DUBLIN, CALIF. — Dublin, Calif.-based Ross Stores Inc. opened 19 Ross Dress for Less locations and seven dd’s DISCOUNTS locations across 14 states in September and October. These new locations completed the company’s 2015 expansion plan to add a total of 90 stores during the year.
TEMPE, ARIZ. — Legacy Partners Residential has received city approval for the development of University Village 2.0, a new $60 million mixed-use, 775-bed student housing community near Arizona State University in Tempe. Located directly adjacent to Tempe’s light rail line, University Village 2.0 will replace a 1960s-era student housing complex, which will be demolished. KTGY is the project’s designer and architect. University Village 2.0 will feature 260 units and include studio, one-, two- and four-bedroom units. The community will also include 1,800 square feet of ground-level retail space. The units will range in size from 445 square feet to approximately 1,400 square feet and feature high-end finishes, stone countertops, stainless steel kitchen appliances, vinyl wood-plank flooring and in-unit washers and dryers. The majority of the units will feature the four-bedroom floor plans. The development will include multiple indoor and outdoor amenities, including a resort-style pool with beach entry, outdoor jumbo TV, sand volleyball court, fitness center and clubroom spaces. University Village 2.0 will consist of a single, five-story apartment building wrapped around two central courtyards and a parking garage. Legacy Partners plans to start demolition and construction on University Village 2.0 by summer 2016, and open for the fall 2018 semester.
FULLERTON, CALIF. — Safeco has acquired 914 West Orangethorpe Ave., a 79,898-square-foot retail property occupied by Food 4 Less in Fullerton, for $22.5 million. Heslin Holdings Inc. and Becker Development had jointly owned the property. The Food 4 Less lease extends through March 2026.
The retail market in Los Angeles is demonstrating exponential growth. Rents are going up, cap rates are going down and occupancy is soaring. Naturally, as lease prices rise, so do sale prices. As such, it is becoming increasingly difficult for investors to find opportunities where substantial rent growth is possible. Tenant competition is also fierce, and landlords are benefitting from extremely high demand throughout the market. Competition Abounds It’s only natural that retailers are competing over space as occupancy rises. One trend that has emerged in Los Angeles is competition among not only direct competitors, but indirect competitors as well. For example, a small grocer might compete with a Ross Dress 4 Less for the same location. Fueling this competition is an increase in large national retailers seeking out smaller urban spaces in downtown areas. Target, for example, is opening a store in LA’s Koreatown on Vermont and 6th streets at the base of a high-rise apartment building. When national soft goods chains open in urban hubs, there will be an evolution of retail surrounding those stores. Smaller discount stores and mom-and-pop retailers will likely suffer, which will lead to vacancies that tend to open the doors for new specialty …
TUSCON, ARIZ. — CBRE National Senior Housing has arranged a $25 million construction loan for Hacienda at The River, a 129-unit assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing community in Tuscon. A joint venture of The Freshwater Group and Watermark Retirement Communities is developing the community on a 5.75 acre plot. When completed, Watermark will manage the community. Aron Will, executive vice president of CBRE National Senior Housing, and Jim Sellers and Tim Prouty, both senior vice presidents of the CBRE Debt & Structured Finance office in Tucson, secured a three-year, floating-rate loan that then converts to a three-year, mini-perm loan. The loan was placed through a regional bank. Based in Tuscon, Watermark is the 13th largest operator of seniors housing communities in the U.S. with 38 communities comprising 7,483 units, according to 2015 data from the American Seniors Housing Association.
SIERRA VISTA, ARIZ. — Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions, in a joint venture with its institutional equity partner, has acquired Plaza Vista Mall, a 227,110-square-foot retail power center located in Sierra Vista. The center is 95.8 percent occupied by tenants including Cal Ranch, Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, Dollar Tree, Cato, Payless ShoeSource, Ross Dress for Less and Sally Beauty.
MURRIETA, CALIF. — Developer and operator Anthem Memory Care has broken ground on Vineyard Place, a $12.6 million memory care community in Murrieta, about 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Anthem expects to open the 38,000-square-foot, 66-unit community in summer 2016. Working with Anthem on developing and building Vineyard Place are CM Consulting, Markham Development Management Group, CBTwo Architects, Consolidated Contracting and LTC Properties, which is providing financing. Anthem, based in Lake Oswego, Ore., also operates a dementia care community in Chico, Calif., and four in Denver. It is currently developing three communities in the greater Chicago area.
MARINA, CALIF. — AMCAL Monterey Bay LLC has opened The Promontory, a 174-suite, 579-bed off-campus student housing development near the campus of California State University at Monterey Bay. The development is comprised of three four-story buildings featuring 174 fully furnished suites, in which students share a common kitchen and living room in the two-, three-, and four-bedroom housing pods. Each bedroom has its own bathroom, and each individual bedroom locks for privacy and security. Each of the three buildings also features an interior courtyard for studying and socializing. The community shares 6,500 square feet of interior common amenities that include study rooms, a cyber cafe with kitchen facility, computer lab, theater, game room and fitness center, as well as an outdoor basketball court. AMCAL Monterey Bay LLC purchased the 8.27-acre parcel of land from the City of Marina in January 2014. The project is privately funded by Bank of the West and private equity financed. Construction was completed in 18 months, which included the demolition of the abandoned Fort Ord Motor Pool. The development will be managed by the University Corp., the nonprofit that manages all of the campus’ student housing. AMCAL Monterey Bay LLC negotiated and signed a 20-year master …
LAKE FOREST, CALIF. — Lake Forest-based Del Taco is set to develop 27 new locations with three groups in central California. Three new locations are set to open within the next six months. Mike Sater, one of BP/Tesoro ARCO and AM/PM’s largest west coast franchisees, has signed a 20-store development agreement for six counties in the central valley. Sater’s first two Del Taco stores will open in Fresno and Clovis, with a third planned for Merced.
SEATTLE — HFF has arranged an $88 million construction loan for Urban Union, a 291,000-square-foot office development in Seattle. The trophy property will be located at 501 Fairview Ave. Urban Union will be a 12-story boutique office building featuring 284,357 square feet of office space, 6,725 square feet of ground-floor retail space and a 392-space subterranean parking garage. Its amenities will cater to TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information sectors) tenants, with two collaborative workspace features. The Union, a two-story, 4,500-square-foot gathering space will feature a conference center, catering kitchen, quiet room and board room. The Overlook will be an outdoor deck and rooftop conference center with views of Lake Union, Seattle and the Space Needle. It will also feature an indoor enclosed area that can be divided into smaller meeting spaces. The development is scheduled for completion in March 2016. The developer is Schnitzer West. HFF’s Michael Tepedino, Jennifer Keller and Tom Wilson arranged the loan through Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Bank of the Ozarks.
