for the purchase was to secure future office space for his growing company, though at the moment the building is fully leased.

The building is located on the opposite side of Salmon and on the other side of 11th Avenue from Harsch's 60,000-sf headquarters building, which sits on a half-block at 1121 SW Salmon. Also at the intersection is a three-quarter-block Harsch owns and currently utilizes as a surface parking lot for employees and the public.

Harsch also sold an apartment property this month in Phoenix, says Schnitzer. For $5.7 million, Harsch unloaded the 123-unit Que Bonita garden-style apartment complex, its only multifamily asset in that market. "While Phoenix is a target market, with only one multifamily asset it made sense to dispose of it," says Schnitzer, adding that he plans to reinvest the proceeds in a 10-31 exchange but is still looking for the right purchase.

Last month, Schnitzer told GlobeSt.com Harsch made $150 million in acquisitions in 2001 and plans to invest closer to $200 million in 2002. To help meet that goal, Harsch hired Steve Wong, a Portland native who spent the past decade with Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management, most recently a chief investment officer. He will be in charge of acquisitions in Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.

As of the end of the year, Harsch had about $1.1 billion in assets, 425 employees and more than 7,500 tenants. Significant 2001 acquisitions include the 95-acre, 1.4-million-sf Speedway Commerce Center in Las Vegas for $44 million and a 360,000-sf office project in West Sacramento for $41 million.

Harsch also is engaged in development projects in both those markets. In Sacramento, on 100 acres adjacent the aforementioned purchase, Harsch is one-third of the way through building out 1 million sf of high-tech industrial space called Riverside Commerce Center. Elsewhere in Sacramento, Harsch is 170,000-sf into the eventual 600,000-sf Natomas Commerce Center.

On the North side of Las Vegas, Harsch is gearing up to develop 40 acres into Cheyenne Commerce Center, a 650,000-sf industrial development of which 200,000-sf will get under way mid-year 2002. In nearby Henderson, Harsch owns 47 acres on which the first 350,000 sf of a total 850,000-sf also is set to get underway mid-year 2002.

Instant Insights /

Harsch Investment Picks Up Building Near Its Headquarters

Related Stories

Recommended For You