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KEARNY MESA, CA-Granite Peak Partners Inc., a Santa Barbara-based real estate investment firm, has entered the San Diego area market with a $28.2-million R&D acquisition. The firm, which also has a Los Angeles office, bought the 155,000-sf Ponderosa Technology Park.The multi-tenant business complex sits on 9.64 acres and counts eight buildings with tenants including AT&T, SBC and a subsidiary of Tyco among others. The property was 95% leased at the time of sale. Mike Hefner of Voit Commercial represented the buyer and Jeff Cole of Trammell Crow Co. represented the seller in the transaction. "With high occupancy rates in the market and the high quality of tenants, we believe Ponderosa is a perfect fit to meet the long-term cash flow objectives of our clients," says Bruce Savett, a founding principal of Granite Peak Partners in charge of acquisitions. The firm caters to high net worth individuals and, sometimes, small institutions, mostly on the equity side, according to Gregory Yost, another founding principal of the firm. He adds that Granite looks for two types of investment opportunities. "We seek both value-added plays and core-plus, longer term holds," Yost tells Globest.com.The Ponderosa property is considered a core-plus, or "growth and income" play, according to Yost. "The property has already undergone significant capital improvements," he says. "It's a stable property, with potential for some rent bumps coming forward."With its growth and income properties, Granite looks for five to seven year holds, with 10% to 15% growth per year. On its value-added plays, or "opportunity funds" the firm plans for three-year holds and 20% annual growth, according to Yost.Founded two year ago by Yost, Savett and Pierre Y. Tada, Granite targets properties in the $4-million to $40-million range throughout Southern California. So far, the firm has acquired $65 million, including the 184,000-sf Centre Point industrial property in Carson and 500 acres of agricultural land in Ventura.The immediate goal is to acquire $200 million in real estate property and land within the next 12 months. "We want to be in the path of growth, in the port-influenced areas of Southern California," Yost says.