LAKE FOREST, CA—GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively that Bixby Land Co. has sold 26250 Enterprise, a 76,841-square-foot office building here, to an affiliate of Menlo Equities LLC. While the sale price was undisclosed, industry sources unrelated to the deal tell GlobeSt.com the amount was $14 million.

The property is a two-story, multi-tenant office building situated on 5 acres of land with immediate access to the 241 toll road and I-5 via Bake Pkwy. It is currently 87% leased to four tenants, and 50% of the space is occupied by Panasonic Avionics Corp.

The seller was represented by executive director Jeffrey Cole, Jeffrey Chiate, David Dowd and Ed Hernandez from Cushman & Wakefield's Irvine, CA, office. According to Cole, “With vacancy rates in Irvine in the single digits, South County is poised for significant rental-rate growth in the near term. 26250 Enterprise has both long-term credit tenancy in half the building as well as multi-tenant flexibility, which makes it a smart investment.”

As GlobeSt.com reported in February, the same affiliate of Menlo Equities recently purchased Campus South County, a class-A, 288,348-square-foot, three-building office campus at 27042, 27051 and 27121 Towne Centre Dr. in Foothill Ranch, CA. Kevin Shannon, Paul Jones, Bob Smith and Blake Bokosky of CBRE's Institutional Properties Group represented the seller in the transaction. Shannon later told GlobeSt.com that there are “lots of green lights” for lending in the Orange County office arena, and lenders are beginning to loosen their underwriting standards.

C&W reports the South Orange County office market ended 2014 with 10.1% vacancy, the lowest in Orange County, representing a 130-bps decline from the 11.4% it was a year ago. Vacancy has significantly dropped since reaching its peak at 19.6% in Q3 2010. The direct average asking rental rate is $1.99 full-service gross per square foot, and rents have risen 4.2% over the last 12 months. The market recorded 234,810square feet of positive net absorption in 2014, marking the fifth consecutive year of positive net absorption.

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