Hawaiian firm places bet on Sparks

A big Honolulu-based investment

company sees the Reno market as particularly

strong and put $20 million behind

that opinion as the year came to a close.

WDCI Inc., a subsidiary of Alexander

& Baldwin Inc., bought the Sparks

Business Center, a 396,080-square-foot

property on 20.7 acres near the corner of

Prater Way and Sparks Boulevard. The

seller was Vista Distribution Center

(Three), a Georgia-based corporation.

An official of Alexander & Baldwin

said the company is looking for more

acquisitions in the region.

"We see the Reno-Tahoe area as having

an extremely healthy business climate,"

said Norbert M. Buelsing, executive vice

president of A&B Properties, the real

estate arm of Alexander & Baldwin.

He said the area's 3.5 unemployment

rate reflects the growth in non-gaming

industries, and he said the state's economy

continues to benefit from an attractive tax

structure.

The Sparks Business Center includes

four buildings and was built in 1998.

Major industrial tenants include Carrier

Corp., a manufacturer of heating and air

conditioning systems, with 38,400 square

feet, and Unique Industries, a manufacturer

of party and children's merchandise, which

recently extended its lease of 171,900 square

feet in the center.

Office tenants include the City of

Sparks and St. Mary's Health Care Corp.

"Sparks Business Center is in an established

and growing industrial market close

to the transportation infrastructure needed

by the distribution business," Buelsing said.

John Pinjuv of Grubb & Ellis Nevada

Commercial Group, whose firm will manage

leasing of the center, said the current

vacancy rate is about 10 percent - a factor

that brought a modest discount in the sales

price.

The big news, in Pinjuv's opinion, is

this: The willingness of a major property

company to invest in the Reno market even

when much of the rest of the nation is stuck

in a mild recession.

WDCI also owns the Airport Square

shopping center on Plumb Lane near

Highway 395. It purchased the 170,800-

square-foot center in 1995.

The Sparks Business Center and Airport

Square are the only Nevada holdings for

Alexander & Baldwin, which has a portfolio

of 26 commercial properties in Hawaii

and 18 properties on the U.S. Mainland.

The portfolio includes more than 5 million

square feet of industrial, office and retail

space.

Along with its property holdings,

Alexander & Baldwin grows sugar cane and

coffee and runs an ocean transport business,

including the Matson line.