The three centers consist of a 12,109-sf suite on the eighth floor of 444 W. Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach; 18,391 sf in Suite 600 at 1 Park Plaza in Irvine; and a 14,038-sf suite on the 11th floor of 620 Newport Center Dr. in Newport Beach.

The buildings are all owned by the Irvine Co., and at the same time as Premier acquired the business centers from Western Business, it executed five-year leases with the Irvine Co. for the business center space. Robert Rush of US Realty Group in Newport Beach represented Premier Business Centers in negotiating the new leases with the Irvine Co., which represented itself.

The Long Beach location includes 45 offices in a class A building with ocean views, while the Irvine location includes 61 offices in a class A building in the Park Plaza Development, and the Newport Beach location includes 45 offices in a class A building with ocean views.

Premier Office Centers operates 20 locations in California, Washington and Texas. Its planned improvements at the newly acquired business centers will include upgrades in common areas, telephone systems and copying and computer equipment. The company says it plans to acquire and develop 50 executive suite centers over the next five years throughout the Western US.

The Bascom Group is best known in Southern California as an active buyer of apartment complexes throughout the region, having closed on more than 9,000 units over the past four years in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and Riverside counties. However, the company also operates the Premier centers and invests in other property types. For example, it has acquired approximately 3.5 million sf of industrial property via its Southern California Industrial Fund, a joint venture with the Magellan Group of Los Angeles.

Bascom and parent, Chenco International Investment Co. of Las Vegas, has been involved in real estate development and value-add programs with a transaction value in excess of $1 billion. The company's capital base includes domestic institutional equity investors as well as private foreign investors.