REAL ESTATE : Japanese Firm Pays Possible Record Price for Office Building

A Japanese company recently paid what was thought to be the highest price per square foot ever in Orange County for a small office building.

Yozya Development Co., a Tokyo developer, paid $11.1 million--or $201.58 per square foot--for the Summit Office Plaza in Laguna Hills, a pair of three-story buildings on Mill Creek Drive on a bluff overlooking the town.

The buildings contain 55,300 square feet and are almost fully leased, said Mark Lucescu of Marcus & Millichap, the broker on the deal. Marcus & Millichap said it was the highest price per square foot the investment brokerage could find on record in Orange County for a building under eight stories or so. Buildings taller than eight stories in Orange County are considered high-rises.

Selling the four-year-old buildings was a limited partnership called Summit Office Plaza Associates.

In a reversal of the usual trend for Japanese investors, Yozya already has several deals going to develop buildings in the United States, but this is its first purchase, Lucescu said.

“The fact that the building was nearly fully leased, that the tenants are blue-chip and that it’s a high-quality building attracted Yozya,” Lucescu said.