A big Honolulu-based investment
company sees the Reno market as particularly
strong and put $20 million behind
that opinion as the year came to a close.
WDCI Inc., a subsidiary of Alexander
& Baldwin Inc., bought the Sparks
Business Center, a 396,080-square-foot
property on 20.7 acres near the corner of
Prater Way and Sparks Boulevard. The
seller was Vista Distribution Center
(Three), a Georgia-based corporation.
An official of Alexander & Baldwin
said the company is looking for more
acquisitions in the region.
"We see the Reno-Tahoe area as having
an extremely healthy business climate,"
said Norbert M. Buelsing, executive vice
president of A&B Properties, the real
estate arm of Alexander & Baldwin.
He said the area's 3.5 unemployment
rate reflects the growth in non-gaming
industries, and he said the state's economy
continues to benefit from an attractive tax
structure.
The Sparks Business Center includes
four buildings and was built in 1998.
Major industrial tenants include Carrier
Corp., a manufacturer of heating and air
conditioning systems, with 38,400 square
feet, and Unique Industries, a manufacturer
of party and children's merchandise, which
recently extended its lease of 171,900 square
feet in the center.
Office tenants include the City of
Sparks and St. Mary's Health Care Corp.
"Sparks Business Center is in an established
and growing industrial market close
to the transportation infrastructure needed
by the distribution business," Buelsing said.
John Pinjuv of Grubb & Ellis Nevada
Commercial Group, whose firm will manage
leasing of the center, said the current
vacancy rate is about 10 percent - a factor
that brought a modest discount in the sales
price.
The big news, in Pinjuv's opinion, is
this: The willingness of a major property
company to invest in the Reno market even
when much of the rest of the nation is stuck
in a mild recession.
WDCI also owns the Airport Square
shopping center on Plumb Lane near
Highway 395. It purchased the 170,800-
square-foot center in 1995.
The Sparks Business Center and Airport
Square are the only Nevada holdings for
Alexander & Baldwin, which has a portfolio
of 26 commercial properties in Hawaii
and 18 properties on the U.S. Mainland.
The portfolio includes more than 5 million
square feet of industrial, office and retail
space.
Along with its property holdings,
Alexander & Baldwin grows sugar cane and
coffee and runs an ocean transport business,
including the Matson line.
