BY BOB SHALLIT
Sacramento’s most active buyer of commercial real estate is continuing his torrid acquisition pace.
Ethan Conrad this week purchased a vacant former Albertsons store site at 5025 Marconi Ave., his 20th acquisition deal this year.
And with several other transactions in escrow, the owner of Ethan Conrad Properties expects to have 25 deals done by the end of the year, adding to the 4.7 million square feet of mostly local commercial space in his portfolio.
“I’m not aware of any buyers that have bought (even) four or five properties” this year, he said
The Marconi deal, completed for about $1.5 million, seems to follow the standard Conrad game plan: Buy a neglected, often vacant property at a deeply discounted price, spruce it up and then re-tenant it. He reports that one national grocer already is interested in leasing the 45,507-square-foot site once a significant rehab is complete.
“The real plus there is the population density,” Conrad said of the Carmichael location. “There are a lot of rooftops in that area.”
While adding properties, Conrad also has been busy signing up new tenants and renewing existing ones at his holdings.
Through Friday, he said he has completed 278 lease deals this year on top of the 20 acquisitions and five building sales.
“We’ve done over a deal a day, including weekends,” Conrad said, “which, candidly, is a little mind-boggling.”
