ORANGE, CA—Westcore Properties executes a multi-faceted value-add strategy at 999 W. Town and Country Rd. here that involves entitling and selling a parking lot for apartment development, renewing an office lease and building a dedicated parking structure for the office building. The company purchased the office property from Kilroy Realty in late 2014 for $25.3 million.
Westcore entitled and sold the property's western parking lot, a 2.183-acre portion of the site, to residential developers Toll Brothers for an undisclosed sum in December 2017. Toll Brothers Apartment Living plans to build 262 rental apartments on the site. Greg Sullivan of CBRE represented Toll Brothers in the purchase, while Westcore represented itself.
Simultaneously, Westcore closed a 73,171-square-foot lease renewal with the existing office-building tenant AECOM, a multinational engineering firm that provides design, consulting, construction and management services. The consideration amount was not disclosed, and Westcore represented itself in the lease transaction.
In addition, Westcore plans to make various improvements to the office-building lobby and other common areas this year, while also developing a five-story, 352-space, on-site parking garage for the office building. The firm expects to complete the parking structure in October.
Calling the strategy “smart urban planning,” Nick Markos, VP of asset management for Westcore, said in a prepared statement that the plan “Maintains important office space, adds critically needed housing options and accommodates vehicles in a much more efficient manner.”
In December, GlobeSt.com interviewed Westcore's Rob Sistek, who had recently joined the firm as its COO, working with chairman Marc Brutten and president and CEO Don Ankeny to oversee acquisitions, leasing, portfolio management, capital allocation and investment strategy. Sistek told us, “With respect to smart acquisition strategies, identifying trends at the macro and micro levels and understanding how they impact users and how they conduct business is key—understanding supply and demand and being able to identify markets where there is opportunity.” Sistek added that it's important to focus on relationships with tenants and brokers to identify investment opportunities and the ability to expand in a market.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
