Westcore Pays All Cash for 508,800-SF Warehouse

STOCKTON, CA-Westcore Properties, a San Diego-based real estate investment firm with a 12-million-square-foot, $1.2 billion global portfolio, has further amplified its Northern California industrial portfolio with the all cash acquisition of Stockton Center Pointe for $22.9 million. The project is a class-A 508,800-square-foot warehouse-distribution building located on a 24-acre site at 1909 Zephyr St. here.

The seller was IDI/DCT Stockton LLC. Westcore Properties and the seller were represented by Blake Rasmussen of CB Richard Ellis, Stockton.

According to Neil Johnson, principal and director of acquisitions with Westcore Properties’ Northern California office, Stockton Center Pointe's location in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, near Interstate 5 and State Route 99, makes it a preferred location for distribution tenants. “The lack of available space, particularly for class-A distribution space in the 500,000-square-foot plus range, offers a competitive advantage in the San Joaquin Valley, an area where third party logistics companies rely on the area as an efficient West Coast distribution system,” Johnson says.

Johnson points out that increased trade activity at the Port of Oakland will also funnel demand into the San Joaquin Valley “as exhibited by 2010’s 13.9% increase in cargo volumes over 2009, a trend we expect will continue to drive the San Joaquin Valley economy. As such, this deal presented a rare opportunity to buy a strategic and flexible industrial product in the San Joaquin Valley.”

Built in 2008, Stockton Center Pointe is ideal for a single user but offers the flexibility to accommodate up to four tenants, says a prepared release. The concrete tilt-up, cross-dock facility offers 32-foot clear heights, 92 dock-high loading doors, two grade-level doors, ESFR sprinklers, and 52-foot by 50-foot column spacing. In addition, Stockton Center Pointe features 131 trailer park spaces with a 70-foot apron, and wrought iron fencing securing the perimeter of the building.

In recent months Westcore Properties has acquired five other Central/Northern California industrial parks totaling 906,020 square feet. As GlobeSt.com reported, it recently obtained up to a $200-million investment from Five Arrows Realty Securities V LP, according to Marc Brutten, the company’s executive chairman. Five Arrows is an investment fund managed by New York City-based Rothschild Realty Managers LLC. “The investment by Rothschild Realty will be used to augment the ongoing business of Westcore Properties, which targets the acquisition of industrial and office real estate debt and equity throughout the West Coast,” says Brutten.