The 52,000-square-foot office building at 5464 Carpinteria Ave. in Carpinteria was listed for $9.5 million. (courtesy photo)

One of Carpinteria’s more notable office buildings is back in the hands of its previous owner.

The 52,000-square-foot Class A property at 5464 Carpinteria Ave. was recently bought back from the entity that the previous investor sold it to. Transaction terms weren’t disclosed, but the brokerage firm behind the deal said the property was valued at $8 million. The building was listed at $9.5 million.

The recent buyer originally sold the property at the height of the market for $13 million in September 2008, according to Mark Mattingly, executive vice president for Pacifica Commercial Realty. He represented both the buyer and the seller in the deal.

Since then, the previous owner struggled to keep the property occupied and make necessary improvements, which drove the recent sale. The building is currently 50 percent occupied, Pacifica said.“Leasing was hampered by the prior owner’s lack of capital required to make the improvements required by interested tenants,” Mattingly said. “We did have several qualified tenants look at the property over the past year, but they were either scared off by the prior owner’s lack of capital, or the perilous condition of ownership at that time. With a new, well-capitalized owner, leasing activity should increase.”

In addition to the existing building, the sale also included an adjacent parcel pad with an 8,000-square-foot commercial development already approved by the city of Carpinteria.

“With constantly increasing tenant interest in Carpinteria, we expect a big jump in occupancy,” Mattingly said. “The pad is ready to go, if a owner-user or a larger tenant interested in a free-standing property is identified, the building could quickly be built.”