BOULDER - Conscience Bay Co., a Boulder-based private equity firm that invests in real estate, announced Thursday it has acquired two office and retail buildings in downtown Boulder for $16.1 million.

The properties, at 919-951 Pearl St. and 2005-2019 Tenth St., total 42,000 square feet and have 13 office suites and nine retail/restaurant spaces, according to Eli Feldman, president of Conscience Bay Co.

Tenants include Chipotle Mexican Grille, Bacaro Venetian Taverna and Porzak Browning Bushong, a law firm.

The deal was an off-market transaction, Feldman said. The prior owner, 10th and Pearl LLC, let the tenants in the buildings know it was putting the properties on the market. Conscience Bay just happened to be a tenant there, Feldman said.

"The opportunity turned up, and we acted quickly to seize the opportunity and made a deal that was good for both of us," Feldman said.

Geoff Baukol of CBRE represented the seller. Feldman declined to provide details about 10th and Pearl, but he did say the company was based in California.

The property is in a great location, in good shape and 96 percent leased, and Conscience Bay is not planning any major changes.

"It's primarily just an acquisition of a good asset. We don't have any plans to change the structure or add any square footage," Feldman said.

The buildings' energy and water use will be audited, and the new owners could add a solar system at some point, Feldman said.

10th and Pearl purchased the buildings in 2006 for $15.75 million, according to Boulder County property records.

Conscience Bay slowly is building it portfolio of properties. Earlier this year, the company bought four acres of land at the corner of 28th Street and Glenwood Drive in Boulder for $4.259 million. The lots, at 3150 28th St. and 3156 28th St., which are occupied by Gebhardt Saab.

Conscience Bay plans to redevelop that site in the future, Feldman said. The company also has a ranch in Steamboat Springs it is holding as a land bank and an apartment community in Westminster.