LAS VEGAS-CIP Real Estate of Irvine, CA has sold a 425,000-square-foot industrial portfolio Hughes Airport Center for $36.5 million. CIP had owned the portfolio in a joint venture with an investment fund managed by Buchanan Street Partners, a unit of TCW Group, an international asset manager.

The buyer was a real estate fund managed by TA Associates. The sale price for Class A portfolio was about $85 per square foot. 

The 425,000-square-foot transaction is a rare happening in Las Vegas, which has limitations on the supply of industrial land and buildings alike, according to Eric Smyth, Principal of CIP Real Estate.  The local market has an inventory of 120 million square feet, which is comparatively slim for a major metro area, according to the Orange County investor.

“The Las Vegas Valley, as a whole, has is a relatively supply constrained market for industrial,” he says. “It’s not every week, or every year, or even every five years that you have a chance to buy industrial real estate en masse in Las Vegas,” says Smyth. “At 425,000 square feet and $36 million, this is a relatively large transaction for a non-gaming property in Las Vegas,” he adds.

The quality of the tenant base makes the TA Associates deal a core asset play, according to Smyth. Tenants in the portfolio include Iron Mountain, Telepacific, Cirque du Soleil, Ninyo and Moore, and MEI.

TA Associates has retained CIP to continue managing the sale buildings.

The CIP-Buchanan Street joint venture currently owns about 1.2 million square feet of office, flex, and industrial buildings in Hughes Airport Center valued with a value of more than $120 million.  In November, the venture sold  985 Trade Drive building in North Las Vegas for $7.48 million. The building is fully leased by Cox Communications.

Darla Longo and Barbara Emmons of CBRE’s Ontario, CA office and Kevin Higgins of Voit Real Estate’s Las Vegas office  represented the seller in sales negotiations, while TA Associates represented itself. The Hughes Airport Center is a 3.3 million-square-foot, master-planned office and industrial park in the Airport submarket.