Family feuding over San Jose business nets millions from property sale

SAN JOSE — Family members who have been feuding over a South Bay auto body shop have harvested millions from the sale of the San Jose property.

An affiliate headed by Menlo Park-based real estate firm Spieker Investments paid $14.5 million to buy the industrial and commercial building at 1655 Little Orchard St. where Arseen Auto Body operates, documents filed on Oct. 29 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.

Family trusts for Ninos Ternian, Souzi Ternian, Zhaklin Ternian and the late Freidrik Ternian were listed as the sellers, according to county real estate records.

Nevin Spieker, founder of Spieker Investments, is the principal executive of the affiliate that bought the property, documents show.

Arseen Auto Body, Ninos Ternian, Souzi Ternian, and Freidrik Ternian are the parties named in a legal battle involving Arseen Auto Body.

In a lawsuit, Freidrik Ternian claimed that Ninos Ternian, chief executive officer of Arseen Auto Body, diverted for his personal benefit an unspecified amount of money that was intended for the shop, according to documents on file with the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

In a separate court filing, Ninos Ternian claimed that Freidrik Ternian was responsible for any financial or other losses he might have suffered related to the auto body business as a result of Freidrik Ternian’s own misconduct or improper behavior as an employee of the shop.

The lawsuit stated that Ninos Ternian and Freidrik Ternian had a 50-50 equal ownership of the vehicle repair company at the time the litigation was filed.

Sometime in late 2023, Freidrik Ternian died, according to a January 2024 filing in the lawsuit.

Spieker Investments was founded in 2008. The company owns an array of office, commercial and industrial buildings throughout the Bay Area. The buildings are located in areas such as San Jose, Oakland, Hayward, Pleasanton, Union City, Palo Alto, Campbell, Redwood City, and Mountain View.