CRC sells former State Farm property to Lee Development for $14M

Aug. 12—The former State Farm property at 900 Old River Road, one of Bakersfield's largest office complexes, has sold to a local property investor-developer for $14 million.

Kern County property records show Bakersfield-based Lee Development Group LLC bought the property June 30 from a legal entity controlled by oil producer California Resources Corp. The buyer is a partnership between the owners of Bakersfield general contractor S.C. Anderson Inc. and the Lee family that owns Bill Lee's Bamboo Chopsticks Restaurant downtown.

CRC said by email the transaction represented a business decision to right-size from a workspace that accommodated about 350 employees.

"CRC continues to be committed to our workforce, operations and the communities of Kern County," it stated, adding it has leased space at 9600 Ming Ave. The company said it plans to move there next summer.

The 575,291-square-foot property was last sold by the insurance company State Farm, which after repeatedly denying it was leaving Bakersfield, announced in August 2013 it would sell the property as part of a package involving 23 North American locations.

Lee Development representative Steve Anderson, president of the general contractor, said the company doesn't yet have concrete plans as to what it will do with the company.

Anderson said the purchase was funded in part by the recent sale of a building downtown at 18th and L streets. The plan is to continue leasing the Old River Road property to CRC for a period while exploring market possibilities, he said.

"We know it's going to take a while to actually bring it to a point where it's leased up," Anderson said "Possibilities are limitless."

The building may have to be divided and might work better as a home for two companies, he said, adding the property could work well for public and private sector tenants.

"The building is very versatile and extremely well-built," he said, "and so good opportunities for a large company that might be willing to relocate."

Bakersfield office property broker Jeffrey Andrew, executive vice president at Cushman & Wakefield, noted the property had been on the market for some time, having previously fallen out of escrow.

Considering the price per square foot, he added, the transaction looks like a good deal for Lee Development Group.

"At the right price, everything makes sense," Andrew said. "Now they have to find tenants for it."

The property in southwest Bakersfield was built in 1995.

CRC recently moved its headquarters to Long Beach from Santa Clarita. Before that it was in Chatsworth.