REAL ESTATE : Asian Buyers in Town

The Japanese seemed to be ll over Orange County this week as one company bought the Atrium near John Wayne Airport--the biggest building sold in the county last year--and another announced a $400-million project in Santa Ana that will include the county’s tallest building.

But while the Japanese get all the press, there are a number of Taiwanese, Korean and other Pacific Rim investors quietly scouring the county for buildings to buy. The most recent deal involves Ospar Corp., a Korean trading concern that spent $4 million for a small office building near the airport. The building was sold by a partnership called Triton Newport Beach Associates.

Ospar will use the two-story multi-tenant building of 26,000 square feet at 1400 Quail St. for its U.S. headquarters while it decides whether to stick with foreign trade or dabble in Southern California real estate, says Steve Huntley of Huntley Financial Corp., who’s advising Ospar.