Troublesome Property Became Exceptional Investment

[IMGCAP(1)]FREMONT, CA-For the year, (going on two years), the global economic downturn has continued to force the decline of investment activity in commercial real estate markets due to the inability of investors to obtain financing. In this situation, very few large-scale transactions have been about to be completed. However, for a slim portion of investors able to close all-cash transactions, there have been some exceptional opportunities. In December 2008, a 500,000-square-foot building on 30 acres, held by a company eager to dispose of it, presented such an opportunity. The story below is told by guest columnist Peter Castleton, a senior vice president at Voit Real Estate Services’ Anaheim, CA office, along with Eric Fox, an SVP at CPS in Santa Clara.

“When Hewlett-Packard put its 500,000-square-foot property back on the market, an all-cash investor, Gardena, CA-based Overton Moore Properties, capitalized on the opportunity. The half-million square-foot property situated on 30 acres, located at 901 Page Ave. in Fremont, offered a quality investment opportunity. OMP purchased the property with the assistance of Voit Real Estate Services and Commercial Property Services. This was the largest single tenant industrial building to be sold in Northern California in 2008. This building is also the largest overall property to be sold in the Silicon Valley, since the same property sold in 2000.

[IMGCAP(2)]The relationship that made the sale possible began more than 13 years ago, when Voit Real Estate Services became a member of the CORFAC International alliance. Through this alliance, Peter Castleton of Voit Real Estate Services established a close business relationship with Eric Fox at CPS when the two firms partnered in 2007 to represent both the buyer and the seller in the $36.4 million sale of Coronado One, a two-story office complex in Santa Clara, CA.