Leasing picks up for Benicia industrial condos

Article Last Updated: Thursday, Sep 08, 2005 - 12:06:00 am PDT

Leasing picks up for Benicia industrial condos

By Christine Cubé

BENICIA - Industrial condominiums that initially were slow to lease are going like hotcakes as brokers fill the remaining spaces at the Benicia Fleetside Business Center.

Colliers International managing partner Brooks Pedder said the climate has changed since the center became available for sale.

"It's working because they're industrial condos that people can purchase," Pedder said, of the roughly 113,000-square-foot center that's comprised of three newly-constructed concrete buildings. "We took existing, empty warehouse space and converted it into industrial condo space."

The Benicia Fleetside Business Center is about 65 percent leased or sold. The development offers businesses visibility along Interstate 680 and a chance to own the units, which start at about 2,900 square feet. A pricing schedule puts available units at between $365,000 and $940,000.

Among the tenants there are classic car dealer Specialty Sales, Nick's Custom Golf Carts and Bay Area Stairs.

The most recent transaction took place Friday, when officials with Nick's Custom Golf Carts closed escrow for expansion space next door to their location at 5340 Gateway Plaza Drive. The new space, which mostly will serve as storage room, will essentially double their square footage at the center.

Cathy Felix, office manager for the retailer, said the shop opened the 4,750-square-foot satellite showroom on Gateway Plaza Drive in May. Nick's Custom Golf Carts is a Club Car dealer that sells new and used vehicles and has a larger location just a couple miles from the Fleetside center on Park Road.

Felix said it was important to open at the center because of the freeway visibility and the accessibility for golf cart shipments.

"The trucks can pull over and unload," Felix said. "It's convenient to go up there."

Pleasanton-based Specialty Sales, which has two locations at the Fleetside center at 5302 and 5234 Gateway Plaza Drive, plans to expand to a third location there. Specialty Sales opened in Benicia a year ago.

The company just bought 18,000 square feet of space behind the 5234 Gateway Plaza Drive location.

Specialty Sales offers services and repair for specialty cars. It sells vehicles almost entirely on consignment and its focus is the classic, American muscle car like the Dodge Challenger or the Chevelle Supersport.

Salesman Seth Goodman said the new space is currently empty; officials will start filling it out in upcoming weeks. Specialty Sales offers anywhere from 40 cars to 60 cars within its two Fleetside center locations. The third site likely will house another 75 vehicles.

"We are expanding," Goodman said. "The inventory changes quite rapidly. . .our growth has been unbelievable. It warrants our expansion to the extra facility."

Reach Christine Cubé at 427-6934 or ccube@dailyrepublic.net.

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