MCA Realty of California adds Fife site to WA state portfolio

A California real estate investment and management company has made another business-park purchase in Pierce County.

MCA Realty of Santa Ana, California, purchased Fife Business Center, 4624 and 4630 16th St. E., from Fife Business Investors LLC, a group of area investors, for $10.4 million in December.

The Fife site, along with two properties in Las Vegas, were purchased for $16 million through the firm’s MCA Realty Industrial Growth Fund.

Tyler Mattox, principal at MCA Realty said in a release announcing the purchase, “The demand for industrial space has grown significantly over the last year.”

“Based on our understanding of industrial market demands, we will implement strategic upgrades and improve operational efficiencies to enhance the properties, creating additional value and capitalizing on high tenant demand,” continued Mattox.

The Fife site, built in 1978, is a more than 65,000-square-foot two-building industrial park.

According to Mattox, the property is 96 percent occupied with multiple tenants.

“Based on its location along Interstate 5, in close proximity to the Port of Tacoma, we anticipate sustained demand and continued upward pressure on rents as the market is seeing vacancy rates in the 2 percent range,” Mattox said.

The company is planning “strategic” upgrades, according to its release, including new roof overlays, HVAC repairs, new landscaping and an updated paint scheme, among others.

“Fife Business Center is currently leased at rates approximately 25% below market,” says Mattox. “We plan to implement capital upgrades to improve the property and ultimately renew existing tenants as well as procure new tenants at market rents.”

MCA in late 2020 purchased the Lakewood Business Park, a 136,350-square-foot multi-tenant industrial asset for $18.2 million. In September 2021, it purchased Spectrum Business Park, a more than 66,000 square-foot, six-building industrial park in Federal Way, for $8.25 million. Those purchases were part of a larger $71 million buying sweep that included two in Las Vegas and one in California for just over $71 million.