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1/06/15
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The Reeds purchased the last two remaining units at the Meridian Professional Center, a 63.8k sf, medical/office complex in Bakersfield. The 11-building project was developed and sold by Meridian Property Company.
The Reeds, which own and operate Citrus Industries, a citrus brokerage business based in Bakersfield, closed escrow a few months ago on a built-out, 2.3k sf condo unit within the project at 4825 Calloway, for their own business. They intend to lease out their second acquisition, at 4939 Calloway.
Meridian purchased the 6.54-acre vacant parcel at 4801-4939 Calloway Dr in March 2007 for $3.75 mil with the intent to build a campus-style professional complex, Meridian Professional Center. The site was located close to shopping and restaurants and across from Riverlakes Golf Course. Meridian’s strategy was to offer the project for sale as whole buildings and as individual condo units as an unfinished shell or built-out to user's specifications.
"With its prominent location, we felt we could attract a mix of both professional and medical users," said Meridian's COO John Pollock. "The marketplace had a low vacancy at the time of our acquisition, 5.5% vacancy. However, that quickly changed when the market crashed."
Meridian completed the development in October 2008, within 30 days of the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. As the market plummeted, vacancies in the area spiked above 20%, creating an enormous challenge for Meridian’s sales and leasing efforts.
According to Pollock, in early 2010, during the depth of the recession, Meridian had an offer from a local developer to purchase the complex at $56 psf. However, Meridian was determined to achieve sales prices greater than $100 psf. And, after much perseverance and patience, Meridian sold the last remaining cold shell unit on December 19, 2014 to Mark and Karla Reed. The final unit, a 1.8k sf condo located at 4939 Calloway, sold for $105 psf, which was consistent with the sale of similar units within the Meridian Professional Center.
Jason Alexander, David Williams and Scott Wells of Colliers International, out of Bakersfield, represented Meridian Property Company and the buyer in the sale of these units.
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