It's been a tough year for Soitec, a French solar firm with operations in San Diego. And now the company has sold its longtime plant to a Michigan real estate investor.
Soitec Solar USA sold its 165k SF facility at 16550 Via Esprillo to Walton Street Capital for $30M. The deal involved nearly 15 acres on the site. It's unclear as of press time whether Soitec entered into a lease-back arrangement with Walton Street. Officials with Walton Street did not return calls seeking comment.
Savills Studley brokered the sale. This year has been a struggle for Soitec: A judge recently reversed approvals from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to rezone land bordering the US with Mexico just 50 miles outside of San Diego for two solar power plants due to CEQA violations. And the company, led by Paul Boudre (here), laid off 100 workers at its San Diego plant earlier this year.
