CBRE Arranges $9.6 Million Sale of Solana Beach Office Property to Santa Fe Irrigation District
CBRE has arranged the $9.6 million sale of a 17,365-square-foot office building at 140 Marine View Avenue in Solana Beach, California, with the Santa Fe Irrigation District acquiring the asset as an owner-user buyer. The transaction closed September 17, 2026, at a price of $553 per square foot.
Transaction Details and Brokerage
CBRE's Matt Harris, Matt Pourcho and Anthony DeLorenzo represented the seller, 140 Marine View LLC, in the transaction. The buyer, Santa Fe Irrigation District, was represented by Brian Hutchenson and Chris Pascale, also of CBRE.
Santa Fe Irrigation District financed the acquisition with an $8 million loan from Banner Bank, supplemented by draws from the district's fund balance accumulated from prior years' operational savings. The district anticipates a total project cost of approximately $13 million, which includes planned improvements such as HVAC replacement, erosion control, and security and technology upgrades at the site.
"The property's location, accessibility and existing improvements attracted strong interest from owner-user buyers," said Pourcho, executive vice president at CBRE. "Opportunities to acquire office properties of this size in coastal North County San Diego remain limited."
Property Overview
The two-story office building sits on approximately 5.81 acres near Interstate 5, behind Lomas Santa Fe Plaza, and features building-top signage visible from the freeway. Originally built in 1979 and renovated in 2014, the property includes indoor and outdoor workspaces, large operable windows, open ceilings, furnished dining terraces, meeting areas, elevator service and shower facilities. Prior to the sale, the seller completed additional upgrades to modernize the office space, outdoor gathering areas and sustainability-related improvements.
The property's low floor-area ratio relative to its 5.81-acre site is notable in a coastal submarket where developable land is scarce. Its freeway-adjacent location provides access to nearby retail and dining amenities, and the building's post-renovation features — including natural light, outdoor gathering spaces and wellness-oriented amenities — align with contemporary workplace preferences.
Santa Fe Irrigation District's Plans
Santa Fe Irrigation District, a public water agency serving Rancho Santa Fe, Solana Beach and portions of Encinitas, approved the acquisition in August 2026. The district intends to relocate its administrative, customer service, engineering, IT and legislative departments from its current location in Rancho Santa Fe village to the Marine View Avenue property. Operations, construction staff and yard functions will remain at the district's existing Linea del Cielo site.
SFID General Manager Albert C. Lau and Assistant General Manager Seth Gates served as agency negotiators on the property alongside Hutchenson and Pascale. Occupancy of the new administrative headquarters is targeted for fall 2027, following completion of planned improvements.
North County San Diego Office Market Context
The transaction reflects conditions in a coastal North County San Diego office market that has remained relatively stable. The submarket posted a vacancy rate of approximately 10.0% in the second quarter of 2026, a modest improvement from 10.4% at the end of 2025, even as net absorption remained modestly negative — roughly 65,200 square feet negative over the prior 12 months as of Q2 2026. Average NNN asking rents in North County stood near $37.92 per square foot annually in Q2 2026. Countywide, San Diego overall office vacancy was approximately 14.6% by the fourth quarter of 2025, underscoring the relative tightness of the coastal North County submarket compared to the broader metro.
Owner-user demand from public-sector and institutional buyers has emerged as a notable driver in markets where available office inventory of meaningful scale is limited. The 140 Marine View Avenue transaction illustrates that dynamic, with CBRE noting that comparable coastal North County office assets of this size are rarely available.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE) is headquartered in Dallas and is the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, with more than 155,000 employees serving clients in more than 100 countries.