Case Study

Summary

Orchard Business Centre is a two-story office/R&D complex of 142,552 square feet in three buildings, located at 3101-3151 Jay Street in Santa Clara. The steel frame buildings feature a continuous glass line, dramatic two-story lobbies and floor to ceiling exterior glass walls.

Situation

  • In 1998, Orchard Investors identified a 7.07 acre, off-market infill development site in Santa Clara, owned by a foreign investor.
  • The owner would only sell the land if they could re-invest the proceeds (via 1031 exchange) into a stable, income-producing asset.
  • Previously, Orchard Investors had acquired a distressed three building portfolio in Sunnyvale, renovated and subsequently leased one of the buildings to Honeywell for an 8-year term.
  • Orchard Investors engaged in negotiations to successfully trade the Honeywell building for the land.

Results

  • Upon acquisition of the land, Orchard Investors designed and acquired the permits for a speculative 142,000 square foot, three building, and two-story office/R&D project.
  • Upon completion of the development, the project was quickly leased in its entirety to a single tenant.
  • In the subsequent “dot-com” crash, the lease was restructured resulting in a buy-out on two-thirds of the occupied space.
  • By taking advantage of the designed divisibility of the vacated buildings, Orchard Investors was able to fully lease the remainder of the project to a total of seven tenants.
  • Orchard Investors capitalized on the robust real estate market and sold the project in 2005 to an institutional investment fund.