CarrAmerica Realty Purchasing South Coast Executive Centre

It’s official. A partnership affiliated with Washington D.C.-based CarrAmerica Realty Corp. has purchased South Coast Executive Centre, two five-story buildings totaling 162,000 square feet, for $20.5 million.

The sale, one of the largest in recent months, reflects the growing confidence national real estate investors now have in the Orange County market, said Biff Smith of Collins Commercial in Newport Beach, which represented CarrAmerica and the seller, South Coast Executive Center L.P.

“Every one of these [newer, top-quality] buildings on the market sees half a dozen bona fide offers,” Smith said.

But the purchase price for the Costa Mesa complex near Bristol Street and the San Diego Freeway doesn’t set any records, either. The $20.5-million purchase price is still $15 million below what it cost to build the complex in 1987.

South Coast Executive Centre is currently 97% occupied and holds 16 tenants, including a regional office of the State Compensation Insurance Fund, American Digital Technology and Moore Business Forms.

Carr is not the only partner in the deal. For tax reasons, the complex’s developers, David Quisling and Victor Boyd, will maintain a small stake.

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Melinda Fulmer covers real estate for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7832.