The buyer acquired the properties, which are located primarily in the Los Angeles Basin, from Westcore Distribution Centers, Westcore Gale and Westcore Don Julian, all subsidiaries of Westcore Industrial Properties of San Diego, which was founded by Marc Brutten in 2000.

The buyer was represented by Gregory Young of Los Angeles-based Investment Development Services Inc., who says IDS also will be managing and leasing the portfolio and implementing any repositioning, including redevelopment. The sellers were represented by Darla Longo of the Ontario office of CB Richard Ellis Inc., Nick Psyllos in CBRE's San Diego office, and Barbara Emmons of the firm's Glendale office. The sale marks the third major industrial transaction involving LA-area properties that Emmons and Longo have brokered in the past month, accounting for about $288 million of combined sales. The CBRE brokers say the action is simply indicative of the immense demand for well-leased industrial properties.

Young says 14 properties are located within the LA Basin, two in the San Francisco East Bay area of San Leandro and one near Phoenix, close to Sky Harbor International Airport.

According to Brutten, the sale finalizes the sell-off of Westcore's second fund which totaled more than $230 million and represented more than three million sf of prime infill industrial property.

Besides the LA Basin properties, the Westcore portfolio included 828,315 sf of San Diego properties that sold in a separate transaction and closing at nearly the same time as the LA portfolio. Westcore sold the San Diego properties for $86 million to Rreef America REIT II. The San Diego portion of the portfolio, brokered by Longo and Psyllos, includes assets ranging from corporate headquarters and R&D facilities to multi-tenant industrial buildings in five San Diego County submarkets.

Brutten says the proceeds from the sales of the Los Angeles and San Diego portfolios will be used toward commercial and industrial real estate investments in the Western US.

Young described the Los Angeles portfolio properties as well-located in infill markets that are land-constrained, where vacancies in some cases are as low as 2% or 3%. He says the submarkets have concentrations of key industries, including garment and food-related businesses, that are steady users of space regardless of fluctuations in the economy. The portfolio's overall occupancy is approximately 88%. Key tenants include Metropolitan Concessions, Concord Transportation, Packaging Corp. of America, and DHL.

About 1.3 million sf of the LA package is located in the City of Industry, with followed 621,471 sf in the Central LA, Vernon and City of Commerce submarkets. Some 125,816 sf is in the Orange County communities of Garden Grove and Tustin; 173,639 in San Leandro; and 40,000 sf in Phoenix. In all, the properties encompass about 112 acres.

The properties include Central LA at 3707 S. Hill St.; Vernon, 2800-2900 Sierra Pine Ave. and 4150-4174 Bandini Blvd.; and Commerce, 2001-2015 Saybrook Ave., 1900 Tubeway Ave., and 2600 Yates Blvd.

The City of Industry holdings are 16633-16801 Gale Ave., 111 N. Hudson Ave., 13240-80 Amar Rd., 730-780 Baldwin Park Blvd., 15210-15232 E. Nelson Ave., 15205-15225 E. Stafford St., 15245-15325 E. Stafford St., 341-345 Baldwin Park Blvd., and 14730 and 14760 Don Julian Rd.

Other assets are Garden Grove at 7550 and 7560 Chapman Ave., and 12020, 12030 and 12040 Western Ave.. The lone property in Tustin is 15551 Red Hill Ave. while San Leandro buildings are 15002-15099 Wicks Blvd. and 1444-1446 Factor Ave. The one Phoenix property is 2229-2235 E. Magnolia St.