Muller JV Closes $310M Maguire Deal

LAGUNA HILLS, CA-A joint venture of the locally based Muller Co. and Rockwood Capital LLC has closed its $310-million acquisition of three class A Orange County office assets totaling more than 839,000 sf from Los Angeles-based Maguire Properties. The three properties sold were the 10-story, 217,382-sf Tower 17 in Irvine; the 16-story, 384,183-sf 1100 Executive Tower in Orange and the 17-story, 237,659-sf Lincoln Town Center in Santa Ana.

The Muller-Rockwood JV becomes the second Orange County-based buyer in recent weeks to close on a portfolio of Maguire assets. Late last month, the Newport Beach-based Bixby Land Co. closed its previously reported $345-million acquisition of 11 office buildings totaling 816,000 sf from the Los Angeles-based REIT.

The Tower 17 building occupies a site at the corner of Von Karman Avenue and Martin Street in the Orange County Greater Airport office submarket, while the 1100 Executive Tower building is at 1100 Town and Country Rd., near freeways and amenities. The Lincoln Town Center is at 2677 N. Main St., at the corner of Main Street and Memory Lane.

The Muller and Bixby Land Co. deals were among a number of dispositions that Maguire placed in motion earlier this year to help defray the costs of its $3-billion acquisition of EOP properties from Blackstone. With the closing of the transaction with Maguire, the Muller Co.'s Orange County office holdings now include nine properties that are part of a diversified portfolio of office, industrial and retail real estate throughout the Western US.

The Orange County assets that Maguire has disposed of were part of a group of 17 properties that Maguire said it would sell for approximately $2 billion to reduce debt from the Blackstone transaction. Besides Orange County assets, the 17 properties being sold included assets in Los Angeles and San Diego counties.