Vista Grows Silicon Valley Footprint With $113M Purchase

By Gail Kalinoski

Vasona Tech Park

Vista Investment Group, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based privately held real estate investment firm, expanded its Silicon Valley holdings with the acquisition of Vasona Technology Park, a 314,256-square-foot complex in Campbell, Calif., for $113 million. An unidentified institutional money management firm teamed with Vista in a joint venture on the transaction.

The property, developed between 1963 and 1981, has seven one- and two-story office and R&D buildings ranging in size from 16,000 to 74,000 square feet. The asset is located on an 18.5-acre site, bordered by Winchester Boulevard, East Hacienda Avenue and Dell Avenue in the Los Gatos submarket. Vista plans to create value by continuing to reposition the older buildings in the project to a more creative office standard and leverage off of the expansive campus setting, one of the largest contiguous land sites in the area, according to Vista President Jonathan Barach.

“This is our fourth and probably most exciting project in Silicon Valley. The property is anchored by investment-grade tenants with long-term leases, and will benefit from both interior and exterior improvements, which we will implement as leases expire over the next several years,” Barach said in a prepared statement. “We will work immediately to improve the outdoor common areas with the creation of a large collaborative work, dining and recreation spaces throughout the campus. The campus is located in one of the most supply-constrained submarkets in Silicon Valley, proximate to highly desirable executive housing in the neighborhoods of Los Gatos, Saratoga and Monte Sereno.”

Cushman & Wakefield’s Northern California Capital Markets team marketed the property on behalf of the seller.

Value-Add Deal

Vasona Technology Park was 100 percent leased at closing with tenants including the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and ChargePoint.

“The Silicon Valley market experienced a strong second half of 2017 after a relatively slow start to the year. Investor optimism and tenant growth have returned to the market,” Eric Fox of Cushman & Wakefield said in a prepared statement.

Vista acquired the park from The Carlyle Group, which had purchased the site from Hines in January 2015 for $84 million, according to Yardi Matrix data. Hines had owned the complex since November 2006, when it was acquired from Westcore Properties in a $352.5 million, 44-property portfolio transaction, Yardi Matrix noted.

The acquisition of Vasona Technology Park brings Vista’s Silicon Valley office portfolio to more than 673,000 square feet. Its other assets, located in San Jose, Calif., are fully leased to companies including Broadcom, Thinfilm, BioNex, Oclaro and O-Net Communications.

Image courtesy of Vista Investment Group