Sale of Stadium Crossing Shows Commercial Market Still Strong

Some analysts believe the commercial real estate market is leveling off, but the recent sale of the Stadium Crossings office building in Anaheim shows the market is still strong.

Crown Realty & Development recently sold the office and retail property, across the street from Edison International Field, for $36.2 million. The price, a whopping $234 per square foot, is among the highest ever paid in the county for such a site, analysts said.

The 106,000-square-foot office building, several restaurants and a Spectrum health club were sold to Shin Yen International Pty. Ltd., an Australian division of Taiwan’s Hong Yang Group, said Robert Flaxman, Crown’s president. The deal did not include a Marriott hotel on the property.

Flaxman said that top-quality office buildings with high occupancy rates will continue to solicit premium bids in Orange County.

“It shows that the market is still moving upward,” said George Economos, a senior vice president at NAI Capital Commercial Real Estate in Newport Beach. The market has been fueled, in part, by few premium buildings available for sale in a desirable county.

Economos expects commercial real estate prices to increase over the next two years. Office lease rates have been growing, and many buildings have older tenants with contracts that soon will be reworked to current rates, drawing investor interest.

“I think there are more records still ahead of us,” Economos said.

Daryl Strickland covers real estate for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5670 and at daryl.strickland@latimes.com.