IRVINE, CA—CapRock Partners, a private Orange County investment firm, has completed the sale of its Menlo Park Tech Center project, and its properties in the Melrose Industrial Park project in Placentia.

The Menlo Park Tech Center property is located near the Facebook campus at 3565 Haven Avenue in Menlo Park. CapRock Partners acquired the asset in 2013 and leveraged its in-house development expertise to renovate the building's interior and exterior. The team also subdivided the space in anticipation of market demand from venture-funded start-ups, and added individual utilities to each unit. The changes quickly attracted tenants including Click Diagnostics, FinSix Corporation, and Transcriptic Inc., and the building was 100% leased within just six months at rates exceeding those originally projected.

“The swift lease-up and successful disposition of CapRock's Haven project is a testament to the continued strength of the Menlo Park/Silicon Valley market - and to our team's ability to anticipate the market, add value, and deliver product that is quickly absorbed,” said Pat Daniels, CapRock Partners co-founder and chief operating officer. “The Valley is experiencing an increasing and serious shortage of flex/R&D space in the 5,000 - 10,000 square foot range for both incubation and second-stage companies. CapRock will continue to uncover and seize opportunities to service this sector of the market.”

3565 Haven Avenue is a high-profile office/R&D building that encompasses various units ranging in size from 5,278 to 9,825 square feet. Greg DeLong and Chip Sutherland of CBRE Palo Alto spearheaded both the successful lease-up and sales marketing campaigns, while Scott Prosser and Jack DePuy of CBRE San Jose represented the buyer in the transaction.

With the Melrose Industrial Park project in Placentia, CapRock acquired the holding - comprised of six premium industrial buildings totaling more than 90,000 square feet - in late 2012 and deployed a strategic redevelopment plan to reposition the buildings for sale.

“We recognized the latent value presented by these assets, and knew we had an opportunity to leverage our industrial sector expertise to realize significant upside for our investors,” Jon Pharris, CapRock's president and co-founder said of the 2012 acquisition. “We were bullish on the market then and continue to be aggressive in our acquisition strategy in Southern California and beyond.”

CapRock's project comprised six of the industrial park's 11 buildings and encompassed extensive renovations, including interior and exterior architecture, as well as landscaping. The objective: to capture a rapidly expanding buyer pool in this highly sought-after and supply-constrained North Orange County submarket.

“Using our decades of expertise in Southern California commercial real estate as a lens, the CapRock team forecasted a growing demand for industrial buildings for small- to mid-sized businesses,” said Daniels. “The success of our approach was borne out in our swift sale of the redeveloped buildings - ranging in size from 12,000 - 20,000 square feet - to owner/users for top dollar.”

The most recent transaction - the  sale of 1037 Melrose (17,500 SF) to Sunburst Shutters, a national leader in the manufacture and installation of custom shutters for the residential market - represents the close-out of CapRock's offering. Zach Niles of Jones Lang LaSalle represented CapRock Partners on sales of the project overall, including the 1037 Melrose transaction. Brad Schmitt of Studley represented Sunburst Shutters in the acquisition of 1037 Melrose.

“The success of our Melrose Industrial Park project is powerful validation of CapRock's entrepreneurial approach to value-add industrial assets,” said Pharris. “Our team's keen grasp of the market allowed us not only to acquire this asset, but to quickly recast it for today's industrial buyer and achieve pricing that exceeded expectations.”