Makar Collects $31.5M for Cerritos Tower

Makar bought the nine-story office tower in May 2001 for almost $26.3 million from the Krausz Co. of San Francisco. According to Makar, the new owner has agreed to pay an earn-out component for a portion of the building income for an unspecified time period after the closing.

The 15-year-old Cerritos Corporate Tower at 18000 Studebaker Rd. was 99% occupied at sale time. SZA represented itself in the transaction, with Makar's team consisting of Rob Mitchell and Al Pekarcik of Voit Commercial Brokerage.

The office tower is adjacent to the Cerritos Mall, near the intersection of the 605 and 91 freeways on the Los Angeles and Orange County line. It is in a submarket known as the Mid-Cities, which includes a number of communities in Orange and Los Angeles counties that are popular with office and industrial users alike because the location is convenient to both counties.

According to Paul Makarechian, Makar president and CEO, the Cerritos tower was 95% leased when Maker acquired it, but the building was occupied by tenants at below-market leases that were due to expire soon. Makar repositioned the property with a mix of large credit and smaller professional service tenants and then put it up for sale. Makarechian says his company plans the same strategy with the recently acquired Cypress Crossroads in nearby Cypress, as reported by GlobeSt.com.

In Southern California, Makar is best known as the owner of the AAA Five-Diamond St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point, but the company is expanding its portfolio of properties. Makarechian says the firm this year plans to invest several hundred million dollars to acquire commercial properties, mixed-use master-planned developments and hotels. Makar has more than $600 million in assets, representing $1.5 billion of ultimate development value upon completion, and currently maintains operations in California and Texas.