Sagard Real Estate Sells SoCal Office Complex for $28M

A five-building office property has traded hands in Southern California, bucking the trend of scant office transaction activity in the region. 

Denver-based investment and asset management firm Sagard Real Estate has sold the 185,180-square-foot Tustin Financial Plaza for $27.5 million. The buyer was a joint venture between The Kelemen Company, local real estate firm, and Kingsbarn Realty Capital, a person familiar with the deal told Commercial Observer. The property, located at 17772, 17782, 17822, 17852 and 17862 East 17th Street in north Tustin, Orange County, was 70 percent leased when the deal went through.

“This sale is another step in our broader portfolio repositioning, with a clear focus on industrial and multifamily sectors that we believe are well positioned for strong, long-term performance,” John Maurer, head of equity at Sagard Real Estate, said in a statement. 

CBRE (CBRE) Investment Properties’ Anthony DeLorenzo, Sammy Cemo, Bryan Johnson and Greg Sullivan represented Sagard and announced the deal.

Office woes stemming from the pandemic and the flight-to-quality trend reverberate throughout Orange County. The office vacancy in the county, although unchanged from the summer months, was 14.7 percent in the third quarter of this year, according to CBRE.

Another notable sale in the county recently was network device provider TP-Link Systems’ purchase of a three-story, 157,455-square-foot building in Irvine for $40.6 million. TP-Link plans to use the building, which it acquired from a joint venture of Pendulum Property Partners and GEM Realty Capital, as its new global headquarters. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.