Bixby Land Company Sells Orange County Building to Karma Automotive for $56.25 Million

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 12, 2017) - Bixby Land Company has completed the sale of the former Kawasaki USA headquarters in Irvine, Calif. to Karma Automotive, LLC for $56.25 million. Karma, an American car company that manufactures luxury hybrid plug-in vehicles, had previously leased the 262,463-square-foot facility in August 2016.

Bixby initially acquired the project, located at 9950 Jeronimo Road, with plans for a major repositioning into a dynamic workplace that would appeal to larger companies.

"Our proposed redesign for Habitat revealed the extent to which a significant repositioning could transform the project into a truly unique and amenity-rich work environment," said Bill Halford, president and CEO of Bixby Land Company.

Karma is underway with its own designs for the new headquarters location, including a Branded Experience Center for its new Revero luxury sedan and ample employee amenities inspired by Bixby's initial designs and in high demand by today's workforce.

"The Orange County labor market is for all purposes at full employment, and the competition to hire and retain top talent is an issue we hear repeatedly from tenants," said Aaron Hill, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Bixby.

Gregg Haly and Jeff Carr of CBRE represented Bixby in the transaction, while Karma Automotive was represented by Kevin Leonard of Heathwest Realty.

The sale completes Bixby's investment strategy for the project, which also included the sale of an adjacent 4.7-acre vacant land parcel to Chapman University for the ongoing expansion of its Irvine campus.

Bixby also recently completed the sale of AERO, a redesigned four-story, multi-tenant office project in San Diego, Calif. that was purchased by AVID Center, the largest tenant in the building. Separately, Bixby is in designs to reposition a 185,000-square-foot office campus in Portland, Ore., where the company will debut its brand of creative work environments later this year.

About Bixby Land Company
Bixby Land Company is a leading commercial real estate operator and investment manager with a portfolio of industrial, office and R&D properties of approximately $1 billion. The company invests in core industrial properties and develops office and R&D properties in select Western U.S. markets. For 120 years, Bixby Land Company has been committed to adding value for its investors and shareholders. www.bixbyland.com.