Located at the I-5 and State Highway 126, the Summit at Valencia consists of three, two-story office buildings on approximately 10 acres in the master-planned community of Valencia Gateway Corridor. The project can accommodate users up to 150,000 sf, but currently counts only one tenant on the premises, communications networking firm Expanets, which occupies 30,000 sf.

Parker Hansen funded the purchase of Summit at Valencia through another Orange County firm, Newport Beach-based Buchanan Street Partners, which arranged bridge financing of $14.8 million for the acquisition plus secured $5.5 million of joint venture equity from a private California-based investment fund. Mike Guterman and Kevin McKenzie in Buchanan's Los Angeles office handled the assignment.

The new owners, who bought the property from St. Louis-based General American Life Insurance Co., have named their Valencia project after the 1.7-million-sf Summit Office Campus in Aliso Viejo. Erik Hansen, a principal with Parker Hansen, says the Valencia site has substantial upside in a market that has many similarities to the South Orange County market that is the home of the Aliso Viejo Summit.

Parker Hansen has earmarked $8.5 million for its building improvements and tenant improvements at the Valencia campus, where it will invest $1 million in exterior and interior upgrades that it expects to complete in August. The remaining $7.5 million is budgeted for tenant improvements, commissions and lease-up. Architects Ware Malcomb of Irvine will handle the design.

Both the buyers and seller, General American Life Insurance Co., were represented by Doug Marlow and Tom Bohlinger, both with CB Richard Ellis Inc. in Glendale.

Parker Hansen is a commercial real estate developer and investor that was formed in early 2002 to look for under-performing office and industrial properties in Southern California. The principals include Erik Hansen, formerly of Legacy Partners Commercial; along with John Parker, Russ Parker and Lee Redmond.