DEALS
* Insurance company USAA, in partnership with San Francisco-based Newcastle Partners, purchased the three-building, 662,915-square-foot Jurupa Industrial Center on Jurupa and Vintage avenues in Ontario from Cabot Industrial Trust of Boston for $20.5 million. The buyer and seller were represented by Frank Geraci, Marc Burns, Walt Chenoweth and Dan de la Paz of CB Richard Ellis.
* Ernest Paper Products Co., a distributor of industrial packaging, signed a 10-year, $14.4-million lease for 273,000 square feet of newly built corporate offices and assembly and distribution space at 5777 Smithway in Commerce. Ernest Paper, which will relocate from 147,000 square feet in Vernon, was represented by John Privett, Brian McLoughlin and Jeff Stephens of CB Richard Ellis and Benjamin J. Alhadeff, vice president of finance at Ernest. The landlord, Commerce Community Development Co. represented itself.
* Los Angeles-based investment group Show Me the Money purchased an 11.5-acre property adjacent to Burbank Airport at 10950 Sherman Way for $13.5 million from Costco and plans to convert the 145,000-square-foot Costco retail store at the site to a medical office building. Costco will vacate the store this year and relocate to the nearby Burbank Empire Center being developed by Los Angeles-based Zelman Development Co. In addition to renovating the existing Costco building, the new owner plans to add several restaurant sites for lease along Sherman Way, said Catherine DiLorenzo O’Brien of Beitler Commercial Realty Services, who represented Show Me the Money. Steve McArthur of Northwest Partners represented Costco.
* Credit card lender MBNA America has moved its Western regional offices to 75 and 85 Enterprise at Summit Office Campus in Aliso Viejo in a five-year, $7.3-million lease for 48,000 square feet of office space. Ted Snell, Carol Trapani, Bill Welch and John Desper of CB Richard Ellis represented landlord Parker Properties. MBNA was represented by Gene Weaver of IC Properties.
* La Jolla Sport, a licensee of O’Neill sportswear, purchased a 75,567-square-foot industrial building at 17 Pasteur in Irvine from Princeton, N.J.-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. for $7.2 million to house the company’s corporate headquarters and distribution operations. The firm will relocate from another Irvine location in May, said Gary Allen of Grubb & Ellis, who represented the seller. John Matus and Christene Bowen of Lee & Associates represented the buyer.
* GC Services signed a 9 1/2-year, $5.5-million sublease for 26,832 square feet of office space at the San Gabriel Valley Corporate Center in Irwindale. The tenant was represented by Rick Gold and Brian Luft of NAI Capital Commercial and John Silberman of NAI Partners. The sub-landlord, Washington Mutual, was represented by Jonathan Larsen and Ron Heim of Trammell Crow Co. and Jim Bannan of Tiarna Partners.
* NewMark Merrill, an Encino-based retail developer, purchased a 49,000-square-foot industrial and retail building at 1810 S. Broadway in Los Angeles from Los Angeles-based Perelman Trust for $4.8 million. The company is redeveloping the property and has leased it to Famsa, a furniture and electronics retailer catering to the Latino market, which is scheduled to occupy the building in May. Bart Pucci and Jim Biondi of Grubb & Ellis represented the seller. Jose Legaspi of Legaspi Co. represented the buyer.
