California

ThrillCorp SkySpire Tower to Anchor $1.2B Redevelopment of Downtown Site in San Diego

by Haisten Willis July 20, 2016

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Port Authority Commission has selected a $1.2 billion project proposal to transform 70 acres of downtown San Diego’s waterfront. ThrillCorp Inc. will develop a 480-foot observation tower, to be known as SkySpire, which will anchor the development. ThrillCorp is a partner in a consortium called 1HWY1, which is led by Protea Waterfront Development. In addition to the SkySpire, the $1.2 billion redevelopment proposal includes the 178,500-square-foot OdySea aquarium, bayfront beaches, three hotels totaling 1,077 rooms, marinas, more than 388,000 square feet of retail, 19,100 square feet of offices, dining and other entertainment. The winning proposal was one of 11 submitted for the site. The Port Authority and Protea Waterfront Development are expected to complete final review of the proposal by October, beginning the development process immediately afterward. “I believe this site is unquestionably one of the best waterfront sites in the United States,” says Yehudi Gaffen, spokesman for Protea Waterfront Development. “When completed, this will redefine experiential urban, mixed-use development and make San Diego a truly world class city.” The San Diego Unified Port District approved the development following a 6-1 vote. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2020 for completion in 2023, according to BisNow. …

July 20, 2016

California Hospitality Loans Top Stories Western

Next Century Partners Receives $1B in Construction Financing for Century Plaza Mixed-Use Project in Los Angeles

by Nellie Day July 11, 2016

LOS ANGELES — Next Century Partners has received $1 billion in construction financing for the Century Plaza mixed-use project in Los Angeles. The $2.5 billion project will include two residential towers, restaurants and retail shops. The existing, five-star Century Plaza Hotel on the site will also undergo a renovation. The project is located at 2025 Avenue of the Stars in the Century City submarket. Construction is scheduled to commence later this summer. The hotel closed for renovations in March, and is set to reopen in early 2018. It will include a redesigned open-air lobby that connects public plazas and fountains to a two-acre garden surrounded by restaurants and retail. The hotel has hosted a number of notable events over its 50-year run, including the Grammy Awards and the “Dinner of the Century” in 1969, which honored the first astronauts to reach the moon. The full, mixed-use project will feature about 100,000 square feet of retail. The 46-story residential towers will include 290 luxury residences. A variety of loans provided the $1 billion in financing, including a $446 million senior loan from J.P. Morgan Chase; $120 million mezzanine financing from an investment vehicle managed by Colony Capital; and $450 million of …

July 11, 2016

California Retail Top Stories Western

Two Southern California Shopping Centers Change Hands for $352M

by Nellie Day June 20, 2016

LOS ANGELES AND SAN DIEGO — Savills Studley has arranged the sale of a pair of shopping centers in Southern California for a combined sales price of $352 million. In the first transaction, ROIC California purchased North Ranch Shopping Center, a 146,625-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in the Los Angeles submarket of Westlake Village, for $122.8 million. Ralphs Fresh Fare, Rite Aid, Trader Joes and Petco anchor North Ranch. It is located at 3815-3963 Thousand Oaks Blvd., one block from the 101 Freeway. In the second transaction, Stockbridge Capital Group purchased Mira Mesa Marketplace, a 487,807-square-foot regional shopping center in San Diego, for $229 million. Smart & Final Extra, CVS, Home Depot, Edwards Theatre, Ross, Old Navy and Barnes & Noble anchor Mira Mesa. It is located off Interstate 15 on Mira Mesa Boulevard. Bill Bauman and Kyle Miller of Savills Studley’s National Retail Services Group represented the unidentified seller of the two properties. ROIC California is an entity of the Retail Opportunity Investment Corp., a publicly traded REIT. Stockbridge Capital Group is a real estate investment firm headquartered in San Francisco. — Nellie Day

June 20, 2016

California Retail Western

Progressive, Hanley List 99,808 SF Thomas Winery Plaza for Sale for $28.6M

by Nellie Day May 23, 2016

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIF. — Progressive Real Estate Partners and Hanley Investment Group have listed Thomas Winery Plaza, a 99,808-square-foot shopping center in Rancho Cucamonga, for sale at $28.6 million. Built in 1989 and renovated in 2008, the property is more than 90 percent occupied and features a diverse mix of more than 30 national and regional/local retailers, including CVS/pharmacy, Fitness 19, Souplantation, The Flame Broiler, Klatch Coffee, Wine Tailor and Elements Massage. Brad Umansky and Frank Vora of Progressive Real Estate Partners, along with Bill Asher of Hanley Investment Group, are marketing the property on behalf of the seller, a private real estate partnership.

May 23, 2016

Hospitality Loans Office Retail Top Stories Western

Developers Receive $225M Loan to Finance The Bloc Mixed-Use Project in Downtown Los Angeles

by Nellie Day April 5, 2016

LOS ANGELES — The developers of The Bloc, a 1.1 million-square-foot office, retail and hospitality redevelopment in downtown Los Angeles, have received a $225 million permanent loan to finance the project. The Bloc is located at 700 S. Flower Street. The site was originally built in 1973 as a traditional mall. The redevelopment will transform the space into an open-air urban complex. It will be the largest mixed-use property in Los Angeles, according to developers The Ratkovich Company, National Real Estate Advisors and Blue Vista Capital. The Bloc is scheduled to open this summer. A renovated flagship Macy’s will anchor the center. The Bloc will also offer a variety of artisanal retailers and restaurants, as well as creative-leaning office space and a newly renovated, 496-room Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown. The new loan replaces an existing CMBS loan inherited when the property was purchased in 2013, with a final payoff amount of about $121.6 million. It also provides additional proceeds to finalize the redevelopment and fund leasing costs at the property. “This financial commitment lends further credence to the vibrant revitalization underway in downtown and lays the foundation for continued growth in the decades ahead,” says Jeff Kanne, president of National …

April 5, 2016

Westfield Sells Five Malls Across U.S. for $1.1B

by Nellie Day December 21, 2015

LOS ANGELES — Westfield Corp. (ASX: WFD) has sold five of its regional malls to a joint venture between Centennial Real Estate Co., Montgomery Street Partners, USAA Real Estate Co. and a real estate investment affiliate of Blum Capital Partners for $1.1 billion. The portfolio features more than 6 million square feet of retail space across four states. The acquisition includes the Connecticut Post Mall in Milford, Conn.; Main Place Mall in Santa Ana, Calif.; Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills, Ill.; Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Ill.; and Vancouver Mall in Vancouver, Wash. The malls have an average occupancy rate of more than 97 percent. Montgomery and USAA will act as the financial partners, while Westfield will maintain a minority equity interest. Centennial will oversee the malls’ daily operations. The existing on-site management teams will continue to operate the properties under Centennial’s direction. The JV plans to evaluate each property to determine where it can add value through enhancements and new tenants. “A mall can’t just be about shopping anymore,” says Steven Levin, Centennial’s CEO. “Understanding the needs of your market is the cornerstone of creating a one-of-a-kind experience that guests can’t get online or anywhere else. Our goal is …

December 21, 2015

Market Reports Western Market Reports

A New Demand for the IE’s Office Market

by Nellie Day December 8, 2015

Things have been steadily moving forward in the Inland Empire office market. Consistently the fastest-growing, non-farm job market in Southern California, the region’s exceptional growth in professional and business service positions provides a compelling reason for investors to view this office market as opportunistic. There is a high demand for Class A and B property investments. We are also seeing overseas buyers, mostly from China, showing interest in the region. Unlike Los Angeles and Orange County, which have been popular with foreign investment for the past several years, this is a new trend for the Inland Empire. It also suggests global investors are looking to the region as an attractive alternative to some of the pricier Southern California markets. The Inland Empire is now on the map. The good news is there is still room to add value by leasing up vacant space and realizing future rent growth. We have recently seen many investors buying risk-oriented projects, anxious to secure some of these affordable assets before rates and pricing rise. Some of the strongest submarkets for leasing and investment are the CBDs of Corona, Riverside, Rancho Cucamonga and Temecula, as well as the Ontario Airport area. There is a high …

December 8, 2015

Market Reports Western Market Reports

Record-Setting Employment Figures Fuel NorCal’s Strong Multifamily Market

by Nellie Day November 10, 2015

Fueled by record-setting employment, the San Francisco Bay Area multifamily market is performing at its highest level in recent years in terms of low vacancy rates, strong rental growth, and new apartment communities coming online, under construction and planned. The San Francisco metropolitan area – which accounts for half of the San Francisco Peninsula, San Francisco, Marin and Oakland – added about 4,100 jobs during September, according to Beacon Economics. This number is on par for most of the year. Sources from the City of San Jose reported the Bay Area added more than 40,000 new jobs during the 12-month period from October 2014 through September 2015. A further report from the Association of Bay Area Governments stated that “by spring of 2013, the region had regained all of the jobs lost in the 2007 to 2009 recession, while estimates indicate that the jobs lost since the higher peak in 2000 were finally regained by the end of 2014. This rebound has spread unevenly throughout the region, with counties as diverse as San Francisco and Napa each having passed the two previous peaks in employment.” Unemployment is running as low as 3.7 percent in the San Jose/Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA. It …

November 10, 2015

California Multifamily Seniors Housing Western

Summit Healthcare REIT Elects Suzanne Koenig to Board of Directors

by Nellie Day November 6, 2015

LAKE FOREST, CALIF. —Summit Healthcare REIT Inc. has named Suzanne Koenig to its board of directors after an election at the annual meeting of stockholders. Koenig is president and founder of SAK Management Services LLC, a long-term care management and healthcare consulting services company. With over 20 years of experience as an owner and operator, Koenig offers skills in operations improvement, staff development and quality assurance, with particular expertise in marketing, census development and operations enhancement for the whole spectrum of senior housing. Koenig is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and a Licensed Social Worker in multiple states. In addition, she has served in an advisory and consulting capacity for numerous client engagements involving bankruptcy proceedings as well as in turnaround management situations. Koenig also serves as an officer and director for several of the states’ long-term care provider associations. She is the former co-chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) Health Care Committee, a co-chair for the Steering Committee of the Midwest Turnaround Management Association (TMA) Chapter, and was recently elected to the Global Turnaround Management Association Board of Trustees. She is on the board of directors for the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. …

November 6, 2015

Market Reports Western Market Reports

Grocers, Dollar Stores Take Center Stage in OC

by Nellie Day November 3, 2015

The Orange County retail market remains active due to declining vacancies and increasing job creation and housing starts. As a result, enthusiasm was evident at the recent ICSC Western Division Conference in San Diego, as industry colleagues discussed opportunities and challenges associated with the strength of the local market. There has been very little new development recently in Orange County, which has seen more than 3 million square feet of vacant space absorbed since 2011, according to CoStar. There continues to be an unbelievable demand for retail investment properties, while the Fed’s announcement to maintain existing interest rates will only increase competition in this limited market. A dynamic investment market offers both challenges and opportunities for retail leasing. Limited local new development is directly connected to continued instability among major grocery stores and big-box retailers. We might never see another ground-up traditional power center again because of post-recession downsizing and shakeouts among major retailers. While many of the major national retailers remain active, the focus has turned to expansion in smaller urban environments, which are limited in Orange County. Grocery-anchored daily needs centers remain a Class A asset type, though instability within the local grocery sector continues to challenge the …

November 3, 2015

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