WCB Buys 600,000-SF ProLogis Portfolio

NEWPORT BEACH, CA-WCB Properties has signed an agreement to acquire a five-building, 600,000-sf portfolio of retail, office and R&D properties from the Denver-based ProLogis REIT. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but the size and location of the assets suggest that the sales price was north of $100 million.

The new WCB assets include class A and class B properties in Orange and Los Angeles counties and the Inland Empire in a portfolio that is approximately 90% occupied. Terry Thompson, VP of acquisitions and a partner with WCB Properties, tells GlobeSt.com that the company has closed on two of the properties, Pacificenter Anaheim and Westgate Office Center in Corona, with the other three expected to close within a couple of months.

Thompson tells GlobeSt.com that one of the key properties in the deal is the Pacificenter Anaheim, a 15.5-acre site comprising a five-story 100,000-sf office tower, a 23,000-sf single-story flex office building and a 21,000 sf multi-tenant retail strip center. What's most promising about the Pacificenter site, Thompson explains, is that it includes excess land for development that is "perfectly aligned with WCB's acquisition strategy."

"We couldn't be more thrilled with the multiplicity of options" for developing the Pacificenter property, Thompson says. "It's just a matter of choosing the right one."

Among the features that make the Pacificenter Anaheim property such an attractive development site are its multimodel transportation capabilities, including immediate access off the Riverside (91) Freeway, a nearby Metrolink station and two major arterial roads La Palma and Tustin avenues. WCB will be looking into the planning a major mixed-use transit-oriented redevelopment at the Pacificenter Anaheim site, Thompson says.

"What excites us the most is that it is a multimodal site with the Metrolink right there, and we know from preliminary conversations that the city that it is very excited about turning that area into something greater than it is today," Thompson adds.

WCB also sees potential to add value to the other four properties in the ProLogis portfolio. For example, one of the others is the 214,238-sf Chatsworth Business Center in Chatsworth, where Thompson says WCB will likely spend about $1 million to upgrade the property in anticipation of "significant value-add" through lease-up at higher rents.

The 62,000-sf Westgate Office Center in Corona is in an office market that is "on fire" with a vacancy rate of only 0.4%, Thompson says. He points out that Corona has grown popular as a "gateway to Orange County" that appeals to businesses and executives in both Orange County and nearby Inland Empire communities.

The 48,000-sf Commercenter-Newport in Newport Beach is in "an ideal location," so WCB foresees strong demand when leases there roll over in 2008. The fourth property is Pacificenter-Tustin, which comprises an office flex R&D building in the Irvine Business Complex totaling nearly 70,000 sf and a retail building totaling nearly 40,000 sf that is 100% occupied by Micro Center.

The five ProLogis properties were part of the Catellus Development Corp. holdings that ProLogis acquired in September when it merged with Catellus. Darla Longo and Barbara Emmons of CB Richard Ellis represented ProLogis in the sale to WCB, with WCB representing itself.