Pacific Tree Capital has purchased 2525 Main, a 143,269-square-foot office property in Irvine, Calif., form J+R Group for $37.6 million. Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.  

Sold for approximately $262 per square foot, 2525 Main ranks among the highest price-per-square-foot sales for a multi-tenant office building valued over $20 million nationwide post-pandemic. In 2014, J+R Group acquired it from Menlo Equities for $36 million, CommercialEdge data shows.

In 2024, the U.S. office market saw a total of $41 billion in sales, with properties changing hands at an average of $174 per square foot, according to a recent CommercialEdge report. Austin, Miami and Manhattan registered the most expensive deals, prices averaging $396, $365 and $364 per square foot, respectively. Los Angeles ranked sixth, properties in the metro selling for $272 per square foot on average.

A downtown Irvine office building

Completed in 1982 and renovated in 2016, the Class A property at 2525 Main St. is less than 1 mile from Interstate 405 and John Wayne Airport. The five-story asset includes a 41,000-square-foot data center, as well as an on-site cafe, according to CommercialEdge information.

The building’s roster features nine tenants, among which SMS Data Center, Seagra Technology Inc., OSI Digital and Better Tax Relief, the same data provider shows. The property was 98 percent leased at the time of the sale.  

Cushman & Wakefield Vice Chair Jeffrey Cole, Senior Director Nico Napolitano, Managing Director Kevin Nolen, Senior Director Jason Kimmel and Brokerage Specialist Kristen Schottmiller led the team that facilitated the deal for the seller.

The post Orange County Office Asset Trades for $38M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Kearny Real Estate Co. and Dune Real Estate Partners have completed Harbor Logistics Center, a 163,000-square-foot Class A industrial facility in Santa Ana, Calif.

The warehouse came online on the site of a former 200,000-square-foot office campus, which was demolished nine months prior. TDA Investment Group provided a $50 million construction loan for this project, with a maturity date set in 2027, according to CommercialEdge. CBRE will oversee the leasing efforts at the industrial property.

Harbor Logistics Center is at 3100 S. Harbor Blvd., close to John Wayne Airport and one mile from Interstate 405. Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are both within 30 miles from the property, while Los Angeles International Airport is 37 miles away.

The facility is the only industrial building with 36-foot clear heights within a 4-mile radius. The property features ESFR sprinkler systems, a 7,000-square-foot office component, 17 dock-high doors, two grade-level doors and heavy power capacity, as well as 241 vehicle parking spots and a 185-foot-deep truck court. CBRE Senior Vice President Keith Greer, together with Executive Vice Presidents Ben Seybold and Sean Ward, are its leasing brokers.

Orange County, the tightest industrial market

At the end of 2024, Orange County was the tightest industrial market in the nation for occupancy, a recent CommercialEdge report shows. The region closed the year with a 4.2 percent vacancy rate, way below the national rate of 8 percent. Orange County was also the most expensive market in the U.S. for rent prices, asking rents averaging $16.20 per square foot.

Meanwhile, the county’s under-construction pipeline was the second-smallest in the nation, totaling just 1.5 million square feet. One of the underway projects is Bake Freeway Business Park, a 380,000-square-foot campus in Irvine, Calif., developed by Tishman Speyer and Mitsui Fudosan America.

The post Kearny, Dune Deliver Orange County Project appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

TailoredSpace has opened its latest coworking space in Orange County in San Clemente, Calif. This marks the city’s first full-service flex office.

The 10,500-square-foot location provides conference rooms, coffee and snacks, parking space, as well as member events and parties. The interior design represents a combination between a residential living room and a commercial space.

Other tenants at the property include Melin, 24 Hour Fitness and Saddleback Church.

Located at 100 Avenida La Pata, the building is some 3 miles from downtown San Clemente and has access to Interstate 5. John Wayne Airport is 28 miles away.

Lee & Associates Senior Vice President Tim Walker worked on behalf of the landlord in the transaction.

Orange County coworking footprint

Completed in 1999, the two-story, 43,560-square-foot building sits on a 9-acre site. The property has been under Metro Commercial Realty Corp.’s ownership since 2013, when W.P. Carey sold it for $11.3 million, according to CommercialEdge. In 2014, the asset became subject to a $15.5 million loan originated by EquiTrust Life Insurance Co., with a maturity date set for 2034, the same source shows.

The San Clemente office is the 10th TailoredSpace location in Southern California. The company’s coworking landscape includes nine other locations in Brea, Carlsbad, Chino Hills, Corona, Laguna Niguel, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, San Juan Capistrano and West Covina and plans to add five more coworking offices in the area this year.

TailoredSpace opened its Laguna Niguel location back in October 2024. The company occupies nearly 12,000 square feet on the entire first floor at a 280,979-square-foot retail campus, owned by Dunhill Partners.

The post TailoredSpace Expands Footprint in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

DJM Capital Partners has sold its ownership interest in Bella Terra, a lifestyle center of more than 1 million square feet in Huntington Beach, Calif. PGIM Real Estate remains the sole owner of the property.

The partners had purchased the asset back in 2015 for $100 million, according to CommercialEdge data. A loan provided by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. financed the acquisition.

Originally built in 1966 as the first enclosed mall in Orange County, Bella Terra underwent several modifications over the years. The open-air lifestyle property now includes an 880,000-square-foot retail center, a 467-unit multifamily community and an 1-acre park.

READ ALSO: What’s in Store for Retail in 2025?

Anchored by Kohl’s, Burlington, Barnes & Noble, Cinemark Theaters, Whole Foods and Costco, Bella Terra also features a diverse mix of regional and national tenants such as The Cheesecake Factory, Starbucks, World Market, Ulta, Old Navy and Bank of America, among others. The property was 92 percent leased at the time of closing.

In recent years, DJM pursued a strategy of attracting popular restaurants as tenants at Bella Terra, which which led to visitor traffic increase.

Orange County’s retail scene

Located at 7777 Edinger Ave., the lifestyle center is right off the intersection of Interstate 405 and Beach Boulevard. The daily car traffic amounts to more than 250,000 vehicles in that area.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Orange County’s retail investment sales totaled $164.7 million, according to a recent CBRE report. The metro ended the year with an availability rate of 3.8 percent, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.4 percent from the previous quarter. Factors such as rising construction costs and reduced land availability contributed to a drop in new space deliveries, which fell from 3,000 square feet in Q3 to none in Q4.

The post PGIM Buys Stake in Orange County Lifestyle Center appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

CBRE Investment Management has sold 2600 Michelson, a 310,925-square-foot office building in Irvine, Calif., for $42 million. Southern California-based Gaines Investment Trust bought the property, according to Orange County Business Journal. A CBRE Investment Properties team represented the seller

CBRE IM had acquired the property in 2017 from Dune Real Estate Partners, with the help of a $72.4 million permanent loan originated by PNC Bank, CommercialEdge data shows. At that time, the office building traded for $120 million.

A LEED Gold-certified office property

Located at 2600 Michelson Drive on a 4.6-acre site in the Irvine Business Complex, the property is near Interstate 405 and John Wayne Airport. Tustin train station is 4 miles away.

Completed in 1986, the Class A asset rises 16 stories. The office building underwent recent renovations that focused on upgrading the lobby area, as well as adding EV charging stations, a conferencing facility and a fitness center.

LISTEN TO: CBRE’s Take on Rethinking Office Space and the Future of Flexibility

The LEED Gold-certified property also features an adjacent five-story parking structure with 1,013 spots. Its tenant roster includes Jacobs, Zillow, Staff Group West and Providence Wealth Management Group – Ameriprise Financial Services LLC, according to CommercialEdge information.

CBRE Vice-Chairmen Anthony DeLorenzo and Todd Tydlaska, together with Executive Vice President Sean Sullivan, First Vice President Sammy Cemo, Director Bryan Johnson and Broker Grant Goldman, negotiated on behalf of the seller.

DeLorenzo, Cemo and Johnson were also instrumental in the recent sale of a 185,180-square-foot office property in the nearby Tustin. The asset traded for $27.5 million, 14 percent less than its previous selling price.

The post CBRE IM Sells Orange County Office Asset for $42M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

In December 2023, the partners acquired a 32-acre lot within the Great Park Neighborhoods mixed-use community in Irvine for the ground-up development. According to The Real Deal, the parcel traded for $145.9 million.

The project encompasses four industrial buildings ranging from 73,000 square feet to 203,000 square feet.

The first two buildings will be financed through an $84.8 million construction loan from JPMorgan Chase. Bake Freeway has direct access to the I-5 freeway and Greater Orange County.

READ ALSO: 2025 CRE Outlook: The Year Ahead

The Class A properties will feature 36-foot clear warehouse space, 25 dock-high doors and two ground-level doors. The building at 15700 Bake Parkway will span 176,337 square feet across 9.5 acres and feature 186 parking spaces, while 15800 Bake Parkway will cover 202,831 square feet on 10 acres with 287 parking stalls.

Orange County’s strong industrial market

In the third quarter of 2024, Orange County’s overall industrial vacancy rate was 5 percent, with total availability at 7.6 percent, according to JLL Senior Managing Director Steve Wagner.

Recent deliveries of industrial facilities contribute to county-wide availability, he told Commercial Property Executive.

“South County and West County have demonstrated robust absorption, with newly delivered buildings largely leased by Aerospace/Defense and third-party logistics tenants,” he said. “In contrast, the Airport Area and North County are experiencing prolonged lease-up periods for new developments.”

Given the tenant profile in Orange County, properties featuring heavy power, abundant parking and an elevated office-to-warehouse ratio are garnering the most significant interest and activity, Wagner added. Although Orange County has experienced subdued leasing velocity in 2024, he anticipates a potential market rebound in 2025, boosted by an uptick in active requirements.

“This optimism is underpinned by strong market fundamentals, including its infill characteristics, high barriers to entry for new development and a diverse, skilled labor pool,” Wagner said. He added that the new development pipeline has also decelerated considerably, which may help balance supply and demand dynamics.

In June, the joint venture acquired a 60-acre, fully entitled development site in Peabody, Mass., where it has plans to create a four-warehouse building development. In August 2023, the joint venture also acquired a last-mile warehouse and distribution facility in San Francisco’s Bayview submarket.

The post Tishman Speyer, Mitsui Fudosan Launch SoCal Project appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Law Firm Snell & Wilmer has signed a 57,326-square-foot renewal and expansion at Plaza Tower, a 460,000-square-foot office building in Costa Mesa, Calif., within the South Coast submarket of Orange County. JLL and CBRE negotiated on behalf of the tenant, while Cushman & Wakefield worked on behalf of the landlord.

The property is part of South Coast Plaza, a three-building office collection totaling nearly 1.3 million square feet of space. The ensemble is owned by C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, CommercialEdge shows.

The deal represents one of the largest law firm leases signed in Orange County this year. Snell & Wilmer’s expansion will accommodate more than 70 lawyers, marking the company’s 35th anniversary in the metro. The firm will upgrade its office space, spread across three floors, at the 21-story office building.

READ ALSO: CRE Sentiment Index Hits All-Time High

Other tenants at Plaza Tower includes Ducommun Inc., IBM, CONTAX SAP Partner, Edelman Financial Engines and Porsche Design of America Inc., among others, according to CommercialEdge. The same source shows that the law firm has been a tenant here since 2014 and it previously occupied 53,000 square feet.

JLL Managing Director Kevin Bender and CBRE Executive Vice President Charles Nixon represented the tenant during leasing negotiations. Cushman & Wakefield’s Executive Director Robert Lambert and Executive Vice Chairman Rick Kaplan assisted the landlord.

Prime office space in Orange County

Plaza Tower is at 600 Anton Blvd. and features floorplates between 20,624 and 22,802 square feet, eight passenger elevators, 1,500 square feet of first-floor retail space and 1,874 parking spots. Completed in 1992, the landmark property was designed by architect César Pelli, and its amenities include a fitness center with locker rooms, on-site dining options.

The building offers access to the South Coast Plaza’s more than 250 boutiques and restaurants, as well as to Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The 5-acre property allows easy access to Interstate 405 and is 2 miles from John Wayne Airport, 5 miles from downtown Santa Ana, Calif. and 10 miles from downtown Orange, Calif.

According to JLL’s third-quarter office report for Orange County, the leasing volume in the metro increased by 5 percent on a quarter-over-quarter basis, with the largest deals being renewals. At the end of the third quarter, the metro’s total office vacancy stood at 17.4 percent, below the national figure of 19.5 percent.

The post Segerstrom Inks 57 KSF in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Sagard Real Estate has sold the Tustin Financial Plaza, a 185,180-square-foot office property in Tustin, Calif., for $27.5 million. A local investment firm acquired the property. CBRE represented the seller in the transaction proceedings.

The asset previously traded for $32 million in 2006, CommercialEdge data shows. The flagship fund of Sagard Real Estate—formerly EverWest Real Estate Investors—acquired it.

Tustin Financial Plaza consists of five buildings with floorplates ranging between 14,641 and 18,150 square feet. The campus had an occupancy rate of 70 percent at the time of the sale, with the tenant roster including FedEx and Schmidt & Associates, among others. Amenities comprise an on-site conference center and 533 parking spaces.

READ ALSO: NYU WIRE Special Report: Make Change Your Superpower

The campus sits on 8.5 acres at 17772, 17782, 17822, 17852 and 17862 E. 17th St. in Orange County. Downtown Tustin and Santa Ana, Calif., are about 2 and 4 miles away, respectively. Several retail options and quick-service restaurants operate within walking distance.

CBRE Vice Chairman Anthony Delorenzo together with First Vice Presidents Sammy Cemo and Greg Sullivan, as well as Director Bryan Johnson, spearheaded the transaction efforts on behalf of Sagard Real Estate.

Sagard’s steps to reduce office exposure

John Maurer, Head of Equity at Sagard Real Estate, said in prepared remarks that the sale aligns with the firm’s strategy of reducing office exposure and pivoting toward the industrial and multifamily sectors.

Sagard’s office portfolio included the Westbelt Office Center, a 134,707-square-foot property in Houston. The asset reached near full occupancy this May when Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas inked an 11.5-year, 132,000-square-foot lease. The buildout will be completed in early 2025.

Orange County office investment lays dormant

The office investment volume in Orange County declined by 17.2 percent quarter-over-quarter and 69.6 percent year-over-year, amounting to $94 million during the third quarter, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield.

Although the price per square foot contracted by 17.3 percent quarter-over-quarter, the growth was positive year-over-year reaching 34.9 percent, the report shows. Orange County’s price per square foot clocked in at $263 in 2024’s third quarter.

Since March 2020, Orange County’s office vacancy rate spiked by 820 basis points, landing at 18.6 percent in September, Cushman & Wakefield’s report shows. Still, the average asking rate remained stable across the past four quarters, despite the upward vacancy trends. Orange County office rents averaged at $2.87 per square foot in September.

The post Orange County Office Asset Trades for $28M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

TailoredSpace has opened a nearly 12,000-square-foot flex office location in the Orange County, Calif. area at Laguna Design Center, a 280,979-square-foot retail campus in Laguna Niguel, Calif. This marks the flex office provider’s ninth coworking location in the country.

The firm will occupy the building’s entire first floor, which features 41 fully furnished private offices, phone rooms, conference rooms and business support services.

TailoredSpace partnered with landlord Dunhill Partners, which acquired the retail campus in 2016 for $46.3 million, according to CommercialEdge. The seven-building retail center came online in 1985 and includes 40 showrooms. Notable tenants at Laguna Design Center include Plumeria Cafe, Bassman Blaine and Exquisite Surfaces, among others.

READ ALSO: Managing Coworking: Building Brands, Building Experiences

The company is also the owner of The Shoppes at Chino Hills, a 377,966-square-foot retail complex that hosts the largest TailoredSpace location.

Looking to expand in California

Located at 23807 Aliso Creek Road, the 12-acre property is close to multiple bus stops and allows easy access to Interstate 5 and State Highway 73. Additionally, Laguna Design Center is 14 miles from Newport Beach, Calif., and 16 miles from John Wayne Airport.

The company’s coworking portfolio currently has an average occupancy of 93 percent, with clients working in the financial services, technology, real estate and legal fields, said Co-Founder Drew Sanden in prepared remarks. The firm’s expansion plan will include future locations in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties.

In August, the company’s sister brand, SimplerSpace, marked its third coworking location by opening a new space at Chino Corporate Center, a 58,573-square-foot office building in Chino, Calif. The 13,500-square-foot location is across the property’s entire fourth floor and provides 50 private offices and suites.

The post TailoredSpace Opens 9th Coworking Location appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

A joint venture of Staley Point Capital and Bain Capital Real Estate has acquired two industrial properties for a combined $42.6 million. It acquired a 162,000-square-foot facility in Fullerton, Calif., and a 70,000-square-foot warehouse in Chatsworth, Calif.

Van Law Food Products sold the Fullerton asset for $30.1 million, according to CommercialEdge information. Siegel & Associates sold the facility in Chatsworth.

The news comes on the heels of the duo’s disposition of two Orange County assets for $53.3 million last month.

READ ALSO: CRE Midyear Outlook: The Calm After the Storm

The Fullerton facility features 26 dock-high loading doors and concrete truck courts, as well as temperature-controlled improvements. It is fully leased to the previous owner. Completed in two phases in 1958 and 2007, the warehouse is at 2335 Moore Ave., close to the Fullerton Municipal Airport and 7 miles from downtown Anaheim.

The other building came online in 1988 and is a manufacturing facility fully leased to Moog, an aerospace and defense company, according to CommercialEdge. The property is at 21339 Nordhoff St., some 28 miles from downtown Los Angeles and 30 miles from Los Angeles International Airport.

This deal marked the joint venture’s fifth purchase year-to-date, bringing the total to $87 million in acquisitions, all in West Coast infill industrial assets.

Two high-performing markets

Los Angeles and Orange County were among the best performing markets across the U.S., especially in terms of industrial investment volume. Los Angeles assets traded for $311 per square foot on average this year through June, with volume totaling nearly $1.6 billion, the latest CommercialEdge industrial report shows. Orange County had $651 million in deals, with assets changing hands for $340 per square foot on average.

In March, Blackstone Real Estate sold a 3 million-square-foot industrial portfolio for $1 billion or $332 per square foot. Rexford Industrial Realty purchased the 48 properties in separate transactions, which included sellers Blackstone Property Partners, as well as Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust.

The post Staley Point, Bain Capital Buy 2 SoCal Assets appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Staley Point Capital and Bain Capital Real Estate have sold two industrial assets in Buena Park, Calif., after only two years of ownership. A consumer products business paid $53.3 million for the neighboring facilities.

The deal marks the joint venture’s fifth disposition over the past 24 months for a combined aggregate amount of $231 million.

The properties at 5530 Beach Blvd. and 5609 River Way total 183,000 square feet on 9.2 acres in a highly sought-after area. They were acquired in March 2022 for $41 million, in a sale-leaseback deal that was financed by a $32.4 million loan from Mesa West Capital.

READ ALSO: Transactions – July 2024

The warehouses are just off Highway 39, providing direct access to Interstate 5. They are also at the intersection of Los Angeles and Orange County, two of the most supply-constrained markets in the country due to a structural supply-demand imbalance.

Additionally, Orange County is supported by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which have experienced double-digit year-over-year import growth in nine of the past 10 months.

Low on sales, high on rents

The Orange County industrial market has witnessed an investment volume amounting to $651 million in the first half of the year, according to a recent CommercialEdge report. The county lagged all other California metros such as the Bay Area (nearly $2.3 billion in sales), Los Angeles (some $1.6 billion) and the Inland Empire ($893 million).

However, the market had the highest average value for industrial rents in the U.S., clocking in at $15.69 as of June, and was one of the top three markets in California for rent growth (8.6 percent). The Inland Empire led the ranking (12.5 percent), followed by Los Angeles (12.0 percent).

The post Staley Point, Bain Capital Sell 2 Orange County Assets appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

PMB, in partnership with Providence St. Joseph Hospital, has opened Helen Caloggero Women’s and Family Center, a 137,000-square-foot medical office building in Orange, Calif. The development team included Boulder Associates as project architect and Snyder Langston as general contractor.

Harrison Street served as capital partner in this development and Siemens also provided financing. In addition, PMB obtained a $77.6 million construction loan from Capital One in August 2021, according to CommercialEdge, two months prior before the groundbreaking ceremony in October. The developer topped out the facility a year later.

Demand for outpatient clinics is still high due to asset specificity, despite current economic challenges. Development might be affected by financing difficulties, but the volume of projects in the sector is still getting higher.

A focus on women’s health services

The four-story medical facility provides such services as Providence Medical Foundation obstetrics and gynecology, a maternity wellness center, maternal mental health, pelvic health and rehab. PMB Real Estate Services handles property management.

Helen Caloggero Women’s and Family Center also features the federally qualified health clinic La Amistad, which provides OB-GYN and pediatric services for underserved members of the community. Coastal Vision and Blue Bowel also offer services at the clinic.

The medical office building came online on 1.2 acres at 363 S. Main St., on the Providence St. Joseph Hospital campus. The property has access to Interstate 5, while downtown Los Angeles is 30 miles northwest. Other health-care facilities in the surrounding area include UCI Medical Center and Betavia Woods Medical Center, among others.

The post PMB Opens Orange County MOB appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

A real estate fund managed by Ares Management has acquired a 258,506-square-foot industrial building in Westminster, Calif., an Orange County submarket. Clarion Partners sold the asset for $64 million, according to public records.

Cushman & Wakefield arranged the deal on behalf of the seller and secured the acquisition financing. The brokerage firm was also tapped to conduct the leasing efforts.

The almost 12-acre property came online in 1969 and was approximately 72.6 percent leased to two tenants at the time of sale. The asset previously traded in April 2013, when Clarion Partners paid $26.7 million to IPERS, according to CommercialEdge information.

READ ALSO: Getting in the Heads of Industrial Tenants

The Class A warehouse features 22- to 24-foot clear heights, 40 off-dock trailer stalls, five drive-in doors and 28 dock-high loading doors with levelers and bumpers. Additionally, the property has more than 140 parking spaces.

The building is at 7400 W. Hazard Ave., close to Interstate 405 and 1 mile from downtown Westminster. Port of Long Beach is 22 miles away, while Los Angeles International Airport is some 32 miles northwest.

Cushman & Wakefield representation

Cushman & Wakefield Executive Vice Chairs Jeff Chiate and Jeffrey Cole, along with Vice Chair Rick Ellison, and Director Matt Leupold represented the seller. Managing Director Randy Ellison and Senior Director Kyle McGillen are in charge of leasing the facility.

Vice Chair Rob Rubano, Executive Managing Director Brian Share, Director Max Schafer, and Associate Becca Tse secured the acquisition financing. Last year, the same team worked on behalf of Westcore Properties in obtaining a $73.4 million loan for the purchase of Hatcher Industrial Park, a 906,125-square-foot industrial park in Waddell, Ariz.

Orange County kicks off first quarter with major deals

At the end of last month, Rexford Industrial Realty acquired 3 million square feet of industrial assets from Blackstone Real Estate. The $1 billion deal involved 48 properties in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

In January, Tishman Speyer and Mitsui Fudosan America Inc. purchased an approximately 32-acre site in Irvine, Calif., for $145.9 million. Construction on the four-building campus is expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year.

The post Ares Management Pays $64M for Orange County Asset appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Rexford Industrial Realty has expanded its industrial inventory with the purchase of a combined portfolio totaling 3 million square feet for $1 billion or $332 per square foot.

Blackstone Real Estate sold the 48 properties in separate transactions, which included Blackstone Property Partners as well as Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust.

The combined portfolio is 98 percent leased, with 99 percent of the property square footage situated within core and infill submarkets in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

READ ALSO: Top 5 Emerging Industrial Markets in 2024

Rexford Industrial funded these investments using proceeds from their recent exchangeable senior note offerings and cash on hand. In aggregate, the investments will produce a weighted average initial unlevered cash yield of 4.7 percent and an anticipated stabilized unlevered cash yield of 5.6 percent.

Rexford’s investment pipeline currently encompasses around $300 million in investments under contract or accepted offer. Their total investments year-to-date, completed or still in the pipeline, amount to $1.4 billion, with a weighted average initial unlevered cash yield of 5.0 percent and an anticipated stabilized unlevered cash yield of 5.7 percent.

Rexford’s booming industrial inventory

The REIT’s inventory currently consists of 422 industrial properties totaling 49.1 million rentable square feet occupied. The company focuses on investing in, managing and redeveloping industrial properties throughout infill Southern California.

In October, the firm acquired a nearly 1 million-square-foot industrial property in Greater Los Angeles for $120 million. The Irwindale, Calif., facility was fully leased.

A few months earlier, Rexford purchased another Los Angeles building for $210 million. San Diego County Employees Retirement Association sold the 595,304-square-foot asset.

The post Blackstone Closes $1B in Industrial Portfolio Sales appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Kearny Real Estate Co. has begun the demolition of Elevate @ Harbor, a two-building, 197,370-square-foot office campus at 3100 and 3130 S. Harbor Blvd. in Santa Ana, Calif.

At the site, the firm plans to build the Harbor Logistics Center, a 163,000-square-foot Class A warehouse and distribution complex. According to Kearny the new facility is expected to be operational in early 2025.

Planning for the demolition and new development dates to May of 2023, Kearny purchased the larger 9.6-acre site in February of last year, with the intent to redevelop the property. According to REBusinessOnline, Kearny bought the buildings back in 2018, and invested $15 million in renovating the campus’ architectural finishes, floorplans and amenity spaces. The same source found that the developer is working with Dune Real Estate Partners for the redevelopment.

For Kearny Vice President Dan Broder, the renovations were a sunk cost in approaching the best possible use of the space. “Taking into account the ongoing weakness in the Orange County office sector, our analysis showed that, despite what we’ve already invested, the optimal long-term use for the property was industrial,” Broder told Commercial Property Executive. 

The decision was in part motivated by strong demand for industrial space, too. “When completed in 2025, the new facility will be a welcome relief for local companies that are struggling to find industrial space in such a tight market,” Broder added.

Still, the conversions were short-lived. The Orange County Business Journal reported that the demolition was largely the effect of a distressed office market that resulted from high vacancy rates, with several other properties in the area slated for demolition to make way for industrial sites.

Ampco North Inc. is handling the demolition process, while Millie and Severson will build the Harbor Logistics Center. Leasing at the new facility will be spearheaded by CBRE Executive Vice Presidents Ben Seybold and Sean Ward, alongside Senior Vice President Keith Greer.

Adding to Orange County’s inventory

Upon completion, the Harbor Logistics Center will feature 36-foot clear heights and 17 dock-high loading doors, rooftop solar panels, 7,000 square feet of expandable office space and parking spaces with electric vehicle charging stations.

With an onramp to the Interstate 405 sitting one mile south of the development site along South Harbor Boulevard, the facility will have shipping access to much of Orange County and the Los Angeles metro, while John Wayne Airport lies roughly 4 miles to the southeast. On the opposite end, the Port of Long Beach sits approximately 17 miles westward.

READ ALSO: How Reshoring Is Driving Industrial Real Estate Demand

In contrast to its office market, Orange County boasts a healthy industrial market, with Cushman & Wakefield reporting a 2.7 percent vacancy rate, two times lower than the Inland Empire’s 5.4 percent.

Rent growth around the smallest SoCal market is strong too, according to CommercialEdge. As of November of last year, rents around the market grew by 11.6 percent, in line with the double digit growth in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.

In 2023, Orange County’s industrial market saw the addition of 3.2 million square feet of new construction. The inventory is set to increase further, with the launch of new projects such as Tishman Speyer and Mitsui Fudosan America’s joint development of a four-building campus in Irvine, Calif.  

The post Kearny Plans Orange County Industrial Redevelopment appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Tishman Speyer and Mitsui Fudosan America Inc. have acquired an approximately 32-acre lot within the Great Park Neighborhoods mixed-use community in Irvine, Calif., with plans to develop a 600,000-square-foot industrial project. The parcel traded for $145.9 million, or $4.6 million per acre, according to TheRealDeal.

The project will encompass four industrial buildings ranging in size from 73,000 square feet to 203,000 square feet. Construction on the first phase of the development is expected to start during the fourth quarter of 2024.

Plans call for a flexible and easily divisible building design for multiple users, catering to companies that are looking for distribution space, warehouses, manufacturing space or other types of flex space.

The 32-acre parcel represents the joint venture’s second acquisition. The companies formed the partnership in 2022, with an initial $500 million commitment sponsored by Mitsui Fudosan America Inc., and with co-investment funds from Tishman Speyer. The venture, called Tishman Speyer-Mitsui Fudosan America Logistics Venture focuses on ground-up developments, redevelopments or repositioning of industrial assets in major U.S. markets, prioritizing ESG investments that follow environmental certifications such as LEED or GRESB.

Developed by FivePoint Holdings, Great Park Neighborhoods is a master-planned community located close to John Wayne Airport and to the Los Angeles ports complex, that also provides easy access to interstates 405 and 5. The development site is located within the southern portion of the master-planned community and benefits from easy freeway access and signage capabilities.

Construction is slow, sale prices are high in Orange County

Orange County had the lowest under-construction pipeline among Southern California markets, a recent CommercialEdge report shows. As of November, industrial developments in the area totaled less than 1 million square feet. Not surprisingly, Orange County recorded a 4.7 percent vacancy rate as of November, one of the lowest among Western markets. The metro also recorded one of the highest average prices per square foot, at $309, securing the top third spot among all major U.S. industrial markets.

Other recent industrial acquisitions in Orange County include MIG Real Estate’s purchase of Mission Viejo Business Center, a 100,295-square-foot industrial park in Mission Viejo, Calif. The six-building industrial campus was sold by DWS in November 2023.

In April last year, Link Logistics sold a seven-property industrial portfolio in Orange County and Los Angeles County for $263 million. The buyer of the 851,131-square-foot portfolio is a joint venture formed between George Urban Advisors, Five Horizons Partners and DRA Advisors. New York Life Insurance Co. has provided $165.3 million in acquisition financing.

The post Tishman Speyer, Mitsui Fudosan Pay $146M for SoCal Site appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

An ALDI store anchors Buena Park Place. Image courtesy of JLL Capital Markets

SITE Centers Corp. has sold Buena Park Place, a 208,572-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center in Buena Park, Calif. The Orange County asset was fully leased at the time of sale.

JLL Capital Markets brokered the transaction. Managing Directors Bryan Ley, Gleb Lvovich and Geoff Tranchina, together with Senior Director Dan Tyner and Director Tim Kuruzar, led the Investment Sales Advisory team that worked on behalf of the seller.

Completed in 1961, Buena Park Place underwent a cosmetic renovation in 2016. Anchored by ALDI and shadow-anchored by Carl’s Jr. and Starbucks, the retail center has a diverse mix of local and national tenants such as Kohl’s, PetSmart, ULTA, Planet Fitness, Michael’s, Dollar Tree, Chick-Fil-A, Blaze Pizza, Panda Express and ONO Hawaiian BBQ.

Located at 8191-8371 La Palma Ave., Buena Park Place ranks in the top 6 percent of shopping centers nationwide with 3.9 million annual visitors. The property is close to the intersection of Interstate 5 and CA-91 Freeway, which provide easy access to Los Angeles and Santa Ana, Calif.

Buena Park Place is in an area where the daily traffic count reaches approximately 263,800 vehicles. The retail center serves around 626,520 individuals within a 5-mile radius, with the average household income exceeding $103,000.

SITE Centers has recently sold Melbourne Shopping Center, a 211,006-square-foot Publix-anchored retail center in Melbourne, Fla. JLL Capital Markets represented the seller, procured the buyer and arranged the acquisition financing.

The post SITE Centers Sells Orange County Shopping Center appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

City Tower rises 20 stories in Orange, Calif. Image courtesy of Stream Realty Partners

Stream Realty Partners has been selected to lease City Tower, a 435,177-square-foot office building in Orange, Calif. Executive Managing Director & Partner Marty Pupil, Managing Director Mike Adams, Vice President Peter Joyce and Senior Associate Morgan Adams will spearhead all leasing efforts at the property.

City Tower’s owner is Opal Holdings, CommercialEdge data shows. The company purchased the 20-story asset in July 2021 for $150.5 million, with acquisition financing provided through First Tech Federal Credit Union.

READ ALSO: Creating a Winning Back-to-the-Office Formula

The largest office building in the Central Orange County submarket came online in 1988 and underwent cosmetic renovations in 2016. The LEED Gold-certified property features a fitness center, conference center, boardroom, café, full-service auto detailing and a six-story parking garage. Tenants include Regus, Harrell & Co., Schmid & Voiles, York and Wilner & O’Reilly, according to the same source.

Located on nearly 5 acres at 333 City Blvd. W., City Tower is near Interstate 5, State Route 22 and State Route 57, also known as The Orange Crush interchange, providing transportation access throughout the county and larger Southern California area. Downtown Orange is some 2 miles east, while downtown Los Angeles is approximately 30 miles away.

Office leasing stalls in Orange County

City Tower is not Stream’s first office leasing assignment in the area. Earlier this year, the company became the exclusive leasing agent of a five-building office campus in Laguna Hills, Calif. Mike Adams, Peter Joyce and Morgan Adams are also providing marketing services for the 225,000-square-foot property.

The Orange County office market has seen an uptick in vacancies during the third quarter, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report. The vacancy rate clocked in at 19.7 percent at the end of September, marking a 110-basis-point increase over the quarter and 450-basis-point growth on a year-over-year basis.

The post Stream to Lease Orange County Office Tower appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Completed in 1975, Mission Viejo Business Center comprises six multi-tenant industrial buildings on 7.7 acres. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield

MIG Real Estate purchased Mission Viejo Business Center, a 100,295-square-foot industrial park in Mission Viejo, Calif. DWS sold the asset, according to CommercialEdge data. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction, working on behalf of the seller.

Completed in 1975, Mission Viejo Business Center comprises six multi-tenant distribution and warehouse buildings on 7.7 acres. The property features a variety of bay sizes, 10-foot to 16-foot clear heights, grade- and dock-high loading doors, concrete truck courts to support the needs of various mid-size industrial tenants, climate control, insulated ceilings, sky lights and approximately 270 parking spaces. The facility also includes around 10,000 square feet of retail space.

Located at 23811-23891 Via Fabricante within the Orange County market, Mission Viejo Business Center is close to interstates 5 and 405. At the time of the sale, the property was 99 percent leased to 43 tenants, including Mission Viejo Business Center includes Goodwill, South Country Vapors, Amazing Cabinetry, OpenCorporates, State Farm, Sunrise Travel, ProCare Services and AlphaGraphics.

Executive Vice Chairmen Jeff Chiate, Rick Ellison and Jeffrey Cole, Vice Chairman Bryce Aberg, Associate Mike Adey and Senior Associate Zach Harman of Cushman & Wakefield’s National Industrial Advisory Group represented the seller.

Recently, MIG sold Technology Commerce Center, a fully occupied, Class A industrial park totaling 138,692 square feet in Mesa, Ariz. Libitzky Property Cos. purchased the asset for $25.4 million.

The post MIG Real Estate Buys Orange County Industrial Park appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

South Coast Collection previously traded for $120 million in 2015. Image courtesy of Continental Realty Corp.

Continental Realty Corp. has entered the Southern California market with the acquisition of the South Coast Collection, a 292,000-square-foot luxury lifestyle center in Costa Mesa, Calif. The buyer used funds from Continental Realty Opportunistic Retail Fund I LP, a closed-end fund for which $261 million have been raised since 2021.

The previous owner was Rockwood Capital, according to CommercialEdge data, which had paid $120 million for the property in 2015.

The current sale price was not disclosed, but online information indicates that the transaction was valued at more than $100 million, reportedly making it one of the largest single-asset acquisitions this year. Christopher Hoffman and Mark Damiani of Eastdil Secured represented the seller.

SoCo was the second asset acquired by CRC on behalf of CRORF this year; the first was a nearly 460,000-square-foot super-regional lifestyle center just east of Tampa, Fla. CRC has now acquired nearly $720 million worth of retail real estate since the beginning of 2020.

An Orange County retail center

SoCo came online in 2007 at 3303-3323 Hyland Ave. The 20-acre site has 1,000 feet of frontage on the San Diego Freeway. The property was 97 percent leased at the time of sale to a mix of design, home furnishings, fashion, culinary and other specialty retailers, along with more than 20 food offerings.

COCO Republic, Design Within Reach, Roche Bobois, Pirch and Paul Mitchell the School anchor the retail center; additional retailers include Brown Jordan, Natuzzi Italia, and Room & Board. Restaurants and food outlets feature Arc Food and Libations, Butcher’s House, Greenleaf Kitchen & Cocktails, Moulin, Paragon and Portola Coffee.

Also on the property is The OC Mix, a 15,000-square-foot shopping and dining experience with more than 20 full-service sit-down restaurants, coffee shops, quick-service restaurants, a fine cheese retailer and an art gallery.

The Orange County retail market saw above-average rent growth in the third quarter of this year, driven by limited available space and robust demand. According to a recent Matthews report, rents have risen by an average of 2.6 percent on a year-over-year basis. At the same time, very little new supply will enter the county’s inventory over the next months, as only 130,000 square feet of retail space was under construction in Q3.

The post Continental Realty Makes SoCal Retail Debut appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

One of the dining sections of Orangefair Marketplace. Image courtesy of Walker & Dunlop

Columbus Pacific Properties has obtained $39.9 million for the refinancing of Orangefair Marketplace, a 244,000-square-foot retail center located in Fullerton, Calif. Morgan Stanley provided the funds, retiring existing debt.

A Walker & Dunlop California Capital Markets team, led by Directors Riley Manke and Andrew Westling worked to procure the loan, which was originated in September. The new financing will mature in 2028, according to CommercialEdge data.

The same source shows that the owner, a Los Angeles-based investment and development firm, purchased Orangefair Marketplace in 2002 for $31.5 million. SRS Real Estate Partners Managing Principal Terrison Quinn, Senior Vice President Casey Mahony and Senior Associate Tony Vuona oversee leasing at the property.

A Fullerton fixture

The owner fully renovated Orangefair Marketplace in 2005. The mall was originally built in 1958 to include department stores from JCPenney, W.T. Grant and Woolworth’s. In total, the shopping center spans 10 buildings spread over 23 acres, home to 28 shops. The mall’s largest tenants are big-box stores that include Burlington, Best Buy, Michaels and Big 5 Sporting. Smaller tenants include Sketchers, Cycle Gear and Catherine’s.

READ ALSO: Navigating the Retail Financing Landscape: Peachtree Group’s CEO Weighs In

A population of 629,470 residents, with an average income of $97,000 lives within 5 square miles of Orangefair Marketplace, according to SRS Real Estate Partners’ website. The mall’s location—at 140 E. Orangefair Mall—allows for direct access to the 91 Freeway, with a connection to Interstate 5 sitting 3 miles to the west. The asset lies along Fullerton’s largest retail corridor, adjacent to a Walmart Supercenter and a Lowe’s Home Improvement Store.

Orange County’s green flags

Orange County’s retail sector recorded solid fundamentals during the first half of the year. According to a CBRE report, the region had a 4.1 percent vacancy rate, with more than 60,000 square feet of space under construction as of the second quarter.

Recent headlines on the investment front include Paragon Commercial Group’s $17 million recapitalization of Village Center, a 93,336-square-foot property in nearby Fountain Valley, Calif. One month prior, in June, a joint venture between an affiliate of Cadence Capital Investments and Oakwood Real Estate Partners sold Bristol Place, a 61,454-square-foot mall that is shadow-anchored by Target.

The post Columbus Pacific Lands $40M Refi for Orange County Retail Asset appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Raytheon Campus came online in 1986. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield

The joint venture of Hines Interests and Oaktree Capital Management has sold Raytheon Campus, a 405,130-square-foot office complex in Fullerton, Calif. The buyer, a local family investor, paid $76.5 million for the Class A property. Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.

Raytheon Campus was the largest office property to change hands in Orange County since the beginning of the year, according to CommercialEdge data. However, at $188.8 per square foot, the asset was not the priciest; nearly 3.2 million square feet of office space sold across the market year-to-date as of September for an average $201.6 per square foot.

Raytheon Campus, up close

The partnership had purchased the asset back in 2012 for $50 million, according to CommercialEdge data. Completed in 1986, the campus encompasses two three-story buildings on a 33.8-acre site. Raytheon has been the sole tenant of the property since 1985.

Located at 1801 Hughes Drive in North Orange County, the office complex is near Interstate 5, which provides direct access to downtown Los Angeles. Brea Mall, Ralph B. Clark Park and an abundance of dining options are within a 5-mile radius.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Director Nico Napolitano, Vice Chairmans Jeffrey Cole and Jeff Chiate, Executive Vice Chairman Rick Ellison, Executive Managing Director Scott Selke and Associate Brad Brandenburg negotiated on behalf of Hines.

Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,610 properties totaling more than 537 million square feet across the world. The firm recently topped out a 235,000-square-foot mass timber office building in Denver, alongside Ivanhoé Cambridge and McCaffrey. The project is expected to be one of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly developments in the city.

The post Hines JV Sells Orange County Asset for $77M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

HERE @ Laguna Hills last changed hands in 2022. Image courtesy of Stream Realty Partners

Kingsbarn Realty Capital, in a partnership with The Kelemen Co., has appointed Stream Realty Partners as exclusive leasing agent of a five-building office campus totaling 225,000 square feet in Laguna Hills, Calif. The partnership picked up HERE @ Laguna Hills in 2022 from sellers Cigna Realty Investors and Cruzan, in a $63.8 million deal.

Stream Realty Partners’ team of Managing Director Mike Adams, Vice President Peter Joyce, and Senior Associate Morgan Adams will be marketing the creative office property. The team will replace the prior brokers from CBRE, CommercialEdge data shows.

The office complex consists of:

• A 50,592-square-foot building at 23332 Mill Creek Drive
• A 50,053-square-foot building at 23382 Mill Creek Drive
• A 51,391-square-foot building at 23422 Mill Creek Drive
• Two buildings totaling 68,431 square feet at 24411 and 24461 Ridge Route Drive.

HERE @ Laguna Hills’ current tenant roster includes Centercode Inc., American Capital Group, Envision Capital Management, Full Spectrum Search Group and PJHM Architects, the same source shows.

Amenities at the Class A campus

Built between 1987 and 1989, the Class A office campus features tenant amenities such as an outdoor lounge, a fitness center with showers and lockers, as well as coffee shops. Additionally, HERE @ Laguna Hills also includes 894 total parking spots and prime signage capabilities. The ownership implemented multiple cosmetic renovations and improvements in 2015, CommercialEdge data shows.

Situated on approximately 16 acres close to Interstate 5 and multiple bus stations, the campus is 10 miles from Orange County, 11 miles from John Wayne Airport and within 49 miles of Los Angeles.

Earlier in June, Stream Realty Partners was appointed as exclusive leasing agent for an office tower in Chicago’s West Loop. AEW Capital Management appointed the brokerage to market 525 W. Van Buren St., a 521,604-square-foot Class A office building.

The post Stream Realty Tapped to Lease Orange County Office Campus appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

The warehouse at 10907 Painter Ave., one of the assets that traded for $339 per square foot. Image courtesy of CommercialEdge

Staley Point Capital, in a joint venture with Bain Capital Real Estate, has sold two Southern California industrial properties totaling 160,000 square feet for $54 million, or $339 per square foot. The buyer was Walton Street Capital, according to CommercialEdge data.

Latham & Watkins provided legal counseling services for the seller. Eastdil Secured acted as financial advisor and The Klabin Co. provided local market expertise.

The same source reveals that the two industrial properties previously changed hands in separate transactions in 2021, for a combined $35.2 million.

One of the assets came online in 1977 at 333 Cliffwood Park St. in Brea, Calif., while the other is a 1993-built warehouse at 10907 Painter Ave. in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. The properties have 24- and 22-foot clear heights, sky lights, ESFR sprinkler systems, exhaust fans, office build-out components, truck courts and ample parking space.

The Brea property was fully occupied by Corporate eWaste Solutions at the time of sale. The recently renovated Santa Fe Springs facility has several tenants on its roster, one of them being Concord USA Corp., CommercialEdge data shows.

The two warehouses are less than 11 miles from one another. The Brea industrial asset is in Orange County, close to U.S. highways 57 and 90, within 9 miles of Anaheim, Calif; the Santa Fe Springs building is close to interstates 5 and 605 in Los Angeles County, some 22 miles from The Port of Long Beach.

SoCal recent industrial transactions

Despite the economic slowdown and investment decreases across all commercial property types, the appetite for industrial assets is still strong, a recent CommercialEdge report shows. Western markets led the nation in the first half of 2023, with investments totaling $6.52 billion as of June. Orange County saw $301 million in traded industrial assets, while Los Angeles scored one of the largest sales volumes in the region, with $1.20 billion.

Recent notable transactions in the area include Rexford Industrial’s $210 million purchase in Santa Fe Springs. The 595,304-square-foot, fully occupied industrial facility is less than 2 miles from the Painter Avenue warehouse.

In April, an 851,131-square-foot industrial portfolio comprising Orange County and Los Angeles County assets changed hands for $263 million. A joint venture of three companies picked up the properties.

The post Walton Street Pays $54M for 2 Industrial Assets appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Village Center. Image courtesy of JLL Capital Markets

Paragon Commercial Group has recapitalized Village Center, a 93,336-square-foot retail asset in Fountain Valley, Calif., with a $17 million permanent loan. The company completed the financing agreement in partnership with Daiwa House Texas, a U.S. subsidiary of the Japan-based construction company. CNO Financial Group Insurance Co. provided the funds, according to CommercialEdge data.

JLL Capital Markets brokered the transaction, with Managing Directors Bryan Ley, Geoff Tranchina and Gleb Lvovich working on behalf of Paragon.

Paragon purchased the property back in 2021 from Martineau Properties for $14.7 million, according to CommercialEdge. Everlake Life Insurance Co. originated a $15 million acquisition loan, which was retired through the current agreement.

Built in 1966, Village Center comprises two buildings on an 8.1-acre lot. Anchored by Sprouts Farmer’s Market and Rite Aid Pharmacy, the property has a diverse mix of local and national retailers. The tenant roster includes Dollar Tree, Subway, Big Lots and Bank of America. The asset is 97 percent occupied.

The shopping center is at 17904 Magnolia St. in Orange County’s Huntington Beach submarket. Situated in an area where the average household income is approximately $120,000, Village Center serves more than 205,000 residents within a 3-mile radius.

Lincoln Property Co. and Paragon have recently formed a joint venture, under which Paragon will serve as Lincoln’s West Coast retail operator. The partnership’s retail investments are set to include acquisition, redevelopment and ground-up development of open-air neighborhood and community centers.

The post Paragon Recapitalizes Orange County Shopping Center appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

The facility at 12821 Knott St. Image courtesy of Savills

Electric vehicle manufacturer Harbinger Motors Inc., has signed a multi-year lease with Rexford Industrial to move its headquarters to the Central Industrial District in Garden Grove, Calif., and advance its vehicle and component development programs.

Rexford Industrial is repositioning the existing 120,000-square-foot Class A building at 12821 Knott St. and adding 45,171 square feet of improvements. Harbinger is planning an additional 20,000 square feet of upgrades at the 1971-built asset. Savills Corporate Managing Director Zane Keith will oversee project management for the buildout.

Last upgraded in 2021, the single-tenant building currently has 20 dock-high loading positions and 24-foot clear height. The property has convenient access to State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, and the Interstate 405.

Harbinger’s current headquarters is at 15700 S. Figueroa St. in Gardena, Calif., but the company plans to phase into the Garden Grove building over the coming months and fully occupy it by November.

READ ALSO: The Long Road to Accommodating EVs

The Harbinger Motors team outside the 12821 Knott St. facility. Image courtesy of Savills

The relocation will quintuple its physical footprint and enable the company to significantly scale its headcount and development activities. Harbinger’s goal is to put its medium-duty EVs on the road next year.

In addition to serving as Harbinger’s new headquarters, the new facility will also be used for research and development, chassis assembly and battery pack manufacturing. The company’s initial product line consists of an electric stripped chassis and cab chassis designed to meet the rigorous performance, durability and lifespan requirements of Class 4 to Class 6 specialty and commercial vehicles.

Savills oversaw the real estate strategy for Harbinger. Calling the company a disruptor in the EV industry, Savills Vice Chairman Taylor Wood said in prepared remarks the Garden Grove property checked all the boxes for Harbinger, noting it was recently repositioned with additional electrical power capacity.

EV industry is booming

The electric vehicle industry is growing in the U.S., aided by government incentives and competition. The Biden administration supports climate-friendly technology and approved the Inflation Reduction Act, which offers incentives to EV manufacturers and tax credits for those who buy American-made EVs.

Tesla leads the pack but automakers including Ford are also investing heavily in the U.S. to take advantage of the EV production incentives. Other major manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes have announced billion-dollar investments in battery and EV production plans in Alabama and South Carolina.

Last month, General Motors and Samsung SDI announced they were investing $3 billion to build an EV battery cell plant in New Carlisle, Ind., to supply GM’s expanding electric vehicle production needs. Other companies planning EV battery plants around the country include LG Energy Solutions and Hyundai Motor Group, which partnered for a $4.3 billion battery production facility near Savannah, Ga., in early May. LGES is also building a $3.5 billion facility in Fayette County, Ohio, with Honda, and a $5.5 billion battery manufacturing complex near Phoenix.

The post EV Manufacturer to Move HQ to Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Building in El Segundo, Calif., owned by Lincoln Property Co. Image courtesy of CommercialEdge

Lincoln Property Co. has acquired Irvine, Calif.-based property and asset management company RiverRock Real Estate Group, in a deal that adds more than 50 million square feet to Lincoln’s property management portfolio. With this move, Lincoln is expanding its services to third-party clients connected to various asset classes including office, retail and industrial.

Founded in 2003, RiverRock is active in California and Arizona and offers services such as property and project management, accounting, as well as due diligence and financial management. Founder John Combs will continue to be part of the leadership team and will focus on the West Coast.

This is the first merger and acquisition deal for Lincoln since the appointment of Ali Daubert as Chief Strategy and M&A Officer and the February announcement of the company’s strategy that involved the appointment of David Binswanger and Clay Duvall as Co-CEOs, as well as an investment by funds managed by Stone Point Capital. At that time, the company also announced its plan to expand in management services.

Since its founding in 1965, Lincoln has constantly diversified. Starting from residential, the company later expanded into commercial real estate in the 1970s and then into military housing starting with 2001. The company’s current footprint includes some 470 million square feet. Since 2018, Lincoln acquired and developed more than 60 million square feet of space, valued at $24 billion.

Recent Lincoln Property Co. deals

Lincoln Property Co. made several significant moves involving retail, office and industrial assets throughout the first half of 2023. In early January, Lincoln, in partnership with Harvard Investments, broke ground on Goodyear AirPark, a 7 million-square-foot industrial project in Goodyear, Ariz.

Back in April, Lincoln secured a lease with Sabra Health Care REIT at its FLIGHT at Tustin Legacy, an 870,000-square-foot office campus in Tustin, Calif. That same month, the company was selected to manage a 640,000-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center in Pooler, Ga.

The post Lincoln Property Buys California Management Firm appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Adams Marketplace. Image courtesy of JLL Capital Markets

Fortress Investment Group and DJM Capital Partners have sold Adams Marketplace, a 65,116-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center in Huntington Beach, Calif., with the assistance of JLL.

A private Orange County-based buyer acquired the property for $29.2 million, financing the purchase with a $17.7 million loan from Mutual of Omaha, according to CommercialEdge data. The property previously changed hands for $26.5 million in 2022.

A JLL Capital Markets Investment Sales Advisory team brokered the current transaction, with Managing Directors Bryan Ley, Gleb Lvovich and Geoff Tranchina, Director Tim Kuruzar and Senior Director Daniel Tyner working on behalf of the seller.

A 98 percent-leased retail asset

Completed in 1974 and renovated in 2022, Adams Marketplace comprises three buildings spread across a 5.6-acre site. Anchored by Smart & Final Extra, a major grocery destination in the area, the retail center has a diverse mix of local and national tenants such as Starbucks, Petco, Wingstop, MemorialCare Medical, WELLBEE, Jiffy Lube and Carl’s Jr. The asset was 98 percent leased at the time of sale.

Located at 9062 Adams Ave., the retail center is in an area where the average household income exceeds $157,000 within a 1-mile radius and serves approximately 400,000 people within a 5-mile radius, according to JLL. The property is roughly 7 miles from another retail asset that recently sold in Orange County’s first shopping center transaction above $20 million since October of last year.

The post DJM Capital Partners JV Sells Orange County Retail Center for $29M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Bristol Place. Image courtesy of Hanley Investment Group

An affiliate of Cadence Capital Investments and Oakwood Real Estate Partners LLC sold Bristol Place, a 61,454-square-foot shopping center in Orange County, Calif. A private investor based in Newport Beach acquired the property for $36.5 million.

The multi-tenant shopping center is shadow-anchored by Target and predominately features food and service-related tenants. According to CommercialEdge data, other tenants include Papa Johns, H&R Block and AYCE Sushi. At the time of the sale, the property was 89 percent occupied.

Located at 3310-3398 S. Bristol St. in Santa Ana, Calif., Bristol Place was originally completed in 1968 and renovated in 2019. A $4.6 million remodel of the asset included an outdoor patio and new storefronts, roofs and HVAC units. Target renovated its store in 2018 and owns its part of the site.

The shopping center, built on an approximately 5-acre lot, is situated at the corner of Alton Avenue and Bristol Street. The parking ratio at Bristol Place is 4.75 spaces per 1,000 square feet. It is within 3 miles of some 215,000 people with an average household income exceeding $100,000, and less than a mile from the South Coast Plaza, the highest-grossing shopping center in the nation.

READ ALSO: Retail Leasing Trends to Watch in 2023 and Beyond

John Wayne Airport is 1.5 miles from the property and nearby interstates 405, 55 and 73 offer easy accessibility to the larger Santa Ana area. Related Bristol, a mixed-use development located one block from the shopping center, will have residential, office, entertainment, dining and hotel space scheduled for delivery in 2026. The Segerstrom Center for the Arts, some 0.5 miles away, features art centers, a theatre and a museum.

The sale of Bristol Place marks Orange County’s first shopping center transaction above $20 million since October of last year.

Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors‘ Executive Vice Presidents Matt Burnett and Kevin Fryman along with President Ed Hanley represented Cadence Capital Investments and Oakwood Real Estate Partners in the transaction. Marcus & Millichap’s Ron Duong represented the buyer.

Another Orange County retail center, The Row on Harbor, was recently sold in an all-cash exchange. The strip center’s tenants include Club Pilates, EggBred, Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders and Sisu.

The post Orange County Shopping Center Trades for $37M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

100 Center Drive. Image courtesy of CommercialEdge

Local flexible office provider Premier Workspaces has opened a 24,200-square-foot coworking space in Irvine, Calif. The company took over a location previously operated by Carr Workplaces at 100 Spectrum Center Drive. The 366,227-square-foot office building is currently owned and operated by The Irvine Co.

This new space brings Premier Workspaces’ footprint in Irvine to more than 233,000 square feet across 10 locations, the company operating more than 85 spaces nationwide. The firm has recently signed another lease with The Irvine Co., opening a flex office space at the former Fox Plaza building in Los Angeles’ Century City district.

The flex office space at 100 Spectrum Center Drive occupies the 9th floor and encompasses 87 private offices, along with three serviced meeting rooms, an on-demand office and a common-area lounge. Building amenities include a fitness center, equipped kitchen, dry cleaning and covered parking.

Completed in 1990, the 15-story office building is LEED Platinum certified and offers EV charging stations, as well as Envoy on-demand EVs. It is located between interstates 5 and 405, some 7 miles from central Irvine. It is also directly across the street from the Irvine Spectrum Center shopping mall, which incorporates numerous dining and retail options.

The post Premier Workspaces Takes Over Irvine Coworking Location appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

The Row on Harbor. Image courtesy of JLL Capital Markets

DMI Real Estate Group has sold The Row on Harbor, a 23,314-square-foot retail strip center in La Habra, Calif. The buyer acquired the property in a 1031 all-cash exchange.

Completed in 1972 and completely renovated in 2020, the retail center features 15 stores and approximately 120 parking spaces. The shopping center comprises a mix of highly rated restaurants and retail services.

Tenants at the property include AkaFuji, Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders, EggBred, Feu Noodle Bar, Harbor Mexican Café, Furai Chicken, Cuzco Peruvian Restaurant, AKT Fitness, Sisu, Beauteous Nails, Code Ninjas and Club Pilates. The Row on Harbor was 100 percent leased at the time of sale.

The retail center is located at 1450-1478 S. Harbor Blvd., on the border of La Habra and Fullerton, in an affluent Orange County area. The property is situated near the Imperial Highway and Harbor Boulevard intersection, in an area where the daily traffic count reaches approximately 38,000 vehicles. The Row on Harbor serves households with an average income of $140,000 within a 1-mile radius.

JLL Capital Markets brokered the transaction, with Senior Director Daniel Tyner and Managing Directors Geoff Tranchina and Gleb Lvovich working on behalf of the seller. Another JLL Capital Markets team led by Senior Managing Directors Jose Cruz and Kevin O’Hearn, Director J.B. Bruno and Associate Mark Belenky represented AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust in the $71 million sale of a 395,000-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center in Riverhead, N.Y.

The post Orange County Retail Center Trades in 1031 Exchange appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Aerial view of some of the acquired properties. Image courtesy of George Urban Advisors

The joint venture of George Urban Advisors, Five Horizons Partners and DRA Advisors has acquired a seven-property, 851,131-square-foot industrial portfolio in Orange County and Los Angeles County. The previous owner was Link Logistics, according to CommercialEdge data.

Public records show that the assets changed hands for $263 million and the joint venture financed the purchase with a $165.3 million note from New York Life Insurance Co.

A CBRE National Partners team assisted the seller, while the buyer was self-represented. George Urban Advisors will head up property management for the portfolio.

“Multitenant industrial properties in Southern California have proven to be a very resilient property type, while still showing positive signs of demand and rent growth even in a turbulent financial market,” G. Ryan Smith, president of George Urban Advisors, told Commercial Property Executive. “We believe George Urban’s hand-on approach to management and operations will continue to provide positive results and future upside for this portfolio.”

READ ALSO: Why Southern California’s Crystal Ball is Cloudy

The portfolio was attractive to the buyers due to its occupancy rates, upside potential and presence in infill locations. In prepared remarks, Smith said that the new ownership will be conducting small capital improvements at the properties as well as improving operations to fill what little space is vacant.

DRA Advisors recently completed the acquisition of another infill industrial portfolio in Chicago, New Jersey, N.J., Long Island, N.Y., and Philadelphia. CBRE National Partners also represented the previous owner in the $369 million deal.

The traded Southern California portfolio

The Los Angeles County properties are:

• 3283-3299 Walnut Ave., Signal Hill. The 74,353-square-foot industrial park comprises eight buildings on some 4.2 acres, CommercialEdge data shows. The warehouses came online in 1990.
• 2300 Walnut Ave., Signal Hill. The facility, which features 29,920 square feet, was built in 1978.
• 2698 Junipero Ave., Signal Hill. It is a 31,819-square-foot building in the Signal Hill Commerce Center.
• 2700 Rose Ave., Signal Hill. The 27,600-square-foot facility came online in 1980.
• 14747 Artesia Blvd., La Miranda. Totaling 73,393 square feet, this property features five buildings completed in 1978.

The Orange County assets include:

• The Row, Laguna Hills. Totaling 513,125 square feet across 25 buildings, the industrial campus is located on some 31 acres at 23251-23501 Avenida de la Carlota, 23452-23641 Ridge Route Drive and 23501-23562 Commerce Center Drive. It was completed in 1979. Tenant space types range from interior retail, warehousing and distribution to showroom industrial and restaurant.
• Plaza Del Lago, Laguna Hills. Completed in 1978, this property features 100,812 square feet of retail and industrial space across three buildings. The asset occupies 6.8 acres at 23001 and 23015 Del Lago Drive and 23052 Lake Forest Drive.

The post Link Logistics Sells SoCal Portfolio for $263M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Griffin Towers. Image courtesy of Barker Pacific Group

Barker Pacific Group (BPG) and Kingsbarn Realty Capital have paid $82 million for Griffin Towers, a two-building office campus in Santa Ana, Calif., totaling 560,000 square feet. According to CommercialEdge data, the seller was EQ Office, a subsidiary of Blackstone. Newmark represented the seller and procured acquisition financing from Western Alliance Bank, public records show.

The asset’s current price tag was 36.4 percent lower than the one of its previous acquisition. CommercialEdge reveals that EQ Office had purchased the property for $129 million in 2014.

Griffin Towers marks the second partnership between Kingsbarn and BPG in the Orange County office market. In 2021, the two firms acquired Fullerton Towers, following a similar value-add strategy.

A recently renovated Orange County office campus

Completed in 1987 as Orange County’s first Wired-certified project, the twin 13-story office buildings were recently renovated. A fitness center, conference center and outdoor bocce court with seating areas, as well as a six-story parking structure with four EV charging stations are among the amenities at the property.

UKG, Michael Baker International, Psomas, Nation’s Direct Mortgage, HNTB and the Ayn Rand Institute are among the buildings’ existing tenants. A CBRE team, comprising Senior Vice Presidents Dean Chandler and Justin Hill, as well as First Vice Presidents Peter Wells and Taylor Friend, handle leasing at the campus, while BPG is responsible for the on-site property management duties.

Located at 5 and 6 Hutton Centre Drive, the campus provides connectivity to freeways 55 and 405, with John Wayne Airport and the University of California Irvine some 3 miles away. Retail centers, such as South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island and Irvine Marketplace, are also nearby.

Newmark Co-Head Kevin Shannon, Executive Managing Director Paul Jones and Director Brandon White represented EQ Office in the transaction, while Vice Chairman David Milestone and Associate Director Henry Cassiday assisted the buyers in securing the acquisition loan.

A closer look at the Santa Ana office market

According to a recent Newmark report, Santa Ana had office inventory of around 5.5 million square feet at the end of this year’s first quarter. The submarket’s vacancy rate stood at 22.8 percent, 510 basis points higher than the one recorded in Orange County.

Although there has been a temporary increase in vacancy rates during the first quarter of this year, the current average in Orange County is still lower than the peak of 20.8 percent that was observed during the Global Financial Crisis, the same source reveals. As companies are imposing a return-to-office policy, they are gaining more bargaining power and making decisions regarding real estate that are likely to have long-term implications.

The post EQ Office Sells Orange County Campus for $82M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

FLIGHT at Tustin Legacy rendering. Image courtesy of Lincoln Property Co.

Sabra Health Care REIT has signed a 13,000-square-foot lease at Lincoln Property Co.’s FLIGHT at Tustin Legacy, an 870,000-square-foot, Class A office campus in Tustin, Calif. Cushman & Wakefield acted on behalf of the tenant, while CBRE represented the landlord.

Sabra is relocating its headquarters from Irvine, Calif., to 1781 Flight Way within the campus, with move-in scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.

LPC West offers on-site property management services at the location. A fitness center, EV charging stations, outdoor recreation areas, as well as a Mess Hall Market, an event space and outdoor biking and walking trails are among the amenities at the office campus. A second phase offering built-to-suit alternatives is also planned to take shape.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Senior Associate Luke Napolitano, Executive Managing Director Chon Kantikovit and Director Justin Cassel represented Sabra in the lease agreement.

REGISTER NOW: Midyear Outlook 2023: What to Expect in the Second Half—and Beyond

Located on the northeast corner of Red Hill & Barranca Avenue, the purpose-built creative office campus is 3 miles from John Wayne Airport. The property offers connectivity to the Tustin Metrolink Station and other public transportation connection points.

FLIGHT at Tustin Legacy provides access to employee bases in San Diego, the Inland Empire and Los Angeles, the campus being within walking distance of an array housing options and numerous dining and retail destinations. The 26-acre Tustin Legacy Park is also nearby.

Leasing activity in Orange County slows

According to a Savills report, the Orange County office market started off the year with only 1.1 million square feet of leasing volume reported in the first quarter of 2023, marking a 28 percent decrease from the previous quarter’s 1.5 million square feet and a 33 percent decrease from the previous year.

The same source indicates that out of the top ten leases signed in the first quarter, six were renewals. The decline in demand for office space lingers on, due to to various macroeconomic factors such as recession concerns, increasing interest rates, recent failures of midsized banks, a hiring slowdown, as well as hybrid workplace strategies.

The post Lincoln Property Secures HQ Lease in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Lake Forest Marketplace. Image courtesy of SRS Real Estate Partners

La Caze Development has sold the leasehold ownership of Lake Forest Marketplace, a 111,212-square-foot, multi-tenant retail center in Lake Forest, Calif. A private investor acquired the fully leased asset under a 95-year unsubordinated net ground lease through a 1031 exchange.

SRS Real Estate Partners Senior Vice President John Redfield brokered the $14.2 million transaction on behalf of the seller, while SVN Senior Vice President Jon Davis represented the buyer, which also assumed the current $9.4 million loan on the property, originated by StanCorp Financial Group, according to CommercialEdge.

Situated at 23831 El Toro Road on a 10-acre site adjacent to Interstate 5, Lake Forest Marketplace is within a dense retail corridor and close to other shopping centers, including The Arbor, The Orchard and Twin Peaks Plaza. The property’s tenant roster includes 99 Cents Only, Guitar Center, Island Pacific, Harbor Freight Tools, Bank of America, Del Taco and Dunkin’ Donuts, among others.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Orange County’s retail market had a vacancy rate of 4 percent and showed positive net absorption, with 12,845 square feet being absorbed by the end of 2022, as reported by Kidder Matthews. Assets in the market traded at a rate of $322.06 per square foot. Lake Forest Marketplace was sold at a below-market asking price, at $127.68.

The post SRS Advises Retail Ground Lease Sale in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Image by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay

CBRE has acquired the Los Angeles and Orange County affiliates of Integra Realty Resources, a nationwide network of commercial real estate valuation, counseling and advisory firms.

IRR-Los Angeles/Orange County provides valuation and advisory services across a broad spectrum of property types, but specializes in right-of-way (ROW) appraisals. The firm has completed about 500 assignments annually for more than 100 regional and national clients.

READ ALSO: Net Lease Cap Rates Increase for 3rd Consecutive Quarter

With offices in Los Angeles and Irvine, Calif., the new teams will integrate with CBRE’s existing Valuation & Advisory Services (VAS) division. John Ellis and Beth Finestone are the principals of IRR-Los Angeles/Orange County and will continue to run operations in Southern California as executive vice presidents for CBRE.

Tom Edwards, global president of VAS for CBRE, said in a prepared statement that the new team is widely regarded as the leaders in ROW appraisal services in Southern California. Ellis added that ROW valuation has been a core part of IRR-Los Angeles/Orange County’s services since inception in 1996.

CBRE touted the acquisition as complementing its national VAS ROW practice, reportedly the largest of its kind in the United States. Previous additions to the practice included South Carolina–based Clontz Newkirk Real Estate Group in 2022 and a team from Seattle-based ABS Valuation in late 2021.

A bit of a trend

Gary DeClark, senior managing director & principal with Valbridge Property Advisors | Chicago Metro, told Commercial Property Executive that ROW work, “a common way of saying eminent domain work, makes for a very good inclusion to the array of a broad-based book of business in the valuation field.”

He added, however, that “there has been a hesitancy to participate in the past by big firms because ROW work usually involves some sort of litigation support activity. Big firms may shy away from this work due to the requirement for an appraiser’s depositions and testimony to be on the record. This record is added risk to the larger company for fear of inconsistencies across cases, litigants and jurisdictions.”

Nonetheless, DeClark continued, “Some big firms are moving into the ROW arena lately because their traditional valuation work brought about by sale transactions and mortgage lending is way down due to interest rate creep and reduced deal flow.”

The post CBRE Grows Valuation Footprint With SoCal Deal appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

1701 S. Lewis St. Image courtesy of JLL

Greenlaw Partners has purchased two distribution and warehouse facilities totaling 198,807 square feet in Anaheim, Calif., for $58 million. According to CommercialEdge data, the previous owner was Alden Global Capital. A JLL team negotiated on behalf of the seller.

Previously occupied by the Orange County Register, the neighboring assets at 1701 and 1771 S. Lewis St. were vacant at the time of sale.

READ ALSO: Industrial Sector to Maintain Winning Streak in 2023

Completed in 1977 and 1978, the buildings feature 30-foot clear heights and a two-level office build-out component, CommercialEdge shows. The 8.4-acre property also includes an 80- by 150-foot truck court and 230 car parking spaces.

The last-mile facilities are adjacent to Interstate 5, providing easy access to the larger Southern California freeway network as well as to Los Angeles International Airport, Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles. The 8 Union Pacific and BNSF intermodal rail yards are some 20 miles away.

JLL Senior Managing Director Mark Detmer, Managing Director Ryan Sitov, Senior Director Ryan Spradling and Associate Makenna Peter represented the seller.

A solid Orange County industrial investment

CommercialEdge data shows the Anaheim portfolio was the largest industrial property to change hands in Orange County since the beginning of the year. In 2022, the market’s industrial transactions totaled only $1.15 billion, way behind the sales recorded in Los Angeles metro ($5.1 billion) and the Inland Empire ($5 billion), according to a recent report from the same data provider.

Last year, Commercial Property Executive highlighted Greenlaw Partners for an intriguing commercial real estate deal. The company, along with Gardner Batt, sold an Amazon-leased industrial portfolio for $520 million. The properties in Utah and California totaled nearly 1.2 million square feet.

The post Greenlaw Partners Pays $58M for Orange County Industrial Portfolio appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Imperial Mariner. Image courtesy of JLL

Healthcare Property Advisors has purchased Imperial Mariner, a four-building medical office campus in Brea, Calif. JLL Capital Markets brokered the $80 million transaction on behalf the seller, AdelFi Credit Union, and procured the buyer. The firm also arranged a $44 million acquisition loan to back the deal, funded by Farmers & Merchants Bank.

AdelFi is among the tenants at the property—along with St. Jude Heritage Medical Group, NCH Management and Emart America— and will continue to reside at the campus under a short-term leaseback agreement. Imperial Mariner was 89 percent occupied at the time of the transaction.

JLL Managing Director John Chun, Associate Sam Godfrey and Director Anthony Sardo negotiated the financing on behalf of the borrower, while Chun, along with Senior Director Blake Bokosky, Senior Managing Director Louis Tomaselli and Analyst John Andreasen represented the seller in the transaction.

Medical office maintains lasting appeal

Constructed between 2002 and 2008, the 288,189-square-foot asset sits on a on a 17.4-acre site, zoned for additional medical office development or industrial redevelopment. In a prepared statement, Bokosky said that the brokerage is seeing heightened investor interest in high-quality, low-rise office properties in Orange County, with potential for alternative uses.

Located at 915–975 W. Imperial Highway and 950 Mariner St., Imperial Mariner offers connectivity to California State Route 57. The property is 20 miles from John Wayne Airport and less than two miles from downtown Brea, while Fullerton Commuter Rail and Buena Park Commuter Rail provide additional transit options.

Just last month, Buchanan Partners acquired Oakbrook Plaza, a 120,354-square-foot medical office conversion property in Laguna Hills, Calif.

The post Orange County Medical Office Asset Changes Hands for $80M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Oakbrook Plaza

Buchanan Partners has acquired Oakbrook Plaza, a 120,354-square-foot medical office conversion property in Laguna Hills, Calif. The Class A asset traded for $28.1 million. Angelo, Gordon & Co. sold the property, CommercialEdge data shows.

The same data provider shows the property last changed hands in 2016 when it was purchased for $30 million and in 2021 became subject to a $25.3 million loan, provided by FS Investments.

The Newmark team representing the seller in the transaction included Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon, Executive Managing Director Paul Jones and Director Brandon White.

The four-story property was initially completed in 1983, was then completely renovated in 2003 and underwent cosmetic renovation in 2015. The building offers 31,011 square foot floorplates and has 478 parking spaces. Currently, the facility is 30 percent leased to medical tenants, with overall occupancy at 66 percent. The property’s zoning allows for an increase in medical office space. The medical tenant roster includes South OC Endocrinology and Orange Coast Orthodontics, among others.

Oakbrook Plaza is located at 24422 Avenida De La Carlota, in South Orange County, 48 miles from Los Angeles, with close access to Interstate 5. Other medical facilities in the area include MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center less than one mile away and Providence Mission Hospital Mission Viejo. The property is 6.5 miles from Irvine Medical and Science Complex.

The Orange County medical office sector

According to CommercialEdge data, Orange County has a total of 419 medical office properties, in which 10 primary medical facilities are located in the Laguna Hills, adding a total of 653,690 square feet to the submarket’s inventory.

As for transaction activity, at the beginning of the year, Lionstone Investments acquired Newport Lido Medical Center. The company paid $125 million for the fully leased 146,510-square-foot building in Newport Beach, Calif. More recently, CBRE Investment Management, in partnership with Healthcare Realty Trust Inc., acquired a four-medical office portfolio, totaling 282,683 square feet, for the sale price of $134.8 million.

The post Buchanan Partners Pays $28M for Orange County MOB appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Imperial Distribution Center

Clarion Partners has signed a new lease at its Imperial Distribution Center, a 367,194-square-foot facility in Brea, Calif., bringing it to full occupancy. Knight-Swift Warehousing & Fulfillment will take on 126,681 square feet at the industrial property, intending to use the space for the expansion of its third-party logistics business. JLL worked on behalf of the future tenant, while Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord.

Completed in 2016, Imperial Distribution Center features a 36-foot clear height, ESFR systems, insulated ceilings and a two-story office build-out component, according to CommercialEdge data. The other tenant at the location, Worldpac, occupies some 240,000 square feet under a 10-year lease that was signed in 2017.

READ ALSO: Clarion’s Confer Sees Pent-Up Demand Driving Warehouse Occupancy

Situated on some 17 acres at 1225 W. Imperial Highway, the property is close to State Route 57, connecting it to Anaheim, Calif., and Santa Ana, Calif. The one-story concrete building is 25 miles from Ontario International Airport and within 27 miles of downtown Los Angeles.

JLL Vice President Garrett McClelland negotiated on behalf of Knight-Swift Warehousing & Fulfillment.

High rent growth, tight vacancy rates

According to a recent CommercialEdge report, Orange County ranked third for average in-place rent increases among the Southern California industrial markets on a year-over-year basis as of October. Rents were up by 7.6 percent, trailing the Inland Empire (11.6 percent) and Los Angeles (9.7 percent) but surpassing the national average increase of 6.2 percent. The area’s vacancy rate stood at 3.1 percent, below the national 4 percent average. In terms of year-to-date sale price, Orange County was the national leader, with $360 per square foot.

In one of the more significant leasing deals of the third quarter, TAE Technologies leased a 99,638-square-foot industrial facility that is under construction in Irvine, Calif. The Class A property is owned by LBA Logistics and is slated for completion in 2023.

The post Clarion Partners Signs New Orange County Lease appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Topping out ceremony of Helen Caloggero Women’s & Family Center. Image courtesy of PBM

PMB, in partnership with Providence St. Joseph Hospital, has topped out Helen Caloggero Women’s & Family Center in Orange, Calif. Harrison Street is the capital partner for this project, while Siemens and Capital One provided the financing.

PMB broke ground on the 137,000-square-foot medical office building in 2021. The development team includes Boulder Associates as project architect and Snyder Langston as general contractor. Completion is expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The four-story medical facility will house a mother and baby assessment center, maternal diabetes and wellness, pelvic health and rehabilitation, but also comprehensive imaging, urology, orthopedics and ophthalmology. Amenities will include conference and education rooms, a pharmacy, a retail Stork Shop and a Blue Bowl Superfoods outlet, as well as an underground parking garage. PBM Real Estate Services will serve as property manager, while PMB and Madison Marquette will oversee all leasing activity.

Located at 363 S. Main St. within the Providence St. Joseph Hospital campus, Helen Caloggero Women’s & Family Center is 1 mile from downtown Orange and 30 miles from Los Angeles. Other medical facilities and hospitals in the surrounding area include UCI Medical Center, Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center and Orange County Global Medical Center.

Medical offices in Orange County

Helen Caloggero Women’s & Family Center will be a welcome addition to Orange County’s medical office space inventory. According to CommercialEdge data, the county’s supply adds up to some 13.5 million square feet, with more than 1.6 million square feet located in Orange.

The county has seen 19 medical office buildings, totaling approximately 1.3 million square feet, change hands since the beginning of the year, the same data provider shows. In February, Lionstone Investment paid $125 million for Newport Lido Medical Center, a 146,510-square-foot property in Newport Beach, Calif.

More recently, CBRE Investment Management, in partnership with Healthcare Realty Trust, purchased a portfolio of four medical office buildings, totaling 282,683 square feet, in Mission Viejo, Calif. The assets sold for $134.8 million.

The post PMB Tops Out Orange County MOB appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

24411 Ridge Route Drive

A recently renovated creative office campus in South Orange County has changed hands. Kingsbarn Realty Capital and The Kelemen Co. have acquired HERE, a five-building, 223,974-square-foot property in Laguna Hills, Calif., for $63.8 million. The joint venture of Cigna Realty Investors and Cruzan sold the asset with the assistance of Newmark.

CommercialEdge data shows this was Kingsbarn’s sixth office acquisition in Orange County. In March, the Las Vegas-based firm purchased its fifth property in the market, paying $32 million for Stadium Crossings, a four-story, Class A building totaling 106,068 square feet in Anaheim, Calif.

A creative office campus

HERE’s buildings came online between 1988 and 1989 at 24411 and 24461 Ridge Route Drive, 23422, 23382 and 23332 Mill Creek Drive. The campus previously traded in 2015 for $46 million, CommercialEdge data shows.

The property underwent major capital improvements between 2015 and 2017, being repositioned as creative office space. Tenant amenities include a conference center, outdoor lounge and fitness area with showers and lockers, along with open-air patios. The campus features a parking ratio of four spaces per 1,000 square feet.

READ ALSO: Why Big Tech Is Realigning Office Portfolios

HERE was 84 percent leased at the time of sale. Tenants include Cisco Systems, Quest Software, Braille Institute and Markham Financial, among many others.

The property is roughly 6 miles from central Irvine and within a short distance of Interstate 5. The immediate area has various retail, shopping and dining venues, including the Moulton Plaza mall.

Newmark Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon and Director Brandon White, together with Executive Managing Directors Paul Jones and Brunson Howard, represented the sellers. Jones said, in a prepared statement, the fully repositioned campus offers the buyer optionality for its business plans, including pushing creative office rents, selling the individual buildings or even redeveloping the property into multifamily.

Orange County office space, at high value

As the hybrid work model continues to gain popularity, office properties in less dense urban areas, closer to housing, tend to be favored. Year-to-date through September, office sales in Orange County amounted to $1.2 billion, just slightly below the $1.3 billion that was recorded over the same period of last year, according to CommericalEdge data.

However, the amount of traded space shows office properties are getting more expensive—a total of 3.4 million square feet changed hands this year so far in Orange County, compared to last year’s 4.1 million square feet.

The post Kingsbarn JV Pays $64M for Orange County Office Campus appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

120 Vantis Drive. Image courtesy of Premier Workspaces

Premier Workspaces, an Irvine, Calif.-based flexible workplace solutions company, is the new manager of a 23,000-square-foot coworking space in Aliso Viejo, Calif. The Brookhollow Group is the owner of the 177,000-square-foot office building that includes the shared space.

The landlord picked up the Orange County asset at 120 Vantis Drive in 2017 in a $53.5 million deal, CommercialEdge data shows. The five-story property dates back to 2002.

Situated on the building’s third floor, the coworking space was previously managed by Encore Offices. The flex location encompasses 86 private offices and meeting rooms, as well as virtual office and mail services suitable for hybrid workers or bigger teams. Common-area amenities include a fitness center, equipped kitchen, high-speed internet and free parking. Bank of America Mortgage, American Select Funding, Safeco Insurance and Pixel Film Studios, among others, are the tenants of the building.

The property is within half a mile of California State Route 73, connecting it to Interstate 5, the main route between San Diego and Los Angeles. Several dining and retail options, including Trader Joe’s, CVS and Ralphs, are less than a mile from the property.

As one of the national leaders in the coworking market, Premier Workspaces’ portfolio includes more than 85 flex office locations across 13 states, most of them on the West Coast. California is among the states that are currently registering major flex office activity. Just last week, SOMO Group announced the opening of a new 24,000-square-foot coworking space in the San Francisco metropolitan area.

The post Premier Workspaces to Manage Orange County Coworking Space appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Pacific Center

Collectors Universe has expanded its lease at Drawbridge Realty‘s Pacific Center, a 392,879-square-foot office park in Santa Ana, Calif. The authentication and grading service company for owners of collectible items added 102,000 square feet to its local footprint and will occupy 286,636 square feet at the property. CBRE worked on behalf of the landlord while Savills represented the tenant.

This is Collectors Universe’s third expansion at Pacific Center since the Drawbridge purchased it in 2019 for $97.5 million from The Brookhollow Group, according to CommercialEdge. Located at 1600 and 1610 E. St. Andrew Place, the two-building campus includes retail space and 939 parking spots. The property is 3.1 miles from downtown Santa Ana, in an Opportunity Zone, and 5 miles from Orange’s Old Towne.

READ ALSO: Office Leasing Strategies for the New Landscape

Collectors Universe’s expansion at Pacific Center was possible because Drawbridge negotiated with Mr. Cooper, a loan servicing company, an early lease termination. The firm was looking to downsize its footprint before its lease term maturity in 2023.

CBRE Senior Vice President Ross Bourne and Vice Chairman Dave Desper worked on behalf of Drawbridge. Savills Executive Managing Directors Zev Holzman and Taylor Wood represented Collectors Universe.

Leasing opportunities

This is Drawbridge’s third long-term lease with a major tenant since the beginning of 2022. In the first quarter of this year, the firm inked a 15-year lease at the 1.4 million-square-foot Airport Technology Park in Salt Lake City; the new tenant, a medical diagnostic company, will occupy 230,000 square feet.

In June, Drawbridge signed a 15-year lease with semiconductor manufacturer onsemi at its Rose Orchard campus in San Jose, Calif. Onsemi will take over full occupancy of the 92,448-square-foot building at 150 Rose Orchard Way.

Earlier this year, Drawbridge entered the Dallas-Fort Worth market with the acquisition of HQ53, a 248,661-square-foot office property in Plano, Texas, that is fully leased to Aimbridge Hospitality. The acquisition was financed with a $84.9 million loan.

The post Drawbridge Secures 102 KSF Lease Expansion appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

9740 Irvine Blvd. Image courtesy of Kidder Mathews

TAE Technologies, a Foothill Ranch, Calif.,-based private fusion energy research company, is expanding its operations and leasing a 99,638-square-foot industrial property that is under construction in Irvine, Calif., from owner LBA Logistics.

The Class A building at 9740 Irvine Blvd. is expected to be completed in April 2023.

TAE, which is building a sixth-generation research reactor named Copernicus, plans to have 100 employees at the new facility. The company recently received an additional $250 million in funding toward its mission to develop and commercialize nuclear fusion, a safe and sustainable source of clean energy.

READ ALSO: Industrial Developers Tackle Construction Challenges

The development is part of the 26-acre industrial property near the intersection of Irvine Boulevard and Alton Parkway. It is one of the largest industrial properties in the Irvine Spectrum. It consists of two buildings totaling approximately 450,000 square feet and was previously occupied by Toshiba Corp. LBA Logistics acquired the property in 2016 and renovated the larger building at 9750 Irvine Blvd. A smaller two-story office building was demolished where the new 9740 Irvine Blvd. building is being constructed.

Kidder Mathews Vice President Oliver Ternate represented TAE in the lease. LBA Logistics, an Irvine-based national owner and operator of industrial real estate, was represented by Steve Wagner, Louis Tomaselli and Zach Niles from JLL.

LBA deals

Earlier this summer, LBA Logistics sold Westech Business Center I and II, a seven-building, 225,323-square-foot light industrial complex in Phoenix to Schnitzer Properties. The sale price for the two properties, built between 1985 and 1997, was $46.2 million, according to Maricopa County records.

In January, LBA Logistics acquired a new industrial building in the Imeson Park business park in Jacksonville, Fla., totaling more than 1 million square feet from VanTrust Real Estate. The property, located at 10501 Cold Storage Road and net leased to Amazon, sold for $103.5 million, according to Duval County Clerk of Courts records.

A year earlier in January 2021, LBA Logistics and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. recapitalized two industrial portfolios owned by LBA and totaling $1.6 billion of gross value. Blackstone REIT acquired an approximately 60 percent combined interest across the two portfolios and LBA’s investment fund and its investors retained the balance. The portfolios consist of 71 high-quality assets totaling 9.5 million square feet located primarily in last-mile locations in the Seattle and California markets.

The post LBA Logistics Inks Major Lease in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Westminster Mall

Shopoff Realty Investments has acquired an 11.9-acre parcel of Westminster Mall in Westminster, Calif., for $49 million from Macy’s. The buyer plans to redevelop the property, which included an operating department store and is now leased back to the seller.

Mavik Capital Management provided $20 million in financing for the Orange County acquisition, as well as Shopoff’s purchase of another 14.1-acre parcel of the same mall for $46.3 million, from Seritage Growth Properties in July 2022. Additional financing includes a loan for the property’s redevelopment from Hankey Capital, which also provided Shopoff with senior financing for the July purchase. Walker & Dunlop procured the senior debt, while Land Advisors Organization represented the buyer.

Located at 1025 Westminster Mall, the property, which was originally built in 1977, according to CommercialEdge data, has roughly 1.3 million square feet of retail on approximately 90 acres. Tenants include Target, JCPenney and Macy’s. The mall also has direct freeway access to Interstate 405 and is less than 10 miles northwest of Huntington State Beach, some 12 miles west of Irvine Business Complex and 13 miles east of the Port of Long Beach.

The post Shopoff Pays $49M for Orange County Macy’s Asset appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Mission Medical Center Tower. Image courtesy of CBRE Investment Management

CBRE Investment Management, working on behalf of a fund it manages, has partnered with Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. for the purchase of a four-building medical office portfolio totaling 282,683 square feet in Mission Viejo, Calif. The joint venture paid $134.8 million for the properties, Orange County records show.

The medical office buildings were previously owned by Healthcare Trust of America Inc. before its merger with HRT. HTA paid $150 million for the properties six years ago, according to CommercialEdge information.

The four buildings surrounding Mission Hospital came online between 1974 and 1985 and were recently updated. Mission Medical Center Buildings 1-3 at 27800 Medical Center Road and Mission Medical Center Tower at 26732 Crown Valley Parkway include pharmacies, upgraded lobbies, newly added gurney-sized elevators as well as updated landscaping and ample parking. Focusing on sustainability, the renovations also included the addition of HVAC roof systems and LED lights, as well as the use of recycled water in landscaping.

READ ALSO: New Platform to Invest Up to $300M in US Medical Facilities

Due to the sector’s performance during recent market cycles, CBRE IM plans to invest more in medical office properties nationwide, Sondra Wenger, head of Americas Commercial Operator Division of CBRE Investment Management, said in prepared remarks.

Investing in Orange County MOBs

During the first seven months of the year, 13 medical offices totaling 919,392 square feet traded across the Orange County market, according to CommercialEdge. The transactions averaged $307.20 per square foot, below the roughly $477 per square foot paid by CBRE IM.

One of the largest deals involved a two-building medical office complex totaling 146,510 square feet in Newport Beach, Calif. Lionstone Investments paid $125 million for the fully leased asset through an all-cash transaction.

In another notable transaction, Anchor Health Properties purchased Woodbridge Square Medical in Irvine, Calif., a property that was 94 percent leased at the time, according to a CBRE report. The Boureston Cos. sold the multi-tenant building for $27.6 million.

The post CBRE IM Pays $135M for Orange County MOBs appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Pacific Vista. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield

Prologis Inc., a name associated for decades with logistics real estate, has acquired Pacific Vista, a five-building, 322,262-square-foot, Class A office campus in Lake Forest, Calif., for $96 million. Cushman & Wakefield represented both parties in the off-market transaction.

The acquisition was described as a “long-term strategic play”; Prologis reportedly plans to continue operating the property as an office project.

The seller was not disclosed, but information provided to Commercial Property Executive by CommercialEdge indicates that the previous owner was Drawbridge Realty Trust.

READ ALSO: What to Expect From the Industrial Sector in 2022

The property’s five two-story office buildings cover 24 acres and are leased to seven long-term tenants. Completed in 2000, the buildings and are at 25500, 25510, 25520, 25530 and 25550 Commercentre Drive.

Cushman & Wakefield Executive Managing Director Jason Ward represented the buyer, and Cushman & Wakefield’s John Harty, with assistance from Jeffrey Cole, Nico Napolitano and Ed Hernandez, represented the seller.

“With its central location, Pacific Vista is a great addition to Prologis’ portfolio,” Ward said in a prepared statement.

Pacific Vista is situated in southern Orange County, convenient to major freeways including I-5, I405 and State Route 241.

Office into distribution

Interestingly, developers have been buying up underutilized office space in Orange County with the intent to redevelop it for distribution/logistics purposes, according to a fourth-quarter report from Kidder Mathews. In the quarter’s largest deal, Amazon purchased 275 Valencia in Brea, Calif., for $165 million with that plan in mind. Further, Rexford Industrial bought two office campuses for a total of $175 million for the same purpose.

Orange County’s office market saw some signs of recovery in late 2021, with more than 2.1 million square feet of leasing activity in the fourth quarter, Kidder Mathews reported.

Class A space in the South Orange County submarket has a 16.5 percent total availability, on an inventory of 10.6 million square feet. Direct net absorption in 2021 was a negative 226,000 square feet, also according to Kidder Mathews.

The post Prologis Buys SoCal Office Campus for $96M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

The Los Angeles metro area led development activity, with more than 9 million square feet of office space in the pipeline. The metro also saw the most deliveries so far this year, with more than 1.5 million square feet of office space completed between January and August.

The list below highlights the largest office properties underway across Southern California, based on CommercialEdge data.

5. Source: CommercialEdge

5. The Press, Orange County

Invesco Real Estate and SteelWave are redeveloping the former Los Angeles Times newsroom and printing plant in Costa Mesa into a creative office campus. The Press is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2022.

The more than 19-acre site at 1375 Sunflower Ave. will house 380,856 square feet of creative office space, around 52,000 square feet of retail and a 1-acre park featuring open-air coffee shops and art installations. The project will pay homage to its history through preserved elements of the original structure, including the canopies, monolithic concrete walls, steel frames and machine rooms.

Invesco and SteelWave purchased the property in 2017 for $65 million and broke ground on the development in 2019. Earlier this year, KKR provided more than $251.4 million in construction financing. The new loan retired a $117.2 million mortgage from Square Mile Capital Management originated in 2020.

The Press. Rendering courtesy of Newmark Knight Frank

4. 1472 Alton Parkway, Orange County

Edwards Lifesciences is expanding its headquarters in Irvine with the addition of a 479,000-square-foot development featuring office, lab and conference space. The four-story project is taking shape on 10 acres adjacent to the existing 32-acre campus near the intersection of Red Hill Avenue and Alton Parkway.

The $240 million project broke ground in 2019 and is expected to come online by the end of this year. Upon completion, the campus will accommodate around 4,000 employees. In addition to the ground-up development, Edwards also acquired a 52,000-square-foot building on the Santa Ana side of Alton Parkway, near Red Hill Avenue.

3. The Culver Studios, Los Angeles

Hackman Capital Partners started the redevelopment of the historic film and studio space in 2018. The company selected Gensler to design the revamp of the studio—originally built in 1918—while preserving its historic structures.

Upon completion, The Culver Studios will encompass a total of 720,850 square feet of space, featuring the mansion and bungalows, as well as five new buildings comprising 500,000-square feet of creative office space, and two new parking structures with more than 1,900 parking spaces.

Amazon Studios will occupy around 530,000 square feet at the refurbished property, including four of the five new office buildings, the mansion and bungalows. The property is slated for completion in the fourth quarter of 2021.

One Westside, Los Angeles (Hudson Pacific and Macerich; rendering by Gensler via Mayor Eric Garcetti/Twitter)

2. One Westside, Los Angeles

A joint venture of Hudson Pacific Properties and Macerich is transforming the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall in Los Angeles into a creative office space. The 680,000-square-foot redevelopment, located at 10800 W. Pico Blvd., will feature 584,000 square feet of office space, while 100,000 square feet will be retained to continue housing entertainment retail.

In 2019, Google signed a 14-year lease for the entire office component and will begin its lease term in 2022, when construction and build-out of the tenant improvements are expected to be completed. Wells Fargo Bank financed the project with a $414.6 million construction loan. The four-year loan is scheduled to mature in late 2023.

1. 801 Broadway, Los Angeles

The makeover of the 1.1 million-square-foot historic development is anticipated to breathe new life into downtown Los Angeles. Upon completion, the 14-story mixed-use building will feature 624,500 square feet of office space, 345,000 square feet of retail and 150 boutique hotel rooms.

Plans also include the transformation of the building’s rooftop into a public green space. The project, designed by Omgivning, is slated for completion in late 2021.

Broadbridge LLC, a joint venture of Continental Equities and Waterbridge Capital, acquired the building for more than $122 million in 2014. Later, in 2016, the partnership secured $165 million in financing from Jamestown for the redevelopment of the project. The note was retired by a $213 million mortgage provided by Starwood Property Trust in 2018, which was later expanded to $218.7 million.

Amid the pandemic, Waterbridge Capital and Continental Equities put development on hold and planned to sell the project. However, earlier this year Starwood Property Trust agreed to extend funding for the development until the end of the year, therefore the joint venture is moving forward with the project, the Commercial Observer reported.

The post Top 5 Office Projects Under Construction in Southern California appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Glen Bell Way. Image courtesy of Newmark

Skyline Group International has purchased a fully occupied three-building office/R&D campus in Irvine, Calif., in yet another example of the strong interest of private investors in the local office market. The Taiwan-based company acquired Glen Bell Way from LBA Realty, according to CommercialEdge data.

READ ALSO: Delta Variant Steers Return-to-Office Sentiment in NYC

Newmark’s Alex Foshay procured the buyer while Kevin Shannon, Paul Jones, Ken White, Brunson Howard and Brandon White represented the seller. LBA Realty also recently sold a mixed-use building in Emeryville, Calif., for $172.7 million.

According to CommercialEdge data, Glen Bell Way was built in 2001 on a nearly 13-acre site in Orange County’s Irvine Spectrum submarket. The office/R&D campus is made up of three buildings totaling 273,180 square feet, including the five-story office building 1 Glen Bell Way, the one-and-two story office/R&D headquarter building 3 Glen Bell Way and the four-story parking structure with 911 spaces 5 Glen Bell Way. The campus also includes 91,457 square feet of remaining entitlements that can be used for future expansions or more office space for 3 Glen Bell Way.

According to Newmark, the campus is 100 percent triple-net leased to Ford Motor Co. and Yum! Brands, which operates several popular fast-food chains like KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Jones, executive managing director at Newmark, told Commercial Property Executive that the two tenants combined have a seven-year weighted average lease term at Glen Bell Way.

More deals expected for Orange County

Shannon, Newmark’s co-head of U.S. Capital Markets, said in prepared remarks that private capital from both domestic and foreign companies has dominated the buyer landscape of the Orange County office market activity this year.

According to Newmark’s second-quarter report on the Orange County office market for 2021, touring and leasing activity have begun to pick back up as pandemic-related restrictions are easing and workers are returning to their offices. The report showed that the Orange County office market saw an average asking rent of $2.75 per square foot and had a vacancy rate of 15.4 percent for the second quarter of this year. Newmark expects deal activity to ramp up, along with absorption gains, in the second half of the year.

The post Skyline Group Acquires Orange County Office Campus appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Located at 1920 and 2010 Main St. within the Irvine Concourse master-planned business park, the property is less than a mile from Interstate 405 and roughly 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles. While most office buildings have suffered from a significant decrease in leasing activity since the beginning of the pandemic, Centerview welcomed more than 100,000 square feet of new leases in the last 12 months. New tenants included Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, and Rate Plus Inc.

The EMMES Group acquired the two-building property back in 2017 for $220 million and recently repositioned the asset. The overhaul called for full-building lobby renovations, significant exterior common area improvements, corridor and restrooms upgrades, along with the addition of tenant amenities (such as a 60-person conference center, a tenant lounge with a boardroom, kitchenette and communal seating, bike storage, as well as lockers and showers). Other upgrades comprised the addition of Tesla and EV chargers, an elevator modernization, cooling tower replacement, parking automation system upgrades and the completion of a new corner retail development. All these earned the property the BOMA Outstanding Building of the Year Award in 2019.

The post The EMMES Group Teams Up With Oaktree Capital Management appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Irvine Crossing. Image courtesy of CBRE

CBRE Global Investors has acquired Irvine Crossing, a mixed-use facility in Irvine, Calif., through one of its sponsored funds. According to public records filed in June, the property sold for $180.8 million. The seller was an affiliate of Menlo Equities, which has owned the asset since 2011, CommercialEdge data shows.

Irvine Crossing traded for roughly $456 per square foot, making it one of the most expensive assets sold in Orange County since the beginning of the year. The transaction exceeded the average $271 price per square foot recorded in the market as of May, the latest industrial CommercialEdge report shows.

Irvine Crossing’s value increased by roughly 284 percent, as it previously changed hands for $47 million in 2011 when Menlo Equities purchased it from Voit Real Estate Services.

The 393,673-square-foot facility comprises a powered shell data center operated by Cyxtera—which recently expanded in Santa Clara—and a last-mile delivery warehouse occupied by Amazon.

Property characteristics

The warehouse component totals 202,500 square feet and offers seven grade-level and 22 truck well doors, 22-foot clear height, skylights, ESFR sprinklers and HVAC climate control. The logistics building also features a parking ratio of 1.2 spaces per 1,000 square feet and includes an office component.

Cyxtera’s LAX3 data center is a carrier-neutral, Tier III-certified facility totaling 193,173 square feet, of which 115,000 square feet is raised floor space. The data center has 10 MW of critical power available, with UPS configurations available at N+1 for disaster recovery or 2N redundancy. The Energy Star-certified asset also features cooling redundancy of N+1 and offers connectivity to 16 unique network service providers.

Irvine Crossing entrance. Photo courtesy of CBRE

Irvine Crossing is situated on 21.6 acres within the Irvine Busines Complex, at 17871 Von Karman Ave. and 17836 Gillette Ave. The area is home to multiple other data center operators, fulfillment centers—including three other Amazon facilities—and provides immediate access to the Interstate 405/California State Route 55 interchange and John Wayne Airport.

Unstoppable demand

Demand for industrial space in Southern California continues to soar, as markets in the region reached some of the lowest vacancies in the nation, according to the same CommercialEdge report. As of May, Orange County’s industrial vacancy stood at 3.7 percent. Inland Empire’s vacancy at 2 percent remained the lowest in the country, while Los Angeles had a vacancy of 3.9 percent. Rental rates for industrial properties increased by 5.2 percent year-over-year in Orange County, as e-commerce coupled with record activity at the Port of Los Angeles is expected to continue to drive activity in the region.

Demand for data center space in Southern California also increased by the end of 2020, according to a recent North American data center report from CBRE. Secondary data center markets are slated to see increased activity this year, as hyperscale demand slowed down during the height of the pandemic, resulting in significant preleasing activity in the second half of last year, the report shows.

The post CBRE Global Investors Buys Orange County Facility for $181M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Goodman Logistics Center Fullerton. Image courtesy of Goodman Group

Goodman Group has begun development of a four-building, 1.5 million-square-foot logistics campus in Orange County, Calif.

READ ALSO: Post-Pandemic Comeback Predicted for CRE

Goodman Logistics Center Fullerton, with an address of 2099 Orangethorpe Ave. (for Building 2), Fullerton, is scheduled to open in the spring of 2022.

The 65-acre site is 30 minutes from Los Angeles International Airport, 20 minutes from the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, and less than one mile from the 91 and 57 freeways. Goodman stated that the location enables same-day delivery to more than 20 million consumers.

The three largest buildings within the campus will measure 336,968, 538,226 and 487,036 square feet, and will have 40-clear heights, while the smallest, of 173,825 square feet, will have a 36-foot clear height. All will feature 185-foot truck courts, cross-dock configuration and generous trailer parking, and all will support advanced warehousing automation systems.

Goodman has committed to recycling 95 percent of the materials from the existing building on the site (a manufacturing plant operated by a large paper-products company since 1956) to be used as part of the new construction.

Goodman Logistics Center Fullerton is intended to be LEED certified and will include such sustainable design features as electric vehicle charging stations, motion-activated lighting and a solar-ready roofing system.

Seizing opportunity

Early last year, Goodman Group and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board expanded their U.S. logistics partnership, committing an additional $2.5 billion of equity, for a total equity commitment of $5.5 billion.

The Los Angeles industrial space market has remained resilient, driven by falling unemployment in Los Angeles County and the strongest February on record for the area’s ports, according to a first-quarter report from Kidder Mathews. Industrial demand has continued to exceed supply, leading to predictions of annual rent growth of about 5 to 6 percent.

The Mid-Cities region has an average total vacancy of just 2.8 percent, on an inventory of 115.9 million square feet, also according to Kidder Mathews.

The post Goodman Group Breaks Ground on 1.5 MSF Logistics Campus appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Freeway Corporate Park. Image courtesy of BH Properties

BH Properties has acquired Freeway Corporate Park, a two-building office campus in Santa Ana, Calif. TA Realty sold the 128,266-square-foot property for $21 million.

READ ALSO: Sizing Up the Cost of Office Fit Outs

According to CommercialEdge data, TA Realty bought the Class B property in 2015 for $24 million.

Freeway Corporate Park occupies more than 6 acres at 2501 Pullman St. and 1700 E. Carnegie Ave. Completed in 1987, the two-story buildings are connected by a skywalk and were renovated in 2002. Improvements included the activation of common area patios, as well as upgrades to the HVAC system, among others.

The office campus is less than 2 miles from Tustin Legacy within the Irvine Business Complex, a section of the Airport Area submarket. The property is roughly 1 mile from another Class B office campus that has recently landed an $82.5 million refinancing loan.

Newmark arranged the deal on behalf of the seller, while Colliers represented the buyer.

The Newmark team representing TA Realty included Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon and Senior Associate Brandon White, as well as Executive Managing Directors Paul Jones and Brunson Howard. Colliers Executive Vice President Bob Caudill negotiated the deal on behalf of BH Properties.

Re-energized leasing activity

The property was 56 percent leased at the time of sale, having Iteris and Orange County Head Start on the tenant roster. In a prepared statement, Jones said that the new owner will capitalize on the metro’s re-energized leasing activity for low-rise office assets.

The average vacancy rate for Orange County Class B office properties stood at 13.5 percent in the first quarter of 2021, according to a recent JLL report, marking an uptick of 50 basis points from the previous quarter.  

Orange County office investments

Since the beginning of the year, five office properties totaling some 552,000 square feet have changed hands in Orange County for an aggregate $121.5 million, CommercialEdge data shows. Two of the five deals closed in the Irvine Business Complex.

In one of the larger transactions, Harbor Associates and Singerman Real Estate paid $92 million to acquire the Summit IV office campus in Aliso Viejo, Calif., in March. The Class A property had previously traded in 2015 for $108.1 million.

The post BH Properties Buys Orange County Office Campus appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Newport Harbor Medical Plaza. Image courtesy of Newmark

In a $41 million deal, Shaoulian Cardiology, through its Advanced Medical Properties LLC, has sold Newport Harbor Medical Plaza in Newport Beach, Calif.

According to county records, the buyer of the medical office is Forward Time Corp., which acquired the property through a 1031 exchange. The sale was subject to a $12 million loan held by East West Bank, records show.

Anchor Pacific Capital represented the buyer in the transaction, while a Newmark team represented Advanced Medical Properties. Newmark also negotiated the lease agreement in 2020, when the building was completed. According to CommercialEdge data, the developer took a $20.1 million construction loan originated by Thorofare Capital in 2019.

The Class A, 29,991-square-foot office building is located at 330 Old Newport Blvd. The three-story building features floorplates between 13,426 and 14,929 square feet and benefits from a glass curtain wall system and outdoor deck areas. Newport Harbor Medical Plaza is situated across the street from Hoag Hospital and benefits from immediate access to State Route 55 and Pacific Coast Highway.

Keck Medicine of University of Southern California is the sole tenant of the property. The health-care provider plans to use the space as a cancer treatment center, while also hoping to offer clinical trials at the site, a Keck Medicine spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive. The first floor will house a USC Norris-licensed clinic comprising 24 exam rooms and on-site lab and compounding chemotherapy pharmacy. The second floor will be a USC Norris-licensed treatment center with 32 semi-private infusion chairs and two private infusion rooms.

Keck Medicine of USC also operates a cancer treatment facility at 300 Old Newport Blvd., just down the street from Newport Harbor Medical Plaza.

Record-breaking price

The property traded at approximately $1,367 per square foot, which sets a record for the Orange County medical office market, according to Newmark. CommercialEdge data indicates that there have been three medical office sales in the market since April last year, trading at prices per square foot ranging from $404 to $676. Recently, Meridian sold a 57,573-square-foot medical office building in Laguna Hills, Calif., for $31.3 million.

The post Orange County MOB Trades for $41M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Innovation Office Park. Rendering courtesy of Irvine Co.

Irvine Co. has opened the first phase of the 1.1 million-square-foot Innovation Office Park in Irvine, Calif., consisting of eight buildings totaling just under 300,000 square feet.

Construction on the campus, a first-of-its-kind open-air office village, started in 2019, with a focus on outdoor amenities, health and wellness. Upon completion, the project will comprise 28 low-rise creative office buildings.

READ ALSO: The Power of a Balanced Portfolio: Q&A

Irvine’s Planning Commission agreed to the developer’s plans in August 2019, according to the Orange County Register. The office park is situated just off Interstate 5, adjacent to the Irvine Spectrum business and entertainment complex and about 9 miles from Irvine’s central business district.

The first phase comprises four buildings of 20,000 square feet, two buildings of 44,000 square feet and two buildings of 64,000 square feet. Floorplates range from 10,000 to 32,000 square feet, with individual suites starting from 2,000 square feet. The office campus will include features such as a 17,000-square-foot amenity building, outdoor workspaces, dining and fitness centers and 120 EV charging stations.

Health-focused flex space

Amenity building interior. Rendering courtesy of Irvine Co.

Irvine Co. consulted with UCI Health for a review of the company’s workspace health policies, which include new cleaning regimens, touchless entries, hand sanitizing stations, ventilation optimization and other adjustments appropriate for the current context. Innovation Office Park will feature MERV-13 air filtration, energy-efficient skylights and a Viracon glass window system.

Innovation Office Park will benefit from Irvine Co.’s Flex Workspace+ program that was launched in 2019. The office solution offers turnkey workspaces with short-term leases starting at six months. Potential tenants already expressed interest in the project, as vaccination rollouts continue and companies look towards a return to the office, according to a prepared statement by Irvine Co. Executive Vice President Steve Case.

Slow but steady recovery

Orange County’s office availability reached 21.6 percent in the first quarter of 2021, according to a Savills report, up 150 basis points from the previous quarter. Leasing activity increased to 1.5 million square feet, mostly due to Anduril Industries’ 630,000-square-foot lease in Costa Mesa, Calif. Economic growth is expected in the second half of the year, but the office market might recover at a slower pace than expected, the same report shows.   

Despite the pandemic, Irvine Co. carried on with construction activity in Irvine, completing upwards of 414,000 square feet of office space since last year, according to CommercialEdge data. The company ranks among California’s top office owners, with over 24 million square feet across the Los Angeles and Orange County areas.

The post Orange County’s 1st Open-Air Office Village Debuts appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

The Laguna. Image courtesy of Meridian

Meridian has sold The Laguna, a 57,573-square-foot medical office building in Laguna Hills, Calif., for $31.3 million. The buyer was Healthcare Realty Trust, public records show. JLL assisted the seller in the disposition.

“The Laguna was Meridian’s first acquisition in Orange County, and it opened the door to other local opportunities. Meridian has since acquired a 55,000-square-foot medical office building in the South Coast market of Santa Ana in addition to a 110,000-square-foot medical office conversion project that is currently under construction in the Irvine Spectrum,” R.J. Sommerdyke, vice president of acquisitions with Meridian, told Commercial Property Executive.

Meridian had bought the Class B asset in 2017 from Greenlaw Partners for $19.9 million, also taking out a $16.6 million loan from MUFG Bank, according to CommercialEdge data. Following the purchase, the firm invested more than $2 million into the property, bringing it to Class A standards, Sommerdyke said in prepared remarks. 

Located at 24022 Calle de la Plata, part of the Memorial Care Saddleback Medical Center campus, the five-story building features 12,300-square-foot floorplates and ground-floor retail. The medical facility is leased to a diverse mix of health-care providers. Anchor tenants include South Coast Eye Center, Pacific Cardiovascular Associates, Pacific Hills Surgery Center and Simon Imaging, the seller confirmed for CPE.

The property is some 2 miles north of downtown Laguna Hills, just south of Interstate 5. The location is across from Laguna Hills Mall and Oakbrook Village, with many other shopping venues nearby.

JLL Managing Directors Evan Kovac and Andrew Milne represented Meridian in the deal. The brokerage duo was recently part of a team assisting Virtus Real Estate Capital and its joint-venture partner in the sale of a 47,600-square-foot medical office building in San Diego.

A growing medical office portfolio

For its Santa Ana property, Meridian secured a large health-care provider as tenant for 50 percent of the building during escrow. As for the Irvine property, Meridian is currently adding a three-level parking structure, necessary for medical occupancy. Leasing is also underway.

Meridian intends to remain bullish on the medical office sector: “There is a lack of quality medical office space in the market and rising construction costs are putting pressure on the viability of new development. As a result, we will continue to look for conversion opportunities where we can acquire buildings at a fraction of replacement cost and pass those savings along to our tenants,” Sommerdyke concluded.

Meridian CEO John Pollock said, in a prepared statement, that the company has approximately 500,000 square feet in development/redevelopment, with another 500,000 square feet in the pipeline. The company’s acquisition interests lie in California, the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest.

The post Meridian Sells Orange County MOB appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

100 Bayview. Photo courtesy of Granite Properties

Industrious has partnered with Granite Properties to open its first flexible workspace in Newport Beach, Calif. The coworking firm signed a lease for 53,478 square feet across an entire floor at Granite’s 100 Bayview building.

Dubbed Industrious Newport Beach, the space is set to open in May. The deal is part of an ongoing partnership between Industrious and Granite that began in November 2020.

READ ALSO: Office Occupancy Inches Up Across US, Kastle Finds

Granite Properties bought 100 Bayview for $125.7 million back in 2018, according to CommercialEdge data. The six-story, Class A office building is situated at 100 Bayview Circle, within the Bayview Corporate Center mixed-use campus. The building was originally constructed in 1991 and received a cosmetic renovation following Granite’s acquisition. Current tenants include Green Street Advisors, WeWork and LDC Advisors, among others.

The 346,335-square-foot property offers floorplates of 60,000 square feet and includes a 4,000-square-foot retail component. Industrious Newport Beach will comprise 104 private offices and suites, 19 conference rooms, a café, a wellness room, an outdoor lounge and a fitness center. The office has a parking ratio of 4/1,000 and other amenities include EV charging stations and a complementary bike program.

Industrious Newport Beach is near several key transit routes—freeways 55, 73 and Interstate 405 are all within 5 miles, as is John Wayne Airport and multiple public transportation points. Cycling and hiking trails are available nearby, along with a variety of shopping and dining destinations.

The new location marks Industrious’ fifth such workspace in Orange County. In California, the company has a total footprint of more than 700,000 square feet. In February, CBRE announced plans to buy a 40 percent stake in Industrious in a $200 million deal. The brokerage giant will become the largest shareholder in Industrious, which it plans to merge with Hana, CBRE’s own flexible office platform.

The post Industrious, Granite to Open First Newport Beach Office appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Summit IV. Image courtesy of Harbor Associates

Harbor Associates and Singerman Real Estate have acquired the Summit IV office campus in Aliso Viejo, Calif., in an off-market transaction.

The two-building, 297,277-square-foot asset changed hands for $92 million, according to Commercial Real Estate Direct. CommercialEdge information shows the previous owner was Invesco Real Estate, which had purchased the Class A property in 2015 for $108.1 million.

READ ALSO: Office Occupancy Inches Up Across US, Kastle Finds

Situated on nearly 9 acres at 15 and 25 Enterprise, the asset is part of Summit Office Campus, a master-planned development comprising 1.7 million square feet of office space across eight buildings. Five of the buildings, located at 65, 75, 85, 95 and 101 Enterprise, traded in 2018 for $157 million.

Summit IV encompasses two five-story buildings completed in 2001 and most recently renovated in 2018. According to Harbor Associates, the LEED Gold- and Silver-certified assets were 80 percent leased at the time of purchase. Notable tenants include Carrington Mortgage Services, Metagenics and Anchor Capital.

The new owner plans to immediately start renovating the campus, with the intent of incorporating more health and wellness elements, as well as other on-site lifestyle amenities. Interior improvements will focus on the creation of a new lobby and move-in ready suites, among others.

The office campus is less than 2 miles north of downtown Aliso Viejo, just south of California State Route 73. Various shopping and dining options are less than 1 mile away, alongside Aliso Creek Road. The location is less than 1 mile west of 4 and 5 Polaris Way, another former Invesco property, recently refinanced in a $149 million portfolio deal.

A big deal

The transaction is one of the biggest office deals closed in Orange County this year. According to CommercialEdge information, another 16 office properties have changed hands since January, the largest one being a 27,567-square-foot asset in Irvine, which traded for $8 million.

Singerman Real Estate Principal Kiley Carter said in a prepared statement that the purchase marks the firm’s 12th investment in Southern California, across different asset classes. One of the investments is a 160,980-square-foot life science/R&D office campus in Thousand Oaks, Calif., that Singerman acquired in a partnership with HATCHspaces.

The post Harbor Associates JV Pays $92M for Orange County Campus appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Orange County Business Center

Walton Street Capital has received an $82.5 million loan to refinance Orange County Business Center, a five-building office property totaling some 435,000 square feet in Santa Ana, Calif., according to public records. Natixis provided the floating-rate financing for the Class B asset.

Walton Street acquired the office campus in 2018 for $73.3 million and CommercialEdge data shows the buyer financed the purchase with a $61.5 million loan from Bank of America. The seller was PS Business Parks.

READ ALSO: Defense Firm Signs Record Orange County Office Lease

Completed in 1986, the asset comprises five two-story buildings with floor plans of up to 80,000 square feet. A various mix of tenants populates the office park’s roster, including Varys, MedXM and Orange County Environmental Health Division.

Orange County Business Center occupies nearly 23 acres at 1221-1261 E. Dyer Road. The property is roughly 4 miles south of downtown Santa Ana, just west of Costa Mesa Freeway and 2 miles north of Interstate 405.

A rare refi

Large single-asset office refinancing deals have been few and far in between in Orange County during the past couple of quarters. According to CommercialEdge, Irvine Co. refinanced its loan on 620 Newport Center Drive in Newport Beach, located some 8 miles south of Orange County Business Center, last November. Irvine Co.’s new loan on the 237,000-square-foot Newport Beach property amounts to $95 million, held by Prudential Financial.

Last November, Drawbridge Realty Trust also took out a nearly $149 million refinancing loan for four Southern California properties, two of them in Orange County—4 and 5 Polaris Way in Aliso Viejo—as well as an asset in Austin, Texas.

The post Walton Street Capital Lands $83M for Orange County Campus appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa. Image courtesy of Werner Segarra Photography

Eagle Four Partners LLC and Lyon Living have acquired the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa in Newport, Beach, Calif., in an off-market transaction. Host Hotels & Resorts reported in an SEC document that it sold the 532-key coastal asset to the joint venture for $216 million, including $14 million for the FF&E replacement funds.

READ ALSO: Hotel Development Pipeline to Slow: HVS

“It was an opportunity that we had to seize given the current environment,” Kory Kramer, a partner with Eagle Four Partners LLC, told Commercial Property Executive of the pandemic-era purchase of the Newport Beach Marriott. Eagle Four relied on the CBRE Hotels team of Bob Webster and Michael DiPrima, with whom the company has a years-long relationship, to facilitate the transaction with Host, which also utilized the CBRE Hotels team’s advisory services.

Located on 10 acres at 900 Newport Center Drive, the Newport Beach Marriott offers such amenities as roughly 40,000 square feet of premier indoor and outdoor event space and a location just across from the 1.3 million-square-foot Fashion Island luxury shopping destination. The 16-story hotel welcomed its first guests in 1975 and has since maintained its luster through a series of renovations, including an approximately $70 million upgrade in 2005 that produced 20 additional suites and the 14,000-square-foot Pure Blu spa.

Eagle Four and Lyon Living have their own plan for the Newport Beach Marriott, a project Kramer described as a “transformative renovation and repositioning of this beautiful property.” The owners expect to commence the renovation in 2021, with the goal of further elevating the status of the hotel in an effort to appeal to higher-rated business and leisure guests, as well as the local coastal luxury market’s meetings and events crowd.  

Preparing for a rebound

Eagle Four and Lyon Living are not alone in their assumption that the recovery of the hotel sector—including convention and group travel demand—will occur in the not-too-distant future. According to an October report by CBRE Hotels, “Given the short-term nature of travel restrictions and relatively strong economic recovery we’re predicting, we expect a quicker and stronger bounce back from this recession than the lodging industry experienced following the Global Financial Crisis, with occupancy reaching pre-COVID-19 levels in 2023.”

The post Newport Beach Marriott Trades for $216M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

1210 N. Red Gum St. Image courtesy of JLL

Rexford Industrial Realty has signed a lease with Elbi of America for a 64,570-square-foot industrial building in Anaheim, Calif. The tenant plans to expand and relocate from Brea, Calif., where it leased 20,000 square feet for the past 20 years. Elbi is slated to use the new space for light manufacturing and distribution of its water storage and treatment systems.

Rexford recently completed upgrades to the dock-high building, including new offices, restrooms and an improved fire sprinkler system. The facility also features above standard power. According to Yardi Matrix, Rexford acquired the property in 2015. The asset traded for $7.6 million.

Located at 1210 N. Red Gum St., on roughly 3 acres, the asset is 7 miles from Interstate 5. The facility is situated 4 miles from downtown Anaheim and 8 miles from Fullerton Municipal Airport.

JLL Vice President Garrett McClelland represented the landlord, while Karl Heim of First Team Commercial assisted Elbi. Recently, another JLL team arranged the sale of a 205,500-square-foot industrial asset in Atlanta. The property traded for $21.7 million.

The post Rexford Welcomes New Tenant at Orange County Facility appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Amos Bracero, Senior Vice President, Kidder Mathews. Image courtesy of Kidder Mathews

Kidder Mathews has appointed Amos Bracero as senior vice president, in which role he will lead property management services for the firm’s Orange County and the Greater Los Angeles markets. His responsibilities include overseeing the firm’s property management teams, managing select client assets and client development and support.

Bracero has 25 years of commercial property management experience, including managing a portfolio that grew from 13 to 130 properties in 30 states and overseeing more than 5 million square feet of Class A industrial space in Southern California. Bracero previously served as property manager at California Commercial Real Estate Services, where he opened three Class A healthcare centers for Orange County’s Hoag Hospital and managed a medical office portfolio.

Prior to that, he was vice president and group manager of property management for JLL’s Southwest region. Bracero has also held positions with CBRE, Thompson National Properties and Grubb & Ellis. During his time at value-add investment and asset management firm Thompson National, Bracero oversaw a 19-million-square-foot national portfolio consisting of office, industrial, and retail assets.

In June, Kidder Mathews represented manufacturing equipment distributor Toolots Inc. in a full-building industrial lease deal in Moreno Valley, Calif. KKR owns the 436,350-square-foot property.

The post Kidder Mathews Adds Property Management Exec appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Pacifica Court. Image courtesy of Meridian

Meridian and Harrison Street have purchased Pacifica Court, a 110,400-square-foot office building in Irvine, Calif., for $43 million, public records show. The partners plan to convert the asset into a Class A medical office building and rename it as Pacifica Medical Plaza. According to Yardi Matrix data, BlackRock sold the property after 14 years of ownership. CBRE negotiated the deal on behalf of the seller, while the joint venture was self-represented.

“Meridian identified a unique opportunity to convert a general office to medical office in one of the tightest medical office markets in Southern California. The market has extremely high barriers to entry due to lack of developable parcels as well as much of the existing product being controlled and governed by the Irvine Co.,” Meridian CEO John Pollock told Commercial Property Executive.

READ ALSO: Repositioning Commercial Buildings Into Life Science Facilities

Situated on 4.8 acres at 114 Pacifica Ct., the four-story building was completed in 1999 and features 28,200-square-foot floorplates and a parking ratio of 4 spaces per 1,000 square feet. The LEED Gold-certified property was 60 percent occupied at the time of sale, according to Meridian Vice President of Acquisitions R.J. Sommerdyke.

Upcoming improvements

Sommerdyke said in a prepared statement that Meridian intends to build a three-level parking structure on-site, which will bring the property’s parking ratio to 5.55 per 1,000 square feet. The new ownership will also renovate common areas and upgrade the building’s systems in order to accommodate medical office uses. Improvements are slated for completion in the third quarter of 2021. Colliers Senior Vice President John Wadsworth and First Vice President Aaron Phillips will handle leasing at the converted property.

Pacifica Court is 5 miles southeast of the city center in the Irvine Spectrum neighborhood, adjacent to Laguna Freeway and close to Interstate 5. Hoag Hospital Irvine and Kaiser Permanente Orange County – Irvine Medical Center are both 2 miles from the future medical office building.

CBRE Executive Vice Presidents Anthony DeLorenzo and Todd Tydlaska represented the seller in the transaction. Earlier this year, DeLorenzo was also part of the brokerage team assisting the seller in the $38.4 million disposition of a 56,809-square-foot medical office building in Santa Ana, Calif.

The post Harrison Street JV Buys Orange County Asset for MOB Conversion appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Moulton Plaza

ValueRock has selected Newmark Knight Frank to lease its roughly 2.2 million-square-foot retail portfolio spread across Orange County. Vice Chairman Bill Bauman, Executive Managing Director Bryan Norcott and Senior Managing Director Mark Baziak will oversee the space.

The portfolio comprises five properties, as follows:

• Located at 26501 Aliso Creek Road in Aliso Viejo, Calif., the proposed 1.9 million-square-foot mixed-use The Commons at Aliso Viejo includes more than 200,000 square feet of immediately available space
• Moulton Plaza is situated at 23535-23601 Moulton Parkway in Laguna Hills, Calif., and consists of 155,000-square-feet of repositioned space
• Lake Forest Gateway is a fully redeveloped retail center comprising 77,855 square feet at 23600 Rockfield Blvd. in Lake Forest, Calif.
• Situated at 501 E. First St. in Tustin, Calif., Larwin Square included 41,400 square feet of anchor space
• Valley View Center includes 45,345-square feet of space at 17474-17568 Yorba Linda Blvd. in Yorba Linda, Calif.

According to a recent second-quarter NKF report, Orange County saw a 30-basis point increase year-over-year in total vacancy, to 4.1 percent, as a result of negative absorption. Meanwhile, average asking rates increased 6.2 percent across all retail types. At the national level, retail and food services experienced a 1.2 percent sales increase in July compared to the previous month, U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly retail sales report shows.

The post Newmark Knight Frank to Lease 2.2 MSF Orange County Portfolio appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

(Left to right) James Malone, Xavier Nolasco, Michael Freiberg. Image courtesy of JLL

JLL has added three brokers to its ranks in two of its Southern California offices.

James Malone and Michael Freiberg have joined as executive vice presidents in Los Angeles, while Xavier Nolasco was hired as vice president in the company’s Orange County office. 

With 20 years of brokerage, agency leasing, corporate services, real estate development and law experience, Malone will be based in the company’s downtown Los Angeles office and in his new role, will focus on partnering with JLL’s tenant representation and agency leasing brokers. Malone previously worked at the company from 2003 to 2013 as senior vice president and national director.

Previously serving as a senior managing director at a national commercial real estate brokerage company, Freiberg brings nearly 30 years of experience in representing tenants in the Los Angeles area. During his career, he represented high-profile West Los Angeles tenants in the entertainment fields and in other leading industries. At JLL, he will grow the company’s tenant representation brokerage business.

Nolasco joins JLL from CBRE, where he served as a senior associate for nearly six years. He specializes in industrial and flex properties in the Orange County area. Nolasco began his brokerage career in 2012 and since then, he has worked with investors, property owners, owner-users, tenants and real estate professionals and completed more than 250 sales and leasing transactions. He will work with JLL’s Steve Wagner and Zach Niles to represent owners and occupiers in the leasing and sales of industrial properties throughout Orange County.

More recently, JLL expanded its Houston team by adding Lonna Jenks as vice president of the tenant representation team.

The post JLL Hires 3 in Southern California appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

2700-2722 S. Fairview St. Image courtesy of JLL

As the COVID-19 pandemic has created new demand for masks, MaxCare Products signed a lease for a manufacturing and distribution facility in Santa Ana, Calif. MaxCare will occupy 58,802 square feet at Rexford Industrial’s 116,575-square-foot property, where the company will manufacture and distribute masks, personal protective equipment and other medical supplies.

READ ALSO: Rexford Expands SoCal Industrial Footprint

MaxCare was represented by JLL’s Steffan Morris, Byron Foss, Wade Tift and Nick Carey, while Rexford Industrial was represented by JLL’s Steve Wagner, Louis Tomaselli and Zach Niles. Wagner told Commercial Property Executive that MaxCare signed a five-year lease and will be joining the existing tenant, electronics manufacturer ParPro, to bring the building to full occupancy.  

Built in 1964 and renovated in 1984, the facility at 2700-2722 S. Fairview St. offers 16- to 18-foot ceilings and two dock-high loading positions. Wagner told CPE that the property also offers 127 car parking spaces with an option to expand, as well as a large secured yard where tenants can park trailers, if needed.

Rexford has recently expanded its portfolio that’s focused exclusively on industrial properties in infill neighborhoods throughout Southern California. Earlier this month, the REIT purchased a collection of five properties spread throughout Greater Los Angeles for $73.2 million.

High Demand for Manufacturing Space

Wagner said in his prepared remarks that the COVID-19 pandemic has created more demand from medical supply companies that are looking for closer locations to their customer base. He added in his prepared statement that demand for manufacturing and last-mile space in Orange County remained strong.

”There have been a number of requirements in Orange County for groups getting into the PPE market, hand sanitizers, face masks, etc.,” Wagner told CPE. “Orange County, particularly South County and the Airport Area, have long been home to a number of medical device firms and a number of them have recently expanded and have requirements in the market not related to PPE.”

Outside of Orange County, medical companies have also been signing leases to expand existing operations for manufacturing personal protective equipment. In April, TwinMed signed a 189,721-square-foot lease for a newly constructed building in Bethlehem, Pa., to consolidate and expand its nearby operations.

The post PPE Producer Expands Operations in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

READ ALSO: Lowe Adds National Retail Redevelopment Platform

The district is intended to be sustainable and transit-oriented and is scheduled to open in 2024. Plans are for it to be fully completed in time for the 2028 Olympics, when the Honda Center will host indoor volleyball.

ocV!BE will be structured in part around three public plazas adjoining the Honda Center. A more than 3-acre urban park to the west will be surrounded by a new 6,000-capacity concert venue, a 68,000-square-foot food hall and a landscaped boulevard, the Paseo, featuring retail and dining opportunities. A southern-facing plaza will have elevated walkways providing access to dining options. The northern plaza will feature a collection of smaller club-style venues.

In addition to the plazas, ocV!BE will include 20 acres of urban parks, among them a 5-acre riverfront park for community gatherings and special events, as well as 3 miles of trails.

Other elements of the project include two new hotels totaling 650 guestrooms, a 325,000-square-foot office tower and 2,800 apartment units, 15 percent of which will be affordable housing. The apartments will be built in the northeast part of the overall site, along the Santa Ana River. The office tower and other new and existing office buildings will bring the district’s office space total to more than 825,000 square feet.

Transportation, within and outside

A network of pedestrian bridges and walkways will include a bridge over Katella Avenue, which divides roughly the southern one-third of the site from the remainder. In that southern end of ocV!BE is an existing transit center, ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center), which connects Metrolink and Amtrak trains with buses operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority, Anaheim Resort Transportation, Greyhound, Megabus and Flixbus. The development evidently will be enabled in large part by the conversion of acres of surface parking around the Honda Center into structured parking.

The development reportedly will create 3,300 permanent jobs and generate more than $400 million in ongoing annual economic benefit. Michael Schulman, managing director of the Samueli Family office, will be executive chairman of the newly created ocV!BE Sports & Entertainment LLC, which will manage the district’s development and operation.

A 2018 agreement between the City of Anaheim and Anaheim Ducks ownership extended the team’s commitment to Anaheim for up to an additional 50 years. This in turn led to a series of private acquisitions by ownership, leading to control of 115 acres surrounding the Honda Center.

The post Major Mixed-Use, Entertainment District to Rise in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

721 W. First St. Image courtesy of CBRE

CBRE has brokered the $8.4 million sale of a 11,499-square-foot medical office building in Tustin, Calif. The firm’s Ian Schroeder, Melissa Ley and Allison McDuffie assisted the seller, CREST Properties. The buyer purchased the property through a 1031 exchange. According to PropertyShark, the asset last traded in 2015 for $7.5 million.

Situated on 1.6 acres at 721 W. First St., the property is fully leased to DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. The tenant uses the space for a chronic dialysis clinic with 25 stations. According to Schroeder, the property also includes a fully entitled 6,000-square-foot medical office site.

The building is less than a mile from the city center, near Freeway 55, in the Old Town neighborhood. The property is included in the Downtown Commercial Core Specific Plan, which aims to strengthen the area’s businesses by attracting patrons through shopping, dining and entertainment. There are eight hospitals and medical centers within a 3-mile radius.

Earlier this month, another CBRE team arranged the sale of a 129,590-square-foot medical office building in St. Louis. The brokerage firm represented the seller in the deal.

If you’d like to be featured in Brokers’ Corner, simply fill in our short form or send your deal to deals@cpe-mhn.com.

The post CBRE Arranges Orange County MOB Sale appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Intersect. Image courtesy of JLL

Hines and its joint venture partner, a global investment management firm, have refinanced Intersect, a 450,000-square-foot office campus in Irvine, Calif. Acting on behalf of the partnership, JLL Capital Markets arranged a $182 million refinancing deal through MetLife Investment Management.

READ ALSO: Financial Services Plans Gradual Return to the Office

The MetLife financing for the four-building Intersect property came in the form of a three-year, interest only loan. JLL’s Kevin MacKenzie, John Chun and Nick Lench concede in a press release that there were challenges in orchestrating the transaction in the midst of a pandemic; however, the team members cited strong relationships as one of the key elements to the successful closing. As JLL noted in a May 2020 report, “Despite ample liquidity in debt markets, lenders remain in a phase of ‘price discovery’ and are focused on asset managing their existing portfolios. This has led to a greater scrutiny over leverage, and an emphasis on experienced sponsors, resilient sectors and strong locations in quoting new deals. Intersect fits the bill.”

Located on a 15-acre site in Orange County’s coveted Airport submarket, Intersect is a creative office campus consisting of Class A buildings carrying the addresses of 17875 and 17877 Von Karman Ave. and 17872 and 17838 Gillette Ave. Hines came into possession of Intersect in 2015, when the company acquired the former Washington Mutual Campus, then known as Quintana, from Menlo Equities in a $121.5 million transaction. Soon after, Hines commenced a $25 million redevelopment program and in 2018, reintroduced Intersect as a next-generation office campus designed to support a balance of collaborative work and wellness. New features include indoor and outdoor workspaces and the list of notable amenities encompasses everything from a game pavilion and an outdoor yoga lawn to a shipping container, beer garden and a bird aviary.

Hines plans to utilize the majority of the proceeds from the loan to repay the balance of the $144 million New York Life Insurance loan that the same JLL team arranged in 2018 as executives of HFF before the merger with JLL. The remainder of the funds will be directed toward future leasing activity at Intersect, where the occupancy level skyrocketed from 13 percent at the time of the 2015 trade to a post-redevelopment level of 78 percent, 45 percent of which constitutes investment grade tenancies.

Not-so-shy lenders

JLL has orchestrated a bevy of notable financing deals during the pandemic, including a $185.6 million Freddie Mac refinancing package on behalf of Wealhouse Capital Management and Western Wealth Capital for a 1,439-unit multifamily portfolio in metropolitan Phoenix. And despite the coronavirus-spurred uncertainty, lenders haven’t shunned big-ticket transactions altogether. CommonWealth Partners and California Public Employees’ Retirement System recently obtained a $550 million CMBS loan—originated by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs—for the refinancing of the $2.5 million-square-foot City National Plaza mixed-use office complex in Los Angeles.

The post Hines JV Closes $182M Refi in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Ron Duong, Senior Vice President of Investments, Marcus & Millichap. Image courtesy of Marcus & Millichap

Marcus & Millichap has appointed retail specialist Ron Duong as senior vice president of investments at the firm’s Newport Beach, Calif., office. Duong returns to the company after a stint at Cushman & Wakefield. He is joined by his team, which includes Craig Elster, Ben Carlile, Johnny Le, and Mie Takenaka. The team will be responsible for the disposition and acquisition of multi-tenant retail and net-lease properties.

Duong first joined Marcus & Millichap in 2004. Before that, he acted as portfolio accountant at The Capital Group, working with institutional investors with assets worth $1 to 5 billion. During his real estate career, he has handled more than $1 billion in retail investment transactions.

The returning senior vice president has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from California State University, Fullerton. He is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. 

Last month, Marcus & Millichap represented the seller of a 10,430-square-foot CVS Pharmacy in downtown Dallas. The asset was acquired by a Florida-based 1031 exchange investor.

The post Marcus & Millichap Names New VP of Investments appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Shea Business Center. Image courtesy of Shea Properties

Shea Properties has completed Shea Business Center, a 500,000-square-foot Class A industrial park in Santa Ana, Calif. The project began construction in 2018 and was developed on the approximately 25-acre former site of the ITT campus.

Shea Business Center consists of nine buildings and features dock-high and ground level loading doors, ESFR sprinklers, and 28/30-foot clear heights. Anduril, a defense technology startup, signed the first lease—for 72,000 square feet—at the industrial center.

Located on East Dyer Road and Alton Avenue, the facility is just off 55 Freeway and within 3 miles of Interstate 5. Downtown Santa Ana is 3 miles from the business park. The property is also close to Interstate 405 and within 4 miles of John Wayne Airport.

Cushman and Wakefield’s Executive Managing Director John Griffin and Senior Associate Max Wang handle leasing the property, on behalf of the landlord. Managing Director Tucker Hughes of Hughes Marion represented Anduril.

The post Shea Properties Delivers 500 KSF Orange County Facility appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

2212 E. Fourth St. Image courtesy of CBRE

IRA Capital has acquired a 56,809-square-foot medical office building in Santa Ana, Calif., for $38.4 million from St. Joseph Hospital of Orange and affiliated entities. Yardi Matrix data shows Siemens Financial Services originated $29.4 million in acquisition financing for the new owner.

Located at 2212 E. Fourth St., the asset is less than a mile from Kaiser Permanente Santa Ana Medical Offices, Orange County Global Medical Center and Interstate 5 and within walking distance of several dining options. Originally built in 1988 as a hospital, the property was converted to medical office space in 2008, per Yardi Matrix information. The three-story building recently underwent an $8.5 million specialized medical improvement program.

According to Gary Stache, executive vice president CBRE, St. Joseph Hospital of Orange has occupied the property since 2008 and is currently under a 10-year triple-net lease. The tenant operates primary care services, a pharmacy and dialysis center on the premises.  

Stache, together with Executive Vice President Anthony DeLorenzo, Directors Doug Mack and Bryan Johnson and Associate Chris Martin from CBRE represented the seller. The brokerage team recently facilitated the $7 million sale of a medical office property in Moreno Valley, Calif.

The post IRA Capital Acquires Orange County MOB for $38M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Michael DiPrima, Executive Vice President, CBRE Hotels. Image courtesy of CBRE

CBRE has selected industry veteran Michael DiPrima as executive vice president for CBRE Hotels. He will focus on investment sales in the Western U.S., sourcing debt and equity placements. He will be based in the Newport Beach, Calif., office. 

DiPrima brings 15 years of experience to the new position. He began his career at Hodges Ward Elliott and, prior to joining CBRE, served as managing director since opening the company’s Los Angeles office in 2015. His most representative transactions include the sales of Bacara Resort and Spa in Santa Barbara, Calif., while notable financing includes the Pasea Resort and Spa in Huntington Beach, Calif., and the Lido House – Autograph Collection in Newport Beach. DiPrima received a bachelor of arts from Pepperdine University.   

In the first-quarter survey of the hospitality sector, CBRE notes a 41.2 percent fall in hotel demand due to the current health crisis. Luxury hotels were the hardest hit, with occupancy dropping to less than 10 percent.

The post CBRE Welcomes New Orange County EVP appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Newport Harbor Medical Plaza. Image courtesy of Newmark Knight Frank

University of Southern California has signed a full-building lease at Newport Harbor Medical Plaza, a 30,000-square-foot medical office property in Newport Beach, Calif., despite the headwinds MOB leasing activity is facing currently. Newmark Knight Frank negotiated on behalf of Advanced Medical Properties, the owner of the facility, which came online in the first quarter of this year.

Developer Shaoulian Properties broke ground on the project in 2017. C.W. Driver Cos. served as the general contractor, while Bundy-Finkel Architects provided architectural services. Thorofare Capital provided $20.1 million in construction financing, according to Yardi Matrix.

Located at 330 Old Newport Blvd., the two-story building features floorplates ranging between 13,426 and 14,929 square feet, as well as above-ground and subterranean parking. According to NKF Managing Director John Scruggs, USC intends to use the space for a multi-modality clinic and will start making the necessary tenant improvements.

Newport Harbor Medical Plaza is just north of the city center alongside Freeway 55, across from the Hoag Memorial Presbyterian Hospital. Various restaurants, shops and hotels are within a 1-mile radius of the property.

Scruggs worked together with NKF Executive Managing Director Garth Hogan in negotiating the lease. Earlier this year, Hogan was instrumental in the $59 million sale of a 10-property portfolio.

The post University of Southern California Signs Full-Building Lease appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Ronald E. Birtcher. Image courtesy of Birtcher Development

Ronald E. Birtcher, emblematic Orange County real estate developer, passed away on April 21. Birtcher died surrounded by his wife and children in his Napa home, the family said in a statement. He was 89. 

Birtcher’s real estate legacy spans several decades, dating back to the early 1950s, when he joined the family-owned company his father, Fayette, founded in 1939. Along with his brother Arthur, Birtcher formed a partnership in 1961 that became an industry powerhouse, pioneering the building technique known as “tilt-up” concrete construction used in commercial and industrial development. The firm went on to develop, market and manage more than 40 million square feet of commercial real estate across the country. Iconic projects included the 535,000-square-foot Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market in downtown Los Angeles, designated the largest of its kind in the U.S. 

Innovative endeavors

In 1969, the Birtcher Real Estate Group established a venture with Southern Pacific Railroad and became the in-house development company for the railroad’s 2.3 million-acre real estate holdings nationwide. In 1972, as part of the endeavor, the Birtcher Group started construction on the prominent Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, dubbed the “Blue Whale” for its mammoth size and blue-glass exterior. Constructed on a former railroad switching yard, the 1.2 million-square-foot development opened in 1975. Other major projects included the 900,000-square-foot Lakeshore Towers office campus in Irvine, Calif., and the 305,000-square-foot Xerox Center in Santa Ana, Calif. 

According to a Los Angeles Times interview in 1990, the Birtcher Group preferred to hold on to their holdings long-term and focus on low-risk business strategies. In 1990, the firm sold a 50 percent stake in the company to Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co. for more than $100 million.

Birtcher was inducted into the California Building Industry Foundation’s Builder’s Hall of Fame in 1995 and held numerous industry awards and honors. In addition to real estate-related pursuits, Birtcher’s interests included agriculture, viticulture and various philanthropic activities. Through the Birtcher Family Foundation, a Presbyterian nonprofit founded together with his wife, Joanne, the family helped orphanages, schools and farms worldwide.

Birtcher is survived by his wife of 68 years, by sons Brandon—CEO of Birtcher Development—and Baron, daughter Shelley, nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

The post Ronald E. Birtcher, Prominent California Executive, Passes Away appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Nathan McElmurry, Senior Vice President, Self Storage Acquisitions, SecureSpace Self Storage. Image courtesy of InSite Property Group

InSite Property Group has hired Nathan McElmurry to serve as senior vice president & head of self storage acquisitions. He brings 16 years of experience to his new role and will oversee investment activity for the company’s subsidiary, SecureSpace Self Storage.

Before joining the InSite subsidiary, McElmurry spent five years as senior vice president of acquisitions at SmartStop Self Storage REIT, where he spearheaded 150 self storage transactions. Prior to that, he worked as director of acquisitions at Trico Investments. Additionally, he served as principal at Wind River Group, director of real estate at GE Capital and senior analyst at CBRE.

McElmurry holds an MBA in real estate finance from University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business and graduated from Texas A&M University’s Dwight Look College of Engineering.

InSite Property Group also announced that it has 20 brand new self storage properties under development. On a national level, projects underway or in the planning stages accounted for 9.1 percent of existing stock as of February, a 10-basis-point increase over the previous month, according to a Yardi Matrix report.

The post InSite Property Group Strengthens Self Storage Team appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Anya Ostry. Image courtesy of CBRE

CBRE has appointed Anya Ostry as first vice president within its Orange County office. Ostry will advise corporate clients in her new role as part of the firm’s 14-member global occupier advisory team.

Ostry possesses more than 10 years of experience and most recently served as senior director, global transaction advisory, portfolio management and workplace strategy at Cushman & Wakefield. Her role included assisting clients with business location and relocation strategies, negotiating facility leases or purchases, developing occupancy strategies, leading and negotiating asset dispositions and coordinating with local governments to identify municipal incentives. Her clients included global financial institutions, health-care providers and auto manufacturers. 

Ostry serves on the board of CSU Fullerton’s Mihaylo College of Business & Economics Executive Council and CoreNet Global’s Southern California Chapter. She is also a member of the Allen Matkins Women’s Leadership Roundtable, NAIOP’s Southern California Chapter and Commercial Real Estate Women.

At the beginning of the year, CBRE expanded its global occupier advisory team with a key Chicago hire.

The post CBRE Adds to Orange County Corporate Advisory Team appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Chase Bank at 545 N. Euclid St. Image courtesy of Hanley Investment Group

SunCoast Properties has completed the $5.1 million sale of a single-tenant retail asset in Anaheim, Calif. Hanley Investment Group secured the deal on behalf of the buyer, a Los Angeles-based private investor. SRS Real Estate Partners represented the seller. 

The 3,988-square-foot Chase Bank building opened earlier this year and features a drive-thru ATM. Located at 545 N. Euclid St. on 0.5 acres, the property is at a shared signalized intersection with Anaheim Plaza. The bank is 2 miles northwest of Disneyland Park and Resort and near various tourist destinations. More than 700,000 residents earning an average household income of $87,000 live within a 5-mile radius, according to Hanley Investment Group data. 

The SRS Real Estate Partners team representing the seller included Pat Kent, Patrick Luther, Matthew Mousavi and Parker Walter. The Hanley Investment Group team working on behalf of the buyer included Executive Vice Presidents Bill Asher and Jeff Lefko.

Earlier this year, Hanley Investment Group closed the sale of a two-building retail asset for $8 million. The all-cash sale marks the highest cost and cap rate for an Inland Empire two-tenant investment priced above $5 million.

The post SRS Real Estate Closes Orange County Retail Sale appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Image via Pixabay.com

Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. has acquired a 10-building portfolio of Southern California industrial properties for $203.2 million, or $234 per square foot, including assumed debt.

READ ALSO: Nuveen Industrial Fund Raises $660M

The properties, in Los Angeles and Orange counties, total 867,242 square feet on 43.06 acres of land and are 87.7 percent leased overall to 56 tenants. Three are single-tenant and seven are multi-tenant properties. The portfolio’s tenant pool is well diversified, with no single tenant occupying more than 12.9 percent of the total rentable area.

The properties are in four of Rexford’s core infill markets, including LA–South Bay, LA–Mid Counties, Inland Empire–West and Orange County, as follows:

• Kingshill Place, 169,069 square feet, LA–South Bay, 73.3 percent leased
• Manhattan Beach Blvd., 126,726 square feet, LA–South Bay, 95.5 percent leased
• Santa Fe Ave., 112,000 square feet, LA–South Bay, 100 percent leased
• 126th St., 63,532 square feet, LA–South Bay, 40.2 percent leased
• La Cienega Blvd., 63,462 square feet, LA–South Bay, 93.4 percent leased
• Knox St., 39,400 square feet, LA–South Bay, 100 percent leased
• Woodwind Drive, 62,377 square feet, Orange–West, 100 percent leased
• Atlantic Ocean Drive, 27,960 square feet, Orange–South, 100 percent leased
• Los Nietos Road, 107,740 square feet, LA–Mid-Counties, 100 percent leased
• Richton St., 94,976 square feet, San Bernardino–Inland Empire West, 86.0 percent leased.

Rexford estimates that the average in-place rents are “materially below-market,” such that the portfolio “provides an above-market cash yield” and the potential for favorable cash flow growth. The seller was not identified, and Rexford did not reply to Commercial Property Executive’s request for that and other information.

Rexford funded the acquisition through a combination of cash and an UPREIT transaction. In the latter, the seller contributed a portion of the portfolio value to Rexford’s operating partnership in exchange for a blend of operating partnership units and newly issued convertible preferred operating partnership units.

Steady in LA

The Greater Los Angeles industrial market had a surge of distribution and logistics activity late last year, according to a fourth-quarter report from CBRE. Asking rents continued a steady rise, and sales prices increased substantially faster, by 23.1 percent year-over-year.

In December, Rexford purchased two Greater LA industrial properties for about $100 million; the properties totaled more than 800,000 square feet. And only weeks ago, CBRE brokered the lease of an entire 50,930-square-foot Class A industrial building, at Valencia Commerce Center, in Santa Clarita’s Valencia area.

The post Rexford Industrial’s $203M Buying Spree in Southern California appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

The list below shows the top five California markets for office deliveries in 2019 using Yardi Matrix data. The ranking was based on inventory growth rate, which is the reason why smaller markets with an emerging office sector such as the Inland Empire are part of the list.

5. Central Coast

Office market fundamentals remained healthy in California’s Central Coast throughout 2019 as two of its counties—Santa Barbara and San Louis Obispo—were listed among the top 10 best markets for job seekers, according to career resource website Zippia. The market has an office inventory of approximately 13 million square feet, with deliveries in the last year reaching 143,500 square feet, 1.1 percent of total stock. Situated between California’s two-star cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Central Coast boasts a large pool of educated people, more than one-third of them having a bachelor’s degree. The area’s population growth, however, has been decreasing for several years in a row. The outbound domestic net migration was approximately 7,000 people in 2018, mostly due to young talent leaving for other parts of California or Arizona and Texas.

San Louis Obispo has been known as the most active submarket for deliveries, but last year Santa Maria took its spot with 98,000 square feet in new supply. The only asset coming online was CoastHills Credit Union’s building at 1075 E. Betteravia Road, which features a net ground lease with NKT Commercial.

4. Inland Empire

Loma Linda University Shared Services Building

It may be surprising to see the Inland Empire among the top 5 California markets for office deliveries by inventory growth, but demand for office space has been slowly rising in this logistics haven due to lower rental rates and proximity to California’s bigger markets. New office projects were limited in 2019, with 386,000 square feet in new deliveries, which account for nearly 1.2 percent of the market’s total office inventory. Demand for office space has been bolstered by a growing education and health-care services sector, which expanded significantly, although the professional and business services and financial sectors have also been expanding in 2019.

All four projects coming online last year were servicing the educational and health-care services sector: Riverside Medical–Valley Center, Prime Healthcare Headquarters, San Antonio Regional Hospital on San Bernardino Road and Loma Linda University Shared Services Building. Another upcoming project, a 16-story medical center, is expected to be the tallest building in San Bernardino County. The Loma Linda University Shared Services Building in the San Bernardino submarket is the largest among all projects, encompassing 153,000 square feet and 194 parking spaces.

3. Orange County

The Quad @ Discovery Park

Compared to 2018, when less than 500,000 square feet was delivered, 2019 represented a top year for office deliveries in Orange County. Roughly 1.7 million square feet came online, which accounted for 1.4 percent of the metro’s office inventory. Demand for modern space continued to rise compared to previous years, bolstered by smaller companies leaving Los Angeles due to high costs. As a result, developers have been focusing on adding Class A space to submarkets such as Irvine Spectrum, Laguna Woods and South Coast Metro. Improving infrastructure has been another main focus in Orange County, with Orange County’s California Department of Transportation getting ready to start working on a $180 million bridge on 91 Freeway Lane in order to ease the connection to the Inland Empire.

The largest office project delivered last year was Irvine Co.’s 660,000-square-foot Discovery Park campus in the Irvine Spectrum submarket. In the summer, the business park added a number of new tenants including Kajabi, Hyperice, WeWork and Pacific Rim Capital. The campus features a variety of amenities such as onsite dining, gourmet coffee bar, fitness centers, several common spaces with TVs and fire pits as well as event and conference facilities.

2. Bay Area

As expected, the Bay Area is very high on the list for office deliveries after occupying the top position for office transactions last year as well. The market had slightly more than 4.7 million square feet delivered in 2019 but compared to its large inventory, that represented only 1.8 percent of office stock. The metro continued to experience record growth in 2019 due to its strong economy and availability of high-paying jobs although for three years in a row the outbound domestic migration has been deepening as many smaller firms are being priced out. Companies that cannot afford the high rental rates and housing prices in the Bay have been choosing states such as Texas, Washington and Oregon.

The Bay Area had two record years for office deliveries (2018 and 2019) and most of the space has been concentrated in submarkets with high rental rates, such as Sunnyvale-West, San Jose, Palo Alto and Mountain View. The largest office project delivered last year was Jay Paul Co.’s Moffett Towers II Buildings 3, 4 and 5, which totaled 1.1 million square feet. Located in the Sunnyvale North submarket at the former Lockheed Martin site, the project is LEED Platinum certified and features many outdoor amenities.

1. San Francisco

The Exchange on the 16th

Despite a slowdown in population growth triggered by the metro’s record-high cost of living, San Francisco remains one of the nation’s most attractive cities for both talent and companies. Office-using jobs accounted for more than one-third of the total employment pool in the metro at the end of 2019. Visa signed one of the largest office expansions last year, leasing a 13-story building at the Mission Rock development in SOMA. The building is expected to host the financial company’s new global headquarters in 2024.

Office developers have been trying to balance out demand, with deliveries in 2019 being close to 4.8 million square feet, which accounts for 2.7 percent of total office inventory. Two projects were larger than 700,000 square feet: MetLife Real Estate Investment’s Park Tower at Transbay in the San Francisco-South Financial submarket (766,000 square feet) and Kilroy Realty’s The Exchange on 16^th in the San Francisco-Potrero Hill submarket (750,000 square feet). At the end of last year, Facebook preleased the entire 45-story Park Tower at Transbay, closing the largest single lease transaction in the city’s history.

Yardi Matrix covers office properties of 50,000+ square feet in markets across the United States. This ranking reflects developments underway within that sample group.

The post Top 5 California Markets for Office Deliveries appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Ryan Parkin, Founder & Managing Partner, RevOZ Capital. Image courtesy of RevOZ

The Opportunity Zones program has gained momentum since the Internal Revenue Service clarified some key regulations last year. To shed light on this promising and often challenging initiative, CPN asked Ryan Parkin, founder & managing principal at real estate investment and development company RevOZ Capital, to share his insights.  

Parkin’s company is working on two Opportunity Zone projects, a medical center and a boutique hotel, is seeing more deal flow now that some key rules have been clarified. His advice for those who are new to Opportunity Zones: Stick to the types of projects that you know best, and evaluate each one carefully on a risk-adjusted basis, as the program is not for every investor. 

READ ALSO: Final Round of Opportunity Zone Rules Unveiled

You’ve invested in at least two projects in opportunity zones (San Bernardino Medical Center in California and SCP Redmond in Oregon). How has your experience with the program and existing legislation been so far?

Parkin: The Opportunity Zone program is an exciting policy that brings private capital into underserved communities throughout the U.S. By delivering increased capital and development into historically underprivileged areas, it enables our industry to have a hand in improving communities and creating lasting social good.

This, coupled with the unprecedented tax benefits in the form of capital gains tax deferral and exemptions, is why RevOZ Capital has chosen to focus our business on Opportunity Zone acquisitions, developments and recapitalizations. The San Bernardino Medical Center, which broke ground in January, and the recently completed SCP Hotel Redmond in Oregon, are two Opportunity Zone projects that we identified as having strong fundamentals and attractive risk profiles with compelling potential for community impact.

In December, the U.S. Treasury Department clarified a host of regulations surrounding the Opportunity Zone program, providing detailed guidelines that are likely to spur further investment in Opportunity Zone projects in 2020 and beyond. I find it exciting that a bipartisan policy is leading to actual activity, particularly given today’s divided times. 

What advice do you have for emerging developers that are thinking about building in an opportunity zone? What are the biggest challenges they could be facing?

Parkin: Nuances, nuances, nuances! The rules are complex and very technical, so it’s critical that developers surround themselves with professionals who are well versed in and focused on the Opportunity Zone program. Given the complexity of the regulations, much of the program is too difficult to learn on your own. Quality advisers and partners who think commercially, but have sound technical know-how, are crucial. We like to think that’s something we can offer our development partners—sophisticated, nuanced understanding communicated in a simple and actionable manner.

What should emerging developers know about/before accessing capital for an OZ project?

Parkin: With Opportunity Zone investments, the primary goal should be earning a market return for the capital. Some parallels have been made to the EB-5 program, but we think the two are quite different. Most EB-5 investors’ primary goal is citizenship and returns come second. With Opportunity Zones, returns come first and taxes are just a sweetener.

Would you advise developers starting their first investment in an Opportunity Zone to opt for a ground-up project or a redevelopment? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of project? 

Parkin: I recommend that developers stay the course with their area of expertise, whether ground-up or redevelopment. Stick to what you know and what you do best. We are capitalizing both types of deals and assess each deal on a risk-adjusted basis. We sometimes see investors focused on absolute returns, but, with our disciplined institutional orientation, we price risk and see a place for both types of deals in a balanced opportunity zone portfolio. 

Tell us a bit about your most recent investment, San Bernardino Medical Center. Why a medical center and why San Bernardino?

Parkin: We partnered with Sudweeks Development and Investment Co. to build an 11,325-square-foot, pre-leased, build-to-suit medical office building situated on nearly 2 acres in San Bernardino, California, in an Opportunity Zone. Sudweeks Development has developed $50 million of similar projects in SoCal since 2018, which made them an ideal partner for the project.

This public-private partnership (P3) shows how underserved communities can leverage the Opportunity Zone program to attract investors while providing positive community benefits. While we believe this is a solid long-term investment, it also serves an important role in providing critical services to families in the San Bernardino community.

The post Keys to Opportunity Zone Development Success appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Von Karman Tech Center. Image courtesy of KBS

KBS has sold Von Karman Tech Center, a 101,161-square-foot office building in Irvine, Calif. Dayani Partners LLC, a private investor, acquired the Class B asset for $25.4 million in an off-market transaction. The property last traded in 2015, when KBS purchased it for $21.5 million from HighBrook. CBRE brokered the deal on behalf of the seller, while the buyer was self-represented. Greenberg Traurig served as legal counsel for KBS.

Located at 16842 Von Karman Ave. in Orange County within the Irvine Business Complex, the two-story building was developed in 1980 and fully renovated in 2014. The office asset features 50,231-square-foot floor plates and has a parking ratio of 4 spaces per 1,000 square feet. KBS invested $2 million in renovations at the property, which was nearly 90 percent occupied at the time of sale. Most of the space is leased through 2023 and beyond.

Von Karman Tech Center is less than 1 mile from The District at Tustin Legacy, the 1 million-square-foot shopping center and entertainment hub offering numerous shopping and dining options. The 4.6-acre property, located some 1.5 miles northwest of the city center, is roughly 2.5 miles from Interstate 405 and Costa Mesa Freeway. The asset is also less than 2 miles from another office property that traded for $116 million in October.

CBRE’s Anthony DeLorenzo and Gary Stache represented KBS in the sale, while Greenberg Traurig’s Bruce Fischer, Christine Fan and Amanda Kennedy acted as legal counsel on behalf of the seller.

The post KBS Sells Orange County Office Asset appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Chris Casey, Principal, Avison Young. Image courtesy of Avison Young

Avison Young has hired Chris Casey as principal. He will work out of the company’s Orange County office and will be in charge of raising debt and joint venture equity for various asset types across the Western U.S. market.

Casey brings more than 30 years of experience to this position, having closed roughly $10.5 billion in debt and equity transactions. His new responsibilities include providing investors with strategic advice as they manage their financial and capital requirements in the current market environment.

Before joining Avison, Casey worked as managing director with JLL in the company’s Capital Markets Finance group. His other previous roles include serving as managing director at Eastdil Secured, principal at Equitable and vice president of investments with Mutual of New York Insurance Co. Casey holds a Master of Science degree in real estate investment analysis and a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

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Westlake Village Marketplace. Images courtesy of CBRE

Cantor Commercial Real Estate has taken a $31 million refinancing package for two neighborhood shopping centers in Southern California. The owner received $18 million for a property in Westlake Village and $13 million for another in Aliso Viejo.

CBRE arranged the 10-year CMBS loans, both with full-term interest-only payments. Sharon Kline and Marina Massari led the brokerage team. 

Located at 5752 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village Marketplace consists of 74,186 square feet of rentable space. The shopping mall came online in 1998 and is anchored by Michaels and Staples. The tenant roster also includes Chase Bank and Chipotle. The center is shadow-anchored by Smart & Final, Dollar Tree and PetSmart.

Located at 26852 La Paz Road, Aliso Viejo Plaza was built in 1987 and consists of 35,800 square feet of rentable space. Tenants at the property include Starbucks, UPS Store and Baskin Robbins, with Target and Stater Bros. as shadow anchors. Yardi Matrix shows the asset is within 1.5 miles of nearly 2 million square feet of office space, including a 170,000-square-foot portfolio which changed hands for $71 million in October.

The post Southern California Shopping Centers Score $31M Refi appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Orange County Commerce Center. Image courtesy of DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services

Panattoni Development Co. and Principal Real Estate Investors have inked two leases totaling 101,663 square feet with U-Haul International Inc. and LG Hausys America Inc., with each company occupying a free-standing building. The new tenants will join Rakuten Super Logistics and Beacon Roofing Supply at the partnership’s 232,000-square-foot Orange County Commerce Center in California, at the border between Anaheim and Placentia.

Executive Vice Presidents Chris Migliori and Paul Gingrich from DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services represented the owners in the deal. The brokerage company was appointed as the leasing agent of the property when the project broke ground in 2018.

Top-notch specs

U-Haul signed a five-year lease at the 53,850-square-foot building situated at 1367 S. Van Buren St. in Anaheim. The construction comprises more than 8,150 square feet of office space, 2.4 acres of land, six dock-high loading doors, a grade-level loading door and 87 parking stalls.

The 47,813-square-foot building located at 711 S. Van Buren St. in Placentia will house LG Hausys for the next seven years. The construction provides 6,995 square feet of office space, 2.1 acres of land, five dock-high loading doors, a grade-level loading door, as well as 69 parking stalls.

Yardi Matrix data shows that Orange County Commerce Center encompasses two additional buildings: a 69,882-square-foot one at 711 S. Van Buren St. occupied by a roofing distributor and a 60,809-square-foot facility at 1367 S. Van Buren St. Each structure features 30-foot minimum warehouse clearance height, an 800-amp main switchgear with 2,000-amp UGPS, an ESFR sprinkler system, a fully secured and gated truck courtyard, 100 percent concrete truck court and auto parking areas, as well as 3 percent skylights.

According to Gingrich, Orange County is one of the tightest industrial markets in the U.S. because of its proximity to metros such as Los Angeles and the Inland Empire as well as major ports. 

If you’d like to be featured in Brokers’ Corner, send your deal to deals@cpe-mhn.com.

The post DAUM Commercial Arranges 2 Industrial Leases in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

(Left to right) Amber Edwards, Scott Landgraf. Images courtesy of SRS Real Estate Partners

Scott Landgraf has rejoined SRS Real Estate Partners, almost four years after leaving the company and founding Golden State Retail Group. Landgraf is now principal of SRS’ Newport Beach, Calif., office. Amber Edwards, his partner at GSRG, also decided to join SRS. She will serve as first vice president.

Recently, SRS Real Estate Partners named John Few as senior vice president & managing principal of the same Orange County office.  

READ ALSO: What’s in Store for Retail Borrowers?

Landgraf has significant experience in leading national retailer and restaurant rollouts, as well as strategic retailer placements in California. He was responsible for major market entries for Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and Blaze Pizza, two restaurant chains. Planet Fitness, America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, US Bank, WKS Restaurant Group, AutoNation, Wendy’s, El Pollo Loco, Big Al’s, iFly, Sleep Number, Dressbarn and Carter’s OshKosh are among other clients in Landgraf’s portfolio.

In 2016, Landgraf left SRS to launch Golden State Retail Group, a boutique retail tenant representation firm. There, he worked with Amber Edwards, who used to lead retail tenant brokerage efforts for WKS Restaurant Group and H&R Block. Prior to partnering with Landgraf at GSRG, Edwards served as corporate compliance officer at First American Title and as an Ernst & Young forensic accountant.

The post SRS Real Estate Strengthens Southern California Team appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Cambria Hotel & Suites Anaheim Resort Area. Image courtesy of Choice Hotels

Choice Hotels has expanded its Cambria brand with the opening of a new property in Anaheim, Calif. The 352-key hotel is the brand’s largest and serves as its 11th location to be opened this year. Cambria Hotel & Suites Anaheim Resort Area was constructed by Nexus Development Corp.

Located at 101 E. Katella Ave., the 12-story hotel is just a mile from Disneyland Resort and is adjacent to several casual dining options, including Starbucks, Habit Burger, California Fish Grill and Luna Grill. The property is just off Interstate 5 and roughly 2 miles from the Anaheim train station.

The hotel features versatile accommodations, from kid-friendly suites with bunk beds, to guestrooms tailored for business travelers. Amenities include a 30,000-square-foot waterpark, outdoor movie wall, sport court, indoor/outdoor bar, daily hot breakfast and fitness center.

The Anaheim hotel is Cambria’s 50th property. Last month, Choice and Koucar Management broke ground on the first Detroit hotel under the same brand. Completion is anticipated for next year.

The post Largest Cambria Hotel Opens in Orange County appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Monarch Industrial. Image courtesy of NKF

Rexford Industrial has purchased Monarch Industrial, a 276,585-square-foot industrial facility in Garden Grove, Calif., for $34 million. Western RealCo and Penwood Real Estate traded the asset in an off-market transaction after two years of ownership. Newmark Knight Frank’s Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon, Senior Managing Director Scott Schumacher and Executive Managing Directors Ken White, Jeff Read and Bret Hardy represented the seller. The buyer was self-represented in the deal.

Monarch Industrial occupies 11.1 acres at 12752 to 12822 Monarch St., within the supply-constrained west Orange County submarket, where the industrial vacancy rate is at 1.6 percent, according to Read. The facility is conveniently located just off Garden Grove Freeway, which enables access to downtown Irvine and the John Wayne Airport.

Constructed in 1971 with an additional section added in 1980, the building features 18- and 22-feet clear heights, 14 dock-high spaces, 11 ground-level doors and 346 parking spaces. Other characteristics include climate control, insulated ceilings and fire sprinklers.

The post Rexford Industrial Buys Orange County Facility appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

6725 Washington St. Image via Google Street View

Boardwalk Investments Group has secured $110 million in acquisition financing for a 12-property retail portfolio spread across towns in Orange County, Calif. The portfolio, mostly comprised of Class A, high street retail properties, is located in the coastal areas of Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Yountville and Corona Del Mar.

The financing allowed Boardwalk to acquire two new Class A retail properties in Laguna Beach and Napa, with the rest of the loan going toward refinancing a portion of its portfolio.

READ ALSO: How Restaurant Demand Bolsters Retail

Among the assets within the portfolio are a CVS-anchored shopping center at 30814-30936 Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, a Pavilions-anchored shopping center located at 2902 West Coast Highway in Newport Beach and a fine dining retail property located at 6725 Washington St. in Yountville.

California-based Boardwalk secured the three-year, floating-rate loan with two one-year extension options from H.I.G. Realty Partners. A JLL Capital Markets team of John Chun, John Marshall, Sam Godfrey, Jake Fideler and Michael Mestel represented the borrower in the transaction. Chun said in a statement that his team secured the financing on a tight deadline, after running a competitive bidding process.

Earlier this year, H.I.G. Realty Partners lent developer Vibrant Cities $31.3 million to build Pivot, a mixed-use property rising in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The 71-unit residential property will also include 11,000 square feet of office space, ground-floor retail and an underground parking garage.

OC Retail in Demand

According to a recent report from CBRE, the Orange County retail market is doing well, in the midst of bankruptcies and store closures making headlines around the country.

The brokerage firm’s Q3 report found that junior anchor and smaller floorplans are drawing more investment, while larger floorplans and big-box concepts are falling out of favor. Compressed average cap rates, a deeper buyer pool and a low 10-year treasury rate are fueling demand from retail investors for Orange County retail products.

The post Orange County Developer Lands $110M for Retail Portfolio appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Create Tustin

A joint venture between Harbor Associates and Stockbridge has sold Create Tustin, a 66,818-square-foot Class B office building in Orange County, Calif., to Easterly Government Properties for $36.3 million, according to Yardi Matrix. The seller had acquired the asset from Real Estate Capital Partners as one component of a $32.5 million, 211,264-square-foot portfolio deal in 2016.

The transaction is the seller’s second disposition in the past month, following the $17 million sale of a 51,000-square-foot asset next door to Create Tustin.

Located in the Irvine Business Complex at 14101 Myford Road in Tustin, Calif., the two-story building is near the intersection of the Santa Ana Freeway and California Route 261. The building is within a mile of several retail centers, with downtown Tustin 4 miles away. The city’s nearest bus routes and Metrolink station are situated 1 mile south of the property.

The property, built in 1970, was completely gutted in 2005, with additional renovation work in 2017 and earlier this year. The asset is LEED Certified. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services operates an asylum center in the building as its sole tenant under a long-term lease which expires in 2034.

The post Easterly Buys Orange County Office Property appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Anaheim City Centre. Image courtesy of Harbor Associates

Harbor Associates has acquired a two-building office portfolio in Orange County, Calif., for $80 million. The new owner will immediately begin renovations on the properties—Anaheim City Centre at 222 S. Harbor Blvd. in Anaheim and Crown Cabot at 28202 Cabot Road in Laguna Niguel—totaling 365,000 square feet. The seller was EQ Office, according to Yardi Matrix.

The 10-story Anaheim City Centre offers 195,000 square feet of Class A office space and is currently 83 percent leased, Harbor Principal Paul Miszkowicz told Commercial Property Executive. The seller was represented by CBRE’s Anthony Delorenzo, Todd Tydlaska and Michael Longo in the deal.

READ ALSO: Harbor Buys LA Office Asset for $44M

The smaller six-story Crown Cabot offers 173,000 square feet of office space and is at 87 percent occupancy, Miszkowicz added. The tenant roster includes Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Acrisure and ActivePDF. Newmark Knight Frank’s Kevin Shannon, Paul Jones and Blake Bokosky worked on behalf of the seller for this transaction.

Value-add approach

Crown Cabot. Image courtesy of Newmark Knight Frank

Renovations will include lobby enhancements, building exterior improvements, new signage, move-in ready suites, electric car charging stations, LED lighting retrofits and upgrades to the bathrooms and corridors. Refurbishment is expected to be completed by mid-2020, Miszkowicz told CPE. Harbor also recently renovated a three-building, 211,000-square-foot office campus in Tustin, Calif., that later sold for $72.8 million.

As for the Orange County market, Harbor Principal Rich McEnvoy said that even though the two submarkets were different, both shared the same position to provide high-quality offices in areas that are lacking. He added that the two office buildings are well-located in Northwest and South Orange County to take advantage of the existing talent pool.

Sold on SoCal

The purchase of Anaheim City Centre and Crown Cabot is just another notch in Harbor’s plans for major acquisitions in California. Earlier this month, Harbor partnered with Taconic Capital Advisors to purchase a 368,000-square-foot five-building office portfolio in San Bernardino, Calif., for $41.7 million. And that sale came on the heels of Harbor’s purchase of Topaz, a Class A office property in Los Angeles, for $43.5 million.

Harbor now owns eight properties that total more than 1 million square feet in Orange County and has purchased 25 properties in the last five years. The company plans on buying even more to hit its goal of acquiring $250 million worth of assets in Southern California in the next 12 months. Currently, its regional footprint spans 2.7 million square feet.

The post Harbor Expands Orange County Office Portfolio appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

2211 Michelson

Kilroy Realty Corp. has sold 2211 Michelson, a Class A, 271,556-square-foot building in Irvine, Calif., for gross proceeds of $116 million. According to Yardi Matrix data, the asset last traded in 2010, when KRC acquired the building for $103 million from Hines.

By selling its only Orange County property, the company completed its 2019 capital recycling program that started in June with the disposition of 2829 Townsgate. KRC intends to use the proceeds to fund new developments, close potential acquisitions and pay down debt.

Located at 2211 Michelson Drive, the 1.2-acre property is 2.4 miles west of downtown Irvine, close to Interstate 405. The office building is situated less than 1 mile east of John Wayne Airport, while offering easy access to the area’s hotels, restaurants and retail options. 

Completed in 2007, the 12-story asset features 23,714-square-foot floorplates and an adjacent six-level parking structure offering a ratio of four spaces per 1,000 square feet. Designed by DMJM, 2211 Michelson is the first LEED Silver certified multi-tenant building on the West Coast. The property is 93.7 percent leased, per Yardi Matrix data. The tenant roster includes WeWork and Brom International.

The post Kilroy Realty Closes $116M Orange County Office Deal appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

3601 W. Sunflower Ave. Image courtesy of Meridian

After just selling Cotton Medical Center in Pasadena, Calif., Meridian has acquired a 53,500-square-foot medical office building in Santa Ana, Calif. Affliction traded the asset for $20.4 million, after three years of ownership, according to Yardi Matrix. The buyer plans to invest an additional $5 million in capital improvements.

Located at 3601 W. Sunflower Ave., the office occupies 4.8 acres near the intersection of Interstate 405 and freeways 73 and 55, around 6 miles from downtown Irvine and John Wayne Airport. Additionally, the building is close to Orange County’s newest retail and office projects in the South Coast submarket and is right across the street from The Press, 430,000-square-foot creative office and food hall project, scheduled to open in 2020.

The office was constructed in 2000 as a special use building for a culinary and art school; however, the school went bankrupt earlier this year. The one-building office features two separate spaces, each encompassing around 24,700 square feet and above standard ceiling heights. The property also features 369 parking spaces. Meridian plans to upgrade common areas, landscaping and major mechanical systems, to fully transform the asset into a medical office building.

The post Meridian Buys Orange County Office Building appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

4 and 5 Polaris. Image courtesy of Drawbridge Realty

After investing in Pacific Center, Drawbridge Realty has further expanded its Orange County portfolio with the acquisition of two Class A office buildings totaling 169,315 square feet. Invesco Real Estate sold the two buildings, located in Aliso Viejo, Calif., for a total of $70.8 million. The buildings, known as 4 & 5 Polaris are the headquarters of Quest Software and UST Global, respectively.

Situated at 4 and 5 Polaris Way, the properties are just off California State Route 73, roughly 13 miles from Irvine and the John Wayne Airport. The offices are also near Aliso Viejo Town Center, which provides convenient access to several eateries and shopping options.

Constructed in 1999, the four- and three-story buildings occupy nearly 9 acres and encompass 90,630 and 78,258 square feet. Additionally, the assets feature a total of 676 grade-level parking spaces. The Quest Server’s headquarters at 4 Polaris also features a fitness center.

CBRE’s Anthony Delorenzo, Todd Tydlaska, Sean Sullivan, Michael Longo and Bob Smith arranged the transaction on behalf of the seller.

The post Drawbridge Realty Buys Orange County Portfolio for $71M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Rendering of a Flex Workspace+ office space. Image courtesy of Irvine Co.

Irvine Co. has launched Flex Workspace+, a new office solution that offers turnkey, fully furnished tailored workspaces with short-term leases starting at six months, and no upfront costs. Brian Brown, a former Knotel executive, has been appointed to lead Flex Workspace+, which is currently available in Irvine Co.’s California and Chicago portfolios.

READ ALSO: For Office Buildings, the Future is Flexible

The new offering replaces the ReadyNow suites program, which Irvine Co. pioneered more than a decade ago. The addition of flexible lease terms and tailored workspaces available within 30 days are among the changes made that are different than ReadyNow. Flex Workspace+ also offers tenants all-inclusive monthly payments and an Irving Co. team to manage the process. The spaces come complete with curated furniture configurations, branding, technology and accessories developed in partnership with Gensler, a leading global design and architecture firm, and Herman Miller, a well-known furniture design company.

Brian Brown, Head of Flex Workspaces+. Image courtesy of Irvine Co.

Other amenities include concierge-led move-in and onboarding, as well as access to Irvine Co.’s fitness facilities, outdoor spaces, onsite dining options and hospitality-inspired services from teams at the company’s office properties. Flex Workspaces+ will also include business spaces that embrace each tenant’s unique culture and feature activity-based “experience zones” that respond to the shifting needs of a diverse workforce throughout the day.

A diverse clientele

While Irvine Co. expects Flex Workspace+ to appeal to small- and medium-sized businesses, Doug Holte, president of Irvine Co. Workplaces, noted large companies are also expected to lease the spaces. Holte said in a prepared statement they expect that over the next five to 10 years, many of their large-company customers will be benefiting from Flex Workspace+ as part of their workspace footprints. The new offering also gives smaller and medium-sized companies the flexibility to move into larger spaces as they grow.

Flex Workspace+ isn’t meant to replace companies like WeWork that provide shared working spaces typically for technology and other start-up firms. Irvine Co. does lease to WeWork and others. Earlier this year, WeWork signed a 44,520-square-foot lease at the firm’s 400 Spectrum Center in Irvine, Calif. In the past, companies that started in WeWork space have moved into ReadyNow suites.

Irvine Co. has nearly 50 million square feet of workplace communities in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Silicon Valley in California. The privately held company also owns iconic trophy towers in New York City and Chicago, including the 50-story One North Wacker office tower. In March, One North Wacker added five new tenants in deals totaling 104,000 square feet. Fitch Group, a financial information services firm, plans to move into its new 65,392-square-foot office space in 2020. Other Chicago Class A office towers in the Irvine Co. portfolio are 300 North LaSalle and 71 South Wacker. Irvine Co. also owns the 58-story MetLife building at 200 Park Ave. in Midtown Manhattan that has more than 3 million square feet of office and retail space.

The post Irvine Co.’s Flexible Office Solution appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

1 Enterprise. Image courtesy of NKF

AEW Capital Management has sold a 109,948-square-foot office property in Aliso Viejo, Calif., for $59 million in a 1031 exchange to BDC—a division of BPM Real Estate Group. The new owner received this summer a $460 million construction loan for Block 216, a 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use development in downtown Portland.

Located at 1 Enterprise Aliso Viejo, the four-story building is adjacent to the 73 toll road and within a master-planned city located in south Orange County. Completed in 1999 on a 7.3-acre site, the recently renovated asset includes amenities such as a first-floor lobby, corporate boardroom, executive kitchen, cafeteria, as well as a gym with locker rooms and showers. At the time of sale, the property was fully leased to Microsemi Corp. and Ambry Genetics.    

Executive Managing Directors Paul Jones and Brunson Howard, Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon, Managing Director Blake Bokosky and Senior Associate Brandon White of NKF represented the seller in the transaction. Additionally, Vice Chairman Nick Kucha worked on behalf of the buyer.  

According to Jones, the property is within one of the best suburban office submarkets in south Orange County. The area has maintained positive net absorption and consecutive quarters of positive rent growth for several years.

California Expansion

2300 Orchard Parkway

BPM Real Estate Group recently also acquired a 117,739-square-foot property in San Jose, Calif., Yardi Matrix data shows. Han’s Laser sold the asset for $61 million. Additionally, Citibank originated a $78 million portfolio acquisition loan for the two properties, set to mature in 2029.

Located at 2300 Orchard Parkway, the 117,739-square-foot building is less than 3 miles from the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport and roughly 5 miles from downtown San Jose. The two-story building was developed in 1997 on a 5.9-acre site and received cosmetic renovations in 2016, according to Yardi Matrix data. The asset was fully leased to Cavium at the time of sale.

The post BPM Buys 2 California Office Assets for $120M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

2642 Michelle Drive. Image courtesy of Newmark Knight Frank

Excelsior Partners has purchased a 50,832-square-foot creative office building in Tustin, Calif., for $16.8 million. Newmark Knight Frank arranged the deal on behalf of the seller, a joint venture between Harbor Associates and Stockbridge. The buyer was self-represented.

Constructed in 1980 and renovated in 2017, the two-story office building sits on 2.8 acres and features approximately 25,700-square-foot rectangular floor plates. Other features include controlled access and more than 200 parking spaces. The asset is fully occupied by three tenants, Avid Bioservices (formerly Peregrine Pharmaceuticals), Advantage Sales & Marketing and GPA Consultants.

Situated at 2642 Michelle Drive, the creative office building is in the Irvine Business Complex, just off the intersection of Freeway 261 and Interstate 5, roughly 4 miles from downtown Irvine and within 10 miles of the John Wayne Airport. Additionally, the building is close to the Tustin/Irvine Marketplace and The District at Tustin Legacy, which provides access to more than 225 stores and restaurants.

In September, Newmark Knight Frank also represented the seller in the disposition of the iconic Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

The post Orange County Office Building Sells for $17M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Redstone

A joint venture between Lincoln Property Co. and Angelo, Gordon & Co. has signed a 51,716-square-foot lease agreement with WeWork in Newport Beach, Calif. The coworking firm’s space, slated to open in January, is set to span two floors of the largest building at Redstone, a 177,817-square-foot office campus.

The coworking firm’s new space is located at 4041 MacArthur Blvd., in the heart of Orange County. The building’s owner plans to renovate the asset’s common areas and add a café and tenant patio spaces. The landlord intends to partner with WeWork to operate the new amenities.

Yardi Matrix data from July shows some 2.1 million square feet of shared space within Orange County. WeWork was the largest coworking tenant across the metro, operating more than 25 percent of the space in the market.

WeWork has faced a series of high-profile struggles lately, stemming from the firm’s rapid—yet expensive—global expansion without a clear path to profitability. Even amidst its major leadership shakeup, the firm continues to grow its footprint, evidenced by another newly inked, 362,000-square-foot lease in Manhattan’s Plaza District.

The post WeWork Inks 51 KSF Orange County Lease appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Johnney Zhang, Founder & CEO, Primior. Image courtesy of Primior

In Part II of this series, Commercial Property Executive talked with Johnney Zhang, founder & CEO of Primior, about his take on the policy update on Opportunity Zones, as well as the effects on California’s real estate investment sector. His company is a strategic real estate development and investment management firm headquartered in Los Angeles, which earlier this summer broke ground on a mixed-use OZ project in Orange County.

Part I of the story included the insights of Bilzin Sumberg’s real estate practice group leader Suzanne Amaducci-Adams into this topic.

READ ALSO: Exploring Opportunity Zones: Part I

What is your general opinion on this recently revised Opportunity Zones initiative?

Zhang: After reviewing the latest guidance issued on the Opportunity Zone program, it’s clear that the IRS is taking serious steps to help provide the clarity the investment community has been seeking. While there are still a few unanswered questions, we are hearing from many investors that they have a better understanding of the program and its benefits.

Wasn’t this tried before? Many point out to a similar plan launched in 1993, the Empowerment Zone, Enterprise Community and Renewal Community initiative.

Zhang: While all these programs share similar goals, from a development perspective, the Opportunity Zone program is better suited to attract investors. Previous programs targeted employers with employment wage credits or allowed for elimination of capital gains on assets sold. The Opportunity Zone program is directed specifically towards savvy investors who are seeking to offset their current capital gains liability, as well as realize strong long-term earnings.

Who do you see as the main beneficiaries of OZs—investors, communities, or is it an equally divided gain?

Zhang: We believe the Opportunity Zone program benefits both investors and communities in many ways. The projects funded by this program will provide excellent return on investment and significant tax advantages for investors.

At the same time, local communities will enjoy new or substantially renovated structures that better serve the community. Generally, these new or improved facilities will be cleaner, better maintained and will benefit the community for many years to come.

One of the most pervasive concerns around Opportunity Zones is that they will accelerate gentrification and contribute to the displacement of low-income residents. What are your thoughts on this matter?

Zhang: While the issue of displacement may seem initially concerning, it’s important to remember that the Opportunity Zones generally represent a relatively small subsection of any given city. These neighborhoods were identified and selected as areas that can greatly benefit from substantial developments.

It’s also important to note that analyses done on similar programs, like the Empowerment Zone program, show substantial increases in employment and increased wages that were not accompanied by dramatic changes in the local cost of living.

Each project will create short-term and long-term jobs opportunities for the community. Starting with their initial development, there will be a need for architects, engineers, draftsmen, skilled and unskilled labor, as well as local services to meet the influx of those working on the project. After completion, each new development will provide additional jobs servicing the local community.

Another pressing question is related to timing. Given the length of negotiating and closing property transactions, and then performing the capital improvements (while also taking into account the shortage in labor workers), how feasible is the process?

Zhang: Excellent question. This is key to the development process for Opportunity Zone land. A developer needs to perform the evaluation and due diligence very thoroughly to ensure the process moves quickly and smoothly. If a property has any “hidden” pitfalls, they could delay the project and possibly move it outside of the capital improvement requirements window.

Let’s talk about LIHTC and OZ pairing, one that could generate high investment yields. When and how is this combination possible?

Zhang: We generally recommend investors to first review investment yield without factoring in benefits from the Opportunity Zone program or other potential incentives. Any investment deal should make financial sense without needing these added benefits. Any added returns from these programs should be looked at as bonus earnings. If a deal can’t stand alone without them, investors should walk away.

As for pairing programs, each individual property is analyzed to determine its maximum potential return. This includes federal programs like New Markets Tax Credit, Low-Income Housing Tax Credit or other local and state programs.

Is there need for additional oversight of the OZ initiative?

Zhang: Well-drafted policy is essential to giving investors peace of mind and providing clear guidelines for developers to work under. As we saw with the first round of tax guidance, there were still many unanswered questions that caused investors and investment firms alike to move cautiously into the Opportunity Zone space. As more guidelines have been released, we see confidence in the program rising significantly.

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How high is the level of (un)certainty when it comes to investing in OZs in California?

Zhang: This largely depends on the investor. Forward-thinking investors who can see a 10-year picture of the real estate landscape have confidence that their investment will provide the returns they are seeking. At Primior, we strive to find Opportunity Zone investment opportunities that will provide an excellent return, even without the added tax benefit. This is important because a project cannot rely solely on the tax advantages to make it sustainable.

Which areas in California have seen a steady flow of new investment capital over the past year and to which degree the OZ boundaries are a factor in these investments?

Zhang: Both Los Angeles and Orange County have seen excellent growth rates in the past year. In 2018, Los Angeles added 28,600 jobs, while Orange County added 23,700 jobs. Construction was the largest growth sector at 6 percent. We see this as a strong indicator of investment capital on the rise.

Are OZs affecting land prices? If so, is it purely speculative or are these valuations realistic?

Zhang: We are seeing the average land price in Opportunity Zones rise across the country. According to recent surveys, Opportunity Zones land prices have risen about 20 percent since the program was announced. While some of these increases may be considered speculative, it appears to be an indicator that investors and developers alike see the value this program offers for return on investment and to local communities.

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