Terms of the deal, which was a direct transaction between buyer and seller, were undisclosed. Based on going rates for the various property types, the portfolio could easily have sold for $100 million or more.

Michael Barker, managing director for Barker Pacific Group, says that Union Development will operate as a separate unit of Barker Pacific. One of the goals of the new ownership will be to increase value of some of the portfolio's older properties and redevelop others, he says.

Barker says the deal combines his company's institutional experience and entrepreneurial approach with Union Development's long history of land development and property management throughout the Southland. Founded in 1895 by R.E. Ibbetson, Union Development has been owned and operated by the Ibbetson and Fitzgerald families ever since, with Gregory Ibbetson, grandson of the founder, as its current chairman.

Union Development initially acquired extensive dairy and agricultural properties throughout Los Angeles and Imperial counties. Over time, it diversified and redeveloped much of its agricultural land for residential and commercial use.

The company built houses on Ibbetson Avenue in Lakewood that were among the first tract homes developed in Los Angeles County before World War II, and in 1953 Union Development built one of the first enclosed shopping malls in Southern California, a 25-acre complex in Lakewood known as Dutch Village. Among the company's many holdings are Del Amo Plaza in Cerritos, Indiana Business Park in Riverside, Town Center Best Buy in Rancho Cucamonga and Rosewood Apartments in Bellflower.

Barker Pacific Group was founded more than 20 years ago to specialize in the development and acquisition of office, retail, and residential projects. It has completed or has under development more than $1 billion in commercial projects, including the 550,000-sf Hamilton Landing office conversion project at Hamilton Air Force Base in Marin County.

Other Barker Pacific Group projects include 100 First Plaza and 500 Sansome St. in San Francisco, the Fine Arts Building at 626 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles and 5055 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles.