California company buys
7 Kalihi industrial buildings

Voit Development Co. of Woodland Hills, Calif., has acquired seven industrial buildings in Kalihi with square footage totaling just under 250,000 square feet, the company said yesterday.

The price was not disclosed. The deal marks the start of what the company says will be a campaign to add 1 million to 2 million square feet to Voit's Honolulu real estate portfolio in the near future.

The acquisition adds to Voit's holdings in Hawaii and the western United States, which total 18 million square feet of office, industrial and retail projects with a value of more than $1.6 billion.

"This 250,000 square feet of industrial space, combined with the 198,000 square feet Voit already owns in the Sand Island area, is just the beginning of what we hope to acquire in Honolulu," said Art Smith, Voit's vice president of investment services.

Stephen Keil and Dana Peiterson of CB Richard Ellis Hawaii Inc. represented Voit and the property's seller, the Weiser Cos. CB Richard Ellis will continue to provide leasing and property management services for the buildings.

The Kalihi property is approximately 97 percent leased, Keil and Peiterson said. The seven multitenant industrial buildings in the portfolio are on a long-term ground lease and have units ranging from 700 to 10,000 square feet.

The property houses 99 tenants, who typically occupy spaces of about 1,000 square feet each, Smith said. They include plumbers, contractors, carpenters and auto repair shops, Smith said.

With land prices in Honolulu soaring, Smith said Voit believes it would be difficult or impossible for a competitor to reproduce the property for the small industrial business market. Plus, the smaller size units are in the highest demand, Peiterson said.