GE Commercial, Equastone Form JV, Close $30M Deal

CARLSBAD, CA-GE Commercial Finance Real Estate Partner’s Group, which seeks joint ventures on new developments as well as value-added plays, has brought its deep pockets to the San Diego real estate market. The Stamford, CT-based firm, which already has significant real estate JV’s with Hines for suburban office and Kimco for retail properties, has partnered with La Jolla-based Equastone.While details on the joint venture were not specified, the partners have put their first property into play, a 229,753-sf class A office space located at the 25-acre Faraday Corporate Centre. In the deal, GE Commercial brought $30 million of equity to the table and plans another $1 million to upgrade the lobby area and transform the space from a single-tenant property to more of a multi-tenant facility.Equastone, formerly Equus Realty Advisors LLC, acquired the space for $24 million from Tyco International in 2002. The space sat empty until earlier this year when Rockstar agreed to fill 43,000 sf. According to Christian Garner, western regional manager for GE’s partner program, another 58,000 sf is set to close soon. “Equastone’s principals were successful in identifying a value creation opportunity within a market that is experiencing strong signs of recovery,” Garner says.Chad Carpenter, Equastone’s CEO says his firm intends to close additional joint ventures with GE. While no specifics were given on future projects, Carpenter adds that the partners will target value-added office opportunities throughout the western US, with emphasis on Southern California, Phoenix and Denver.As for the Faraday property, Equastone has been busy this year turning deals at the 25-acre site. Earlier in the year, Equastone subdivided the 25-acre property into four parcels: a warehouse on 6.9 acres; two land parcels and the 229,753-sf office building, which sits on 13.9 acres.In February, Equastone sold the two vacant land parcels to Faraday Spectrum LLC, an affiliate company of Ken Satterlee. As earlier reported on Globest.com, Faraday Spectrum plans to develop nine small office/R&D buildings, ranging in size from 3,000 sf to 14,000 sf. Seven of the buildings have been pre-sold. And, in April, Research Point Center LLC paid Equastone $7.2 million for the 97,827-sf industrial building that includes excess land. The buyer has plans to renovate the property and add nearly 23,000 sf of industrial space to the site.