Winery Likes S.F. Industrial Space
DR Stephens—yes, that Napa Valley winery known for its fabulous reds—just closed on escrow for 20551 and 20609 Corsair Blvd in Hayward. Lee & Associates worked on both sides, with Jesse Lucas repping the buyer and Craig Hagglund, Chris Schofield and Joe McGlynn backing the seller. The winery owns quite a bit of property in the market, Jesse tells us, which is totally separate from its grape enterprise. Winery partner Don Stephens, a lawyer by trade, founded the real estate and private equity investment biz D.R. Stephens & Co in 1973. His wife Trish is a gourmet cook, and when the two met 20 years ago, their goal was to create a world-class wine.
The industrial part of the property is fully leased and DR plans to fix up its office portion before marketing it for lease. The sales price was well below the offering figure of $4.45M, closing at $4.05M. Office product is an acquired taste for that area, he explains (unlike their 2010 $135 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon). The seller is a partnership partly comprised of the Epstein family. DR has been active along the 880 industrial corridor for some time, Jesse says, and late last year Lee sold a property for them on Hayman Street in Hayward and another in Richmond.
