Westcore Says Giddy Up To More Deals

Westcore Properties isn't horsing around when it comes to Bay Area buys, and we checked in with the woman holding the reins on expansion.

Westcore VP of acquisitions and asset management Victoria Grether (snapped during the company's annual four-day broker trip at a cattle ranch), tells Bisnow the firm just purchased a 165k SF office and data center site in Sunnyvale for $52.7M. The buy brings the company's portfolio up to 3.5M SF in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. The property at 1390 & 1400 Kifer, sold by WTA Kifer, includes a three-story vacant office building and single-story data center occupied by Qwest. She says being flexible to the seller was a plus, as the company differentiated itself from other bidders by giving WTA an extended time to close escrow (nine months, which wasn't all used) and additional time to find a trade property. 

Victoria says the vacant 88k SF building will get a "major renovation" to upgrade the lobby, landscaping and restrooms. Construction will start soon and wrap up mid-year, priming the property for a new tenant (the layout is best for one, she says, declining to disclose investment dollars). It was originally built spec in 1999 for Yahoo. Then CRV moved in and vacated in December 2013. Westcore is just as busy on the dispositions front, she says, having just sold Central Plaza in Union City. Victoria is always on the hunt for more deals, and tells us Westcore's got one in the East Bay under contract. 

Above is CEO Don Ankeny (snapped during a 620-mile fundraising cycling tour from S.F. to San Diego, where the company is HQ'ed). Since its founding in 2000, Westcore has acquired and managed more than 35M SF of office and industrial. The company's focus for 2015 is finding well-located value-add buys.