COSTA MESA, CA-Buyers here and in two other Orange County cities have closed five separate sales that demonstrate the appetite for industrial properties by both investors and owner-users. The largest of the deals was the $9.1 million sale of five office buildings totaling 82,911 square feet at the Copper Tree Business Park at 151 Kalmus Dr. in Costa Mesa.

The buyer of the Copper Tree buildings was the PRES Cos. of Newport Beach, according to the VA Property Group of Lee & Associates, which represented both PRES and the seller, the Brookhollow Group. Brian Garbutt and Allen Basso, senior vice presidents with the LEE VA group in Irvine, note that PRES closed the all-cash transaction in 10 business days.

In the other four sales, Grubb & Ellis Co. reports that Industrial Group senior vice president Wade Tift, along with senior associates Nick Carey and Byron Foss, closed four user sales with an aggregate value of $12.7 million.

“User sales have been a very active segment of the Orange County market throughout the past year,” Tift said. “Stable companies with strong balance sheets have been able to capitalize on historically low purchase prices and interest rates to acquire quality real estate.”

The four transactions that the team closed were:

Corsair bought 17100 Murphy Ave., a 35,283-square-foot R&D/flex building in Irvine, from John B. Senson for $5.5 million. Corsair specializes in manufacturing military, commercial aircraft and aerospace connectors and will use the space as its corporate headquarters. Tift, Carey and Foss represented the buyer; John Griffin of Voit Real Estate Services represented the seller.

Sterling Bancshares Inc. sold 3191 Red Hill, a 24,839-square-foot office building in Costa Mesa, out of foreclosure to Altametrics Inc. for approximately $4 million. Altametrics, a strategic enterprise solutions provider, will use the space as its corporate headquarters. Tift, Carey and Foss represented the seller; Kirk Cole, senior vice president, Industrial Group, also of Grubb & Ellis’ Newport Beach office, represented the buyer.

Black Trust sold 1581 Browning, a 14,334-square-foot industrial building in Irvine, to E-bogu for $1.7 million. E-bogu, a martial arts equipment supplier, will use the space as its corporate headquarters. Tift, Carey and Foss represented the seller, with Tommy Kim of SoCal Avalar Real Estate representing the buyer.

National Engineering & Consulting Inc. acquired 27 Orchard, a 10,098-square-foot office building in Lake Forest, from Coastline RE Holding Corp. for approximately $1.5 million. The property, which was sold out of foreclosure, will serve as the corporate headquarters for National Engineering & Consulting, a design and consulting firm. Tift, Carey and Foss represented the buyer in the transaction, with John Gallivan of Cushman & Wakefield representing the seller.