TORRANCE, CA—Shubin–Nadal Realty Investors and Penwood Real Estate Investment has purchased a vintage flex industrial property in Torrance from Silmor Investments with plans to reposition the property as a flex industrial and retail property. The 108,000-square-foot, four-building property generated strong interest among private investors, and received 20 initial offers. The property traded hands for $11.8 million.

“It is a very good time to be a seller in this market,” Todd Taugner, a partner at the Klabin Co., tells GlobeSt.com. “There was an awful lot of interest in these buildings with a lot of very good companies chasing after it.” Taugner represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction, along with Klabin Co. partners David Prior and Frank Schulz. The sales team received offers from all private investors for the property. 

Located at 19100-19122 S. Vermont Ave. in Torrance, the property is located in a transitioning market and many of the industrial buildings in the area are being repositioned into retail or creative-type uses. “This is an unusually well located property,” says Taugner. “It is right at the intersection of the San Diego and Harbor freeways, and is in the County of Los Angeles, so there are no business-licensing taxes here. It is also across the street from major multi-story office buildings. This is an unusual property not only because of the location, but because the buildings are made of brick and they are quite old. They have a lot of character and an awful lot of visibility.”

The property was built in the 1960s. Two of the four buildings are 31,000 square feet and the other two are 24,000 square feet. The buyer plans to begin renovating the property in spring 2016 with completion scheduled for that summer. “This property is next door to project that has been renovated into retail uses, so the repositioning is a continuation of what has been happening in the area,” adds Taugner.

The area is also a popular office market. Earlier this year, Bixby Land sold the Pacific Center, a 292,000-square-foot office building in Torrance, CA, for $68.5 million to Stream Realty Acquisition. The property traded hands after Bixby completed a $6 million renovation plan to create a modern office space and raise occupancy levels.