|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Montevina Business Park — formerly the site of Livermore Valley Charter School — has been sold to 13 individual owners for a total of $29 million.
Livermore Valley Charter School and Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory high school shuttered their doors on June 13, 2017, after the company that operated the schools, Tri-Valley Learning Corporation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Upon completion of the academic term and following the closure of both schools, the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD) Board of Education revoked both of the company's charters, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against two Tri-Valley Learning Corporation officials for violation of federal securities law, according to LVJUSD.
The entire campus vacated by the charter school, which is located at 3142 Constitution Drive in Livermore, is now occupied by owner-users of varying industries and services including unions, startups, a notary, a childcare center, a music school and an emergency services training facility.
Colliers, a diversified professional services and investment management company, completed the sale of the 88,200 square-foot commercial site earlier this year, the firm said in a statement on Monday.
Redwood Property Investors — an Oakland-based real estate investment, development and operating company — retained Colliers' senior vice presidents Larry Easterly and Benjamin Harrison and late vice president John Hone in August 2019 to market and sell the property's 13 freestanding, individually parceled buildings of varying sizes between 3,600-13,200 square feet.
The team staged sales beginning Aug. 30, 2019 and throughout the pandemic, reporting the sale of the final building on July 19, 2021.
"Redwood Property Investors came upon a rare opportunity to purchase the former charter school site and transform it into a highly attractive asset suited for office users," Easterly said in the statement.
"The fact that all 13 buildings have changed hands almost two years to the day after it was initially purchased and during a period in which office sales activity slowed considerably is extremely gratifying," he added.
Harrison told Livermore Vine in an interview that pre-pandemic, they had hoped to sell all of the parcels within one year.
"By around January or February (of 2020) we had sold five of the buildings, so within six months we were fastly approaching half of the buildings being sold," he said. "We had good momentum and good pace and then as you can imagine with the shutdown, it just caused a lot of unease amongst the buyers."
Harrison said that in addition to low interest rates, he thinks one of the reasons they were able to ultimately continue selling during the pandemic was the appeal for companies to own their property and have more autonomy over their business with respect to masking and other pandemic-related protocols.
The development initially included 16 buildings originally built in 2007. Two of the buildings were purchased as offices for LVJUSD and the other by a school. Redwood Property Investors purchased the remaining 13 buildings and pursued an individualized sales strategy.
Reid Settlemier, managing director of Redwood Property Investors, attributed the company's ability to successfully transform the property from a school to a business park to their in-house project management capabilities, according to the statement.
Harrison noted that prior to becoming a school site, the development was initially intended to be an office park when it was first built. "It actually came full circle because it was designed for what it became," he said.
As part of the most recent transformation, Redwood Property Investors' in-house construction team completed light construction, such as overhauling former gymnasium and play areas to create parking requirements, preserving existing landscaping and concrete, and enhancing shared outdoor spaces.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of the name Reid Settlemier.
