Westcore Sells Industrial Properties to Equity Fund

Institutional investor Multi-Employer Property Trust bought a 2.3-million-square-foot portfolio of industrial properties for $115 million from subsidiaries of San Diego-based Westcore Industrial Properties.

The 17 properties include 32 warehouse and manufacturing buildings in Southern California, San Leandro, Calif., and Phoenix. Most of the properties are in the City of Industry and other central Los Angeles County cities.

The sale is one of the largest acquisitions of industrial properties in the Los Angeles Basin in the last five years, said portfolio manager Gregory Young of Los Angeles-based Investment Development Services Inc., which represented the buyer.

The properties are 88% occupied. Tenants include Metropolitan Concessions, Packaging Corp. of America and DHL.

Central L.A. County has concentrations of industries including garment and food-related businesses that are steady users of space despite fluctuations in the economy, Young said.

Multi-Employer Property Trust, a $3.3-billion equity fund based in Washington, invests in real estate properties in major metropolitan markets on behalf of employee pension funds.