L. A. Investment Group Buys Belwood Center

A group of Los Angeles-area investors has purchased Belwood Center, a Simi Valley neighborhood shopping center, in a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. auction for $4 million.

The group was one of a dozen qualified bidders for the 80,000-square-foot center, said the lead broker on the property, Craig Lane of the Sherman Oaks office of Grubb & Ellis Co.

Belwood went on the block Wednesday as part of a nationally televised auction.

More than 100 potential buyers throughout the nation had expressed an interest in buying Belwood, which houses an Alpha Beta market and a Sav-On Express drugstore, but is 41% vacant, Lane said.

“The buyers have the ability to make the center an important neighborhood resource,” Lane said. “I expect to see some exciting leasing activity in the next six months.”

The purchasing group is the Altapo Limited Partnership, combining the names of Belwood’s location at Alamo Street and Tapo Canyon Road, Lane said.

Grubb & Ellis, which conducted the auction along with Ross-Dove Co., said 220 troubled commercial and apartment properties scattered elsewhere nationwide were sold for a total of $420 million, setting a world’s record for real estate auctions.