CASTAIC, CA-Triple Net Properties of Santa Ana has acquired the 40,000-sf Castaic Town Center, a Walgreen-anchored property on 11 acres at 27900 Sloan Canyon Rd. that was built in 2005 and is nearly 88% occupied. The Santa Ana-based tenant-in-common sponsor acquired the property from Castaic Town Center LLC for $15.4 million.

The sale was brokered on behalf of the seller by Ryan Gallagher and Jeff Hanson of the institutional investment group of Grubb & Ellis, along with Bert Abel and John Cserkuti of NAI Capital's Santa Clarita office and Barry Rothstein of NAI Capital's Encino office. Triple Net represented itself.

The center's Sloan Canyon Road address is right along the Interstate 5 Freeway, one of the factors that Triple Net and the brokers cite in describing it. In addition, Cserkuti notes that retail developments in North Los Angeles County "continue to flourish as investors see the potential in this market."

Cserkuti adds that the sale of Castaic Town Center reaffirms the growing investor interest in the Santa Clarita Valley, which is one of the fastest growing communities in Los Angeles County and the fifth fastest growing city in California, with a population of more than 200,000 and 70,000 jobs. The population is projected to reach more than 500,000 by 2020.

The population in the center's trade area is 30,000, with an average household income of more than $100,000. In addition to Walgreen's, the 11 tenants at the Castaic Town Center include Sprint/Nextel and NAI Capital, which has leased a temporary space for its Santa Clarita office until the branch can occupy its new office currently under construction at Rye Canyon Pointe in Valencia. Financing for the sale of the center was provided by Wachovia Bank.