The Orange County apartment market is currently enjoying strong fundamentals that comes from several sources. These include robust renter demand, strong local economy and historic low interest rates, all of which make for a perfect storm. As more renters enter the market due to strong employment numbers, it gives way to new household formation. While home prices in the region escalate, more would-be homebuyers are being priced out of the market and forced to remain in the rental pool, further driving competition for suitable housing and pushing rents to new levels. Orange County developers are responding to a growing demand for new multifamily housing developments, many of which are Class A projects targeting high-end tenant bases and price points. Many older properties, such as Class C or C+ buildings, are enjoying the blow back from these new developments when tenants seek out lower rents when compared to top-tier projects, resulting in robust rent increases. Investors looking to place capital in today’s multifamily market are taking advantage of strong fundamentals and cheap debt. Transaction volume has increased more than 10 percent in the past 12 months, with notable sales volume in the northern end of Orange County. Confident that upward rent …
INGLEWOOD, CALIF. — George Smith Partners has secured the $34 million refinancing of Crenshaw Imperial Plaza, a 305,000-square-foot mixed-use center located roughly 12 miles outside Los Angeles in Inglewood. The property consists of 238,000 square feet of retail and a 67,000-square-foot office building. The financing will be used to fund renovations at the center and pay off an existing loan. Renovations will include the demolition of obsolete space, new signage and the conversion of ground-floor office space into retail. The converted ground-floor space will be home to tenants including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Five Guys and Ono Hawaiian BBQ. Steve Bram, David Pascale and Ali Akbar of George Smith Partners secured the three-year, interest-only financing on behalf of the borrower, NewMark Merrill Cos. The lender was undisclosed.
SAN DEIGO — Rexford Industrial Realty has purchased an 83,500-square-foot industrial property in San Diego for $15.5 million. The facility is located at 9190 Activity Road. It is fully leased to a credit tenant that has more than six years remaining lease term. The acquisition was funded with cash on hand.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. — Salon Republic, which provides shared workspace and services to beauty professionals, has signed a 10-year lease for 20,000 square feet of retail space at 6370 W. Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. The space is located within the 216,238-square-foot Dome Entertainment Center, which is Robertson Properties Group owns. Matthew Fainchtein and Carter Magnin of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord in the transaction.
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — Palisades Capital Partners has acquired a mixed-use property located at 631 Wilshire Blvd. in downtown Santa Monica for $33 million. Originally built in 1958, the property has undergone $4 million in upgrades since 2013, including a remodeled lobby, outdoor common areas and locally focused murals. The 40,000-square-foot office and retail property features 11,000 square feet of retail space along Wilshire Boulevard. Mike Long of CBRE and Kevin Shannon, Rob Hannan and Ken White of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the sellers, PacShore Partners and GreenOak Real Estate LP, in the deal.
LOS BANOS AND SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — Continental Partners, formerly known as Continental Funding Group, has secured $21.4 million in refinancing for two shopping centers located in Sacramento and Los Banos. J.M. Grimaldi of Continental arranged a $9.5 million loan to refinance a 149,620-square-foot retail property located at 911-963 W. Pacheco Blvd. in Los Banos; and an $11.9 million loan to refinance a 152,719-square-foot shopping center located at 5400 Date Ave. in Sacramento. The borrower was an undisclosed private real estate investor that specializes in acquiring and repositioning underperforming assets.
LATHROP, CALIF. — Faris Lee Investments has brokered the sale of Lathrop Crossing, a multi-tenant retail property located at 15320-15346 S. Harlan Road in Lathrop. San Francisco-based Lathrop Crossing LLC sold the property to Los Gatos-based Vattadi Lathrop Crossing LLC for $5.2 million, or $319 per square foot. Built in 2008 and situated on 2.5 acres, six tenants occupy the 16,303-square-foot property, including Little Caesars Pizza, Dickey’s BBQ, Subway and In-Shape Fitness. Jeff Conover of Faris Lee represented the seller in the deal.
LA HABRA, CALIF. — SBH Real Estate Group has purchased a retail property located at 250 N. Harbor Road in La Habra. Interhealth Corp. sold the property for $4.5 million, or $203 per square foot. The 22,297-square-foot property was vacant at the time of sale. Scott Hook and Dan Tyner of Hook Retail Advisors represented the buyer, while Greg Jones of Jones Real Estate represented the seller it the transaction.
SAN FRANCISCO — American Realty Advisors has purchased Foundry Square III, a 291,093-square-foot office building in San Francisco’s Transbay District, for an undisclosed sum. The building is situated one block from San Francisco’s $4.5 billion Transbay Transit Center. It is fully leased to tenants like IBM, NASDAQ, Perkins Coie, Neustar and Silicon Valley Bank. Jeffrey Weber and Stephen Van Dusen of Eastdil Secured represented the seller, a development joint venture between Tishman Speyer and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
SAN DIEGO — Pinnacle International has purchased a 30,000-square-foot redevelopment site in San Diego for $14.5 million. The site is located at 1141 E St. in the East Village submarket. It contains a 25,000-square-foot industrial building. The property is zoned for multifamily residential development. Ben Tashakorian and Jessie James of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer and seller, Rodney Starkey, in this transaction.