San Diego Sees First Office Condo Development in 20 Years

CARLSBAD, CA-Balfour Corporate Center, the first office condo project to hit the San Diego market in more than 20 years, has finished construction. In a joint venture between Aliso Viejo-based Shea Properties and San-Diego-based developer Lawrence Woodward, the 50,000-sf class A development has closed its first sale.”This is Shea Properties’ first office condominium development in our 25-year history,” says W. William Gaboury, president and CEO of Shea Properties. Gaboury adds the project has its first sale and his company has received a strong response from companies who have toured the site. “We expect to announce additional owners in the very near future.”The property is located in Carlsbad and is targeting attorneys, accountants, marketing consultants, insurance groups and finance firms for more sales. Balfour was developed due in part to the market’s lack of small-to-mid-size office space needed by small business owners. Often these firms are forced to buy more space than needed and sublease the unoccupied units.Gene Spindler, vice president of Shea Properties, tells Globest.com that the two-story space was chosen for its size, which will sell units in the 1,400-sf range starting at $265 per sf. “Due to the availability of small business loans, this has been a hot market for the last couple of years,” he says.The office-condo product is a natural extension of the ownership trend that started with larger industrial buildings, progressed to R & D product and has now branched into office buildings. Previously, the office building ownership market offered 20,000-sf to 30,000-sf buildings and then downscaled to properties in the 5,000-sf to 6,000-sf range. The office-condo trend is expected to continue with more small business owners taking advantage of low interest rates.The first buyer to tap into Balfour Corporate Center is Nancy Wilson, owner of Safeguard Business Systems. With interest rates at historic lows and attractive financing options, she calculates in five years the purchase would equal the cost of renting.