Three Crowns Takes 2nd Research Dr. Asset

IRVINE, CA-BJ Global Direct has sold a 25,000-square-foot, single-tenant industrial building at 8645 Research Dr. here to Three Crowns Properties LLC for $5.6 million. The property, located in the Irvine Spectrum market, represents Three Crowns' second industrial-building purchase on Research Dr.

The Yahn Group, a brokerage team focused on the Airport and South Orange County markets at Cushman & Wakefield's Orange County office, represented the buyer in the transaction. Dave Kluver, managing director of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, represented the seller.

“We were pleased to secure this impressive freeway-front building for our valued investor client,” says Don Yahn, the group's founder and principal. “This class-A industrial building features a premium Irvine Spectrum location and freeway frontage with corporate signage, creating nearly 410,000 commuter impressions daily.”

The property was built in 1997 and is located along the 405 freeway here. The building is vacant, and the Yahn Group has been charged with marketing it for lease-up immediately.

“8645 Research presents an ideal opportunity for a firm seeking premier showroom space, combined with functional warehousing space, dock-high loading with 24-ft. clearance and interior covered parking stalls,” says Yahn. “We anticipate that—based on the competitive advantages of this building and the strong market for industrial assets in Orange County—this lease will transact quickly.”

Three Crowns also previously developed from the ground up and leased Research Pointe, a 48,000-square-foot multi-tenant property at 9801-9807 Research Dr. The Yahn Group also represented the firm in that process.

According to the Yahn Group, the sale demonstrates the thriving industrial market in Orange County, which is experiencing rising rental rates and increasing building values. Studies predict 20,000 new office workers will be added to the South Orange County workforce by 2017. To prepare for the rapid growth in this area, more than 48,000 residential units are currently underway in South Orange County submarkets.