The Sobrato Organization, an iconic Silicon Valley developer, has sold a portfolio of buildings and land in Fremont, San Jose and Sunnyvale for a reported $80 million, in a deal that suggests investors think the tech sector has bounced back.

All told, 10 properties totaling 675,000 square feet, along with 2.7 acres of land, were involved in the April deal, brokers from CB Richard Ellis, a commercial realty firm, said Wednesday.

“The sale of the portfolio was part of a major diversification strategy that we have,” said Michael Field, director of commercial real estate for Cupertino-based Sobrato.

However, the deal also suggests that investors have become more bullish about the Bay Area economy overall — and Silicon Valley’s prospects in particular.

“People are betting that Silicon Valley is back in a big way,” said Jim Beeger, a senior vice president with Colliers International.

LBA Realty snapped up nine of the 10 properties, including the land. One of the Fremont buildings was sold by Sobrato to West Coast Quartz, which makes silicon and quartz components for semiconductor manufacturers.

Industry insiders think Sobrato obtained a sale price of about $80 million, or about $120 per square foot, for the sale of the 10 properties.

Sobrato and LBA executives didn’t officially discuss the financial details.

With Silicon Valley companies snapping up buildings at a swift pace, LBA has a decent chance to enjoy

appreciation in rental rates in the coming years.

“LBA should see some rent spikes over time,” said Rob Shannon, a senior vice president with CB Richard Ellis. “They bought a very stabilized portfolio. About 75 percent of it has long-term leases in place.”

High-quality tenants such as Asus Computer, Western Digital and Flextronics are among the tenants in the buildings, Shannon said. One building is empty.

The buyers also may be heartened because tech companies appear to still hunger for space.

“Demand is still very strong,” said Joseph Moriarty, a CB Richard Ellis senior vice president. “That helps building values.”

The Sobrato firm, on the heels of this transaction, bought the Fry’s Electronics building in Palo Alto.

“Fry’s will be a building that we will hold for some time,” Field said. “We don’t plan to redevelop it.” The consumer electronics retailer still has several years to go on its lease for the Palo Alto store.

Sobrato further diversified its holdings with a $95 million purchase of a 300,000-square-foot empty office complex in San Francisco’s Mission Bay district. That deal was completed recently.

The LBA-Sobrato deals also extend a period of busy activity for LBA, which has snapped up a number of high-profile complexes.

Among the LBA purchases in recent years was the company’s acquisition of three office towers in the Watergate complex in Emeryville. This past summer, LBA landed a big lease with Clorox, which is moving hundreds of workers a Pleasanton campus that LBA bought a few years ago.

Brokers think LBA is far from finished with its shopping spree.

“LBA is very bullish on the Bay Area,” said Eric Anderson, a vice president with Cornish Carey Commercial, a real estate firm. “They are looking long term. I wouldn’t be surprised if they buy more buildings before long.”

Brokers also think purchases of packages of several buildings in one transaction could be on the rise again. Those deals vanished during the recession.

“Buyers have a lot of money, and they want to put it into commercial real estate,” Beeger said. “In 2010, we literally had one big portfolio sale in Silicon Valley. They were very coming in 2007, and now they are coming back.”

Contact George Avalos at 925-977-8477. Follow him at Twitter.com/george_avalos.

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