Investment Firm Purchases Portion of Business Center

In one of the largest commercial and industrial real estate deals in Ventura County history, a Chatsworth-based investment firm has purchased 12 multitenant buildings in Oxnard’s Channel Islands Business Center.

The price paid by the purchaser, R&E; Pacific Development, was not disclosed, but a broker involved in the sale said the properties were listed at an asking price of $6.9 million.

The buildings, including 16 acres of prime land, are part of a sprawling complex on Pacific Coast Highway that was developed by TOLD Corp. in the 1980s.

The project ran into financial difficulties as the real estate recession deepened, and Wells Fargo Bank, the lead lender, took possession of 25 of its 56 buildings, including those just acquired by R&E.;

Thom Olson of TOLD Partners Inc., an independent brokerage not related to TOLD Corp. that has been marketing the Wells Fargo holdings, said the dozen buildings, all on Pacific Avenue, total 159,000 square feet and are 70% occupied by various business tenants.

“About 4.3 acres of the site has been approved for the future development of four additional buildings,” Olson said. He said the purchaser, a closely held investment and development concern, also owns another industrial project in the Oxnard area.

Olson said Wells Fargo still has five industrial buildings, two office buildings and 78 acres for sale in the Channel Islands complex.

At one time, the bank’s holdings were placed on the market at a total asking price of $29.5 million. When no satisfactory offers were received for the entire package, bids were sought on parts of the development.

“We’re talking to possible buyers of the remaining buildings,” Olson said. He said TOLD Partners will serve as leasing agent for the properties purchased by R&E.;