CERRITOS, CA—Alere, a private investor, has purchased a 395,117-square-foot industrial park in Cerritos, CA, from CBRE Global Investments for $43.9 million, a sales price that equates to $111 per square foot. The park has seven single-story buildings and is fully leased.

“We got a lot of interest, and I think the main reason for that is because the multi-tenant business parks are really starting to see some significant rent growth and low vacancies,” Barbara Emmons, vice chairman at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “It is really the smaller business man's recovery in this cycle, and because of that, we have seen more interest in the multi-tenant business parks in general.” Emmons represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction, along with her CBRE colleagues vice chairman Darla Longo, VP Rebecca Perlmutter Finkel and SVP Laird Perkins.

The sales team received approximately 15 offers for the property from a mix of private and institutional investors. Eventually, Alere won the bid with an all-cash offer. “The location was great, and even though it was a little bit older product, the location and the building size make it functional,” says Emmons about the reason for the strong interest. The buyer is a long-term holder that plans to continuing leasing the property and will push rents over time.

The property sits on 17.48 acres at 13311-13317 166th Street, 16301-16431 Carmenita Road, and 16210-16448 Manning Way in Cerritos. It is occupied by 14 tenants, including Future Metals, Bunn-o-Matic and Maruka Machinery Co. The property features 30 dock high doors, 31 grade level doors and plenty of onsite parking. It also offers convenient access to the 5, 605, 105, 710, 405, 110, 91, 57 and 60 freeways.

“The seller had owed the property for a long time; it was part of a separate account that was a closed-end fund, so the market conditions were such that they felt like it was a good time to take the opportunity,” according to Emmons. Several submarkets in Los Angeles are experiencing low vacancy rates. The mid-counties market is also experiencing extreme lows, driving investors like American Realty Advisors to leap on opportunities there.