Bixby, which is a private REIT, is acquiring the Maguire properties in a joint venture with Mercantile Real Estate Advisors Inc., a member of the PNC Financial Services Group. The agreement with Bixby is part of Maguire's previously announced plan to sell some of its assets to reduce debt from its $3-billion purchase of a portfolio of 8.1 million sf of EOP properties from Blackstone.

The Newport Beach properties that Bixby is acquiring are the two-building Redstone Plaza and the 1201 Dove St. building. In Irvine it is buying the two-building Fairchild Corporate Center and the three-building Inwood Park, which includes a 3.5-acre development site. Its Seal Beach acquisition is the three-building Bixby Ranch Office Park.

Bill Halford, CEO of the Bixby Land Co., notes that the buildings are all in "highly desirable submarkets near executive housing with existing rents below the current market rate." In addition, the majority of the properties are located in areas where new development is very restricted, he says.

Bixby and Maguire expect to complete their deal in the second quarter. The Orange County properties that Bixby is acquiring are part of a group of 17 properties that Maguire previously announced that it would dispose of for approximately $2 billion to reduce debt from its acquisition of the EOP assets.

The Bixby deal follows Maguire's announcement last week that the Los Angeles-based office REIT would sell two North San Diego County properties, Pacific Center in Mission Valley and Wateridge Plaza in Sorrento Mesa, for $298 million. That sale also is expected to close during the second quarter.