After trading in 2019 for approximately $55 million, a 216,684 square foot office building in Santa Ana has sold again. This time, the property sold for $25 million, or about $115 per square foot- a more than 50 percent loss. According to public records, the property at 4 Hutton Centre was sold by LaSalle Investment Management. The buyer in the transaction was Joe C. Wen, an investor based in Costa Mesa.
A website for the property shows that 4 Hutton Centre is a 10-story Class A high rise office building with various amenities, including parking, an upgraded lobby, outdoor areas with seating and walking paths and more. The property is currently occupied by several tenants, including Home Mortgage Alliance Corporation, Mediamix, Kind Lending and various others.
The property is located across from a large water feature and surrounded by several other commercial office properties. The building is also just north of the John Wayne Airport and within close proximity to State Route 55 as well as Interstate 405.
LaSalle Investment Management is a Chicago-based real estate investment management firm and subsidiary of Jones Lang LaSalle. According to the firm’s website, LaSalle Investment Management maintains approximately $79 billion worth of assets under management across 14 countries.
Prior to the sale, LaSalle Investment Management had owned the site since 2019. The company paid $55.4 million for the property, or about $255 per square foot.
Orange County’s office market, overall, has faced a decline over the last several years, with growing availability as companies continue to opt for hybrid and remote work options. According to a fourth quarter Orange County office market report from CBRE, availability has reached a new high of more than 4.2 million square feet, a quarter-over-quarter increase of 201,400 square feet. Of the total available space, 18.5 percent is made up of sublease availability, which has overall seen an increase from the third quarter of 0.3 percent, according to CBRE. Meanwhile, net absorption also saw a quarter-over-quarter decrease, recording -158,216 square feet in the fourth quarter.
