Ethan Conrad buys West Sac office building

Photo courtesy Cushman & Wakefield

Real estate investor Ethan Conrad bought an office building at 2945 Ramco St. in West Sacramento, built in 2001 in the Southport area.

Real estate investor Ethan Conrad has picked up a West Sacramento office building that was a victim of rough economic times, but he thinks it’s on a better path for the future.

The building, at 2945 Ramco St., was built in 2001 in the Southport area, but at the time, there wasn’t enough demand for it, Conrad said in an email.

“Now that there is a good amount of residential and retail in the immediate area, the Southport area can support an office building,” Conrad said. “I think the building will do reasonably well, especially after we put some money into it and make it look beautiful.”

Conrad said he formally purchased the two-story, 62,500-square-foot building last week from Skip Jahn and Jackson Properties for about $3.44 million. Though its occupancy rate is only 40 percent, Conrad said, he thinks the buy made sense because at $55 a square foot, the building was priced far below what it would cost to build it now.

“The office market, in general, has definitely been tough,” he said. “Although it’s gotten better and I think it’ll continue to get better, it’s going to be a slow process.”

Going forward, Conrad said his company, Ethan Conrad Properties, will repaint and have a light remodeling project on the building.