CIP Real Estate Acquires Center Tower Riverside for $13.8M and Secures Management Contract for Ontario Airport Towers

ONTARIO, CA and IRVINE, CA and RIVERSIDE, CA--(Marketwired - May 7, 2015) - CIP Real Estate, an Irvine, California-based real estate investment and management company, is fast becoming one of the most prominent owners and managers of commercial office space in the hottest Inland Empire submarkets with its acquisition of Center Tower Riverside, a five-story, 73,000-square-foot Class A office property in Downtown Riverside, as well as the company's new management contracts for Ontario Airport Towers, a six-story, 147,000-square-foot Class A office property and Empire Towers V, a five-story, 125,000-square-foot Class A office building, both of which are located in the Ontario International Airport submarket.

"Center Tower Riverside is 72-percent leased to seven quality tenants, offering an attractive combination of stable cash flow and value-add potential," said Eric Smyth, principal of CIP Real Estate. "It is very rare to have the opportunity to purchase a Class A office asset in Downtown Riverside so we are excited to tackle the re-branding and re-positioning of this unique property."

Current tenants at Center Tower Riverside include Blue Cross of California, City of Riverside: Environmental Health, Index Fresh, and Kleinfelder West, Inc., as well as three law firms, Aleshire & Wynder, LLP, Reid & Hellyer, and Wood, Smith, Henning and Berman LLP.

CIP Real Estate purchased Center Tower Riverside in joint venture with Baltimore-based Alex. Brown Realty for $13.8 million from a private partnership. The venture will be investing more than $1.5 million in the building for extensive interior renovations and new high-end tenant improvements.

Since 1998, CIP Real Estate and Alex. Brown Realty have jointly acquired 20 projects that total more than 2,500,000 square feet with a value in excess of $175 million. With opportunities for upgrades and an excellent location at 3880 Lemon Street with access and visibility from the 91 Freeway, Center Tower Riverside fits into the joint venture's strategic value-added program.

"CIP Real Estate identified Center Tower Riverside as a unique opportunity to acquire and upgrade a property that is sure to thrive with strategic improvements to its exterior and common area amenities," said Michael Kendall, Senior Vice President of Investment Properties for CBRE, Capital Markets. "It is rare for Class A properties to come to the market in Downtown Riverside, and with vacancy rates trending to below 10 percent Downtown Riverside is definitely one of the Inland Empire's hottest submarkets." The CBRE Capital Markets team of Michael Kendall, Darla Longo, Mark Perry, Carlene O'Neil, Vindar Batoosingh and Philip Woodford represented the seller, Nomel Venture LP and affiliates, and buyer, CIP Real Estate.

Two of Center Tower Riverside's differentiators are its location in the center of the legal hub of Riverside County and its attached, 240-space parking structure.

"Firms that benefit from immediate proximity to the courts are attracted to Center Tower Riverside's convenient location, and the parking structure allows tenants to park once in the morning and walk to and from the neighboring courts throughout the day," said Smyth.

In February, CIP Real Estate secured the management contract for Ontario Airport Tower at 2855 E. Guasti Road in Ontario, California. Anchored by American Career College and Best, Best, & Krieger, the six-story, 147,000-square-foot Class A office property at Ontario International Airport expands CIP Real Estate's leadership in the Ontario office market where the company has been a prominent owner and manager of commercial office space since its purchase of the four Empire Towers buildings in 2002 to 2004. With the addition of the management assignments of Ontario Airport Tower and Empire Towers V, CIP Real Estate now manages over 850,000 square feet of property in the Inland Empire.

CIP Real Estate is a full-service real estate investment and management company focused on the acquisition, development, repositioning and management of office, business and industrial management parks. Founded in 1995, CIP Real Estate owns and manages more than five million square feet of quality real estate throughout California, Nevada and North Carolina, and has completed more than $1 billion in acquisitions and dispositions since its inception. www.ciprealestate.com

Alex. Brown Realty, Inc. is a privately owned real estate investment manager organized in 1972 and headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. ABR co-invests with joint venture partners in a broad spectrum of property types located throughout the United States. www.abrealty.com

CBRE Group, Inc., a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2014 revenue). The Company has more than 52,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 370 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.