$43M Sale Shows $16M Price Increase

ONTARIO, CA-A&B Properties Inc. has sold its 898,400-square-foot Ontario Distribution Center for $43 million and plans to apply the proceeds to a 1031 exchange. A&B, which is the real estate subsidiary of publicly held Alexander & Baldwin Inc., acquired the three-building industrial park in 2000 for $27 million. Located on 38 acres at 5400-5450 E. Francis St., the project achieved a 97% average occupancy during A&B’s 10-year ownership, according to Norbert M. Buelsing, president of A&B Properties.

“Consistent with our real estate investment strategy, we anticipate reinvesting the proceeds from this sale, through a tax-advantaged 1031 transaction, into other commercial real estate investments with good growth prospects,” Buelsing said in a prepared statement. A&B was represented in the sale by vice chairman Darla Longo and executive vice president Barbara Emmons of CB Richard Ellis. The buyer, Northern California-based James Campbell Co., was represented by Hart Realty Advisors Inc.