Romel Enterprises scooped up 400 S El Camino Real, a 14-story, Class-A building in downtown San Mateo for the mid-$400s/SF from Equity Office, according to sources. Romel happens to be a tenant and wanted to buy it (similar to co-worker crushes that turn into relationships). Today it's 91% leased, with ZS Associates as the anchor. HFF repped the seller. Romel VP of portfolio management Ben Rubin tells us it's a "long-term asset" in a "hot market."
CBRE is the new leasing agent, we just learned. Cornish & Carey had handled leasing there for years. The 146k SF building, built in 1973, got a renovation for its 30th birthday. The area has seen lots of recent activity, with 850 Gateway getting recapitalized and a Hines portfolio in Foster City up for grabs, which includes 323-393 Vintage Park Dr. Romel has office, industrial, and apartment properties in major metro markets, Ben says. In the past decade his company has been more aggressive in net leased acquisitions and beefed up its apartment portfolio last year.
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