Office Sale Closes at More Than $306 Per SF

SAN DIEGO-In a shrewd move on the part of San Diego-based Hibiscus Investments Inc., the private real estate investment company has recently pocketed $22 million for its sale of the Torrey View Corporate Center, an office asset that the seller purchased just last year for $16.9 million.Hibiscus acquired Torrey View Corporate Center in April 2003 from the developer, Torrey View Associates LP, which is a joint venture of San Diego Realty Advisors LLC and Canada-based investment firm Southland Property. At that time, the asset was 86% leased by firms such as eHelp Corp., Santarus Inc. and Sola Optical — all of which are still tenants in the facility. Shortly before reselling the property, Hibiscus had brought the occupancy level here up to 100%, which is reminiscent of another deal that served as the model for this transaction. In the other deal, Hibiscus sold the Carmel Corporate Plaza in Rancho Bernardo to The Shidler Group and The Praedium Group LLC at the reduced rate of $11 million because the facility’s sole tenant, Cadence Design Systems, had announced that it was planning on relocating its regional headquarters out of the building. “Hibiscus didn’t want to hold the building during the rollover; they didn’t want to take the risk,” explains John Hale of Colliers International, who represented Hibiscus in both the Carmel Corporate Plaza deal and the recent Torrey View Corporate Center transaction. The sale of Carmel Corporate Plaza took place in October 2002 and by September 2003, Shidler and Praedium had fully leased the building to several different tenants and sold the asset to Harsch Investment Properties for $17.6 million. The Carmel Corporate Plaza deal must have seemed like the opportunity that got away to Hibiscus, but it just so happens that they had traded into Torrey View Corporate Center. Using a strategy similar to that of Shidler and Praedium, Hibiscus brought occupancy up to 100% and then sold the property in just a little more than a year, Hale tells GlobeSt.com. Buyer Pacifica Real Estate Group was interested in Torrey View Corporate Center because “they have been trying to buy newer, nicer, bigger, well-located properties and so this really fit what they were trying to do,” says Hale, who also acted on behalf of Pacifica. “The price (more than $306 per sf) was unprecedented,” he adds.Torrey View Corporate Center stands on a 4.24-acre parcel located at 10590 W. Ocean Air Dr. in the Torrey Hills section of San Diego. Built in 2001, the 71,788-sf property features a state-of-the-art energy management system with computerized security, HVAC and lighting; an integrated fiber optic cable and telephone systems network; shower and locker facilities; and a parking ratio of 4:1,000.