Newport Beach-based Burnham USA Equities Inc. is keeping busy with retail acquisitions.
The real estate developer and investor, best known of late for its purchase of the former South Coast Home Furnishings Center in Costa Mesa, recently bought two other retail properties that total about 110,000 square feet.
In the larger of the two buys, Burnham bought an empty 80,000-square-foot department store in Laguna Niguel in a lender-driven sale.
The building, part of the 508,000-square-foot Marketplace at Laguna Niguel shopping center along Alicia Parkway, used to house a Mervyns department store.
The building last was acquired for a reported $24.3 million in 2005 by an investor called Laguna Dundee One LLC. It was the seventh-largest retail sale seen in Orange County that year.
When Mervyns closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2008, the prior owner defaulted on the property’s loan, prompting the lender to pursue foreclosure proceedings, according to Burnham officials.
The building then was put under the control of Irvine-based Sperry Van Ness, acting as the receiver.
The property was acquired directly from the lender, according to Burnham, which was represented by Sperry Van Ness broker Fouy Ly.
Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed. Sperry Van Ness had been marketing the property for $7.5 million, or about $97 per square foot, which is a far cry from its former sales price. Court records show the lender to be Wells Fargo & Co.
The new owner’s been talking to seven or eight prospective tenants for the space and is considering splitting it into multiple uses, according to Stephen Thorp, Burnham USA’s executive vice president. The company expects to announce a tenant soon, he said.
In the second sale, Burnham USA picked up a more stable retail property. It bought the 30,000-square-foot Pacific Plaza on East 17th Street in Costa Mesa, for about $6 million.
The office and retail project, built in 1977, is nearly full and was sold by the project’s original developer, Art Shapiro. The property includes a number of tenants, including Citibank.
The two deals come as Burnham USA is getting closer to unveiling South Coast Collection, the revamped and redeveloped site of Costa Mesa’s former South Coast Home Furnishings Center.
The developer bought the property, which previously sold for nearly $100 million at the peak of the market, for about $40 million last year.
Anaheim Renewal
Willdan Group Inc., an Anaheim company that handles engineering, security and financial consulting jobs for cities and counties, said it has renewed its lease at its headquarters on East Katella Avenue.
The latest deal is for 37,199 square feet. The company had been leasing about 42,000 square feet at the building, according to its last annual report.
With the new deal, Willdan was able “to reduce its rent, extend its lease term and provide for future flexibility,” said Jones Lang LaSalle’s David Cantwell, who represented Willdan.
The landlord, Principal Financial Group Inc., was represented by Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
Willdan went public in 2006 and had a recent market value of about $25 million. The company also leases office space in 20 other places, primarily in California, Arizona and New York.
Those offices total about 164,000 square feet of space.
Faris Lee Expansion
Irvine’s Faris Lee Investments, one of the country’s top brokerages dealing in retail properties, as well as one of the county’s larger brokerage offices, is planning an expansion outside California.
As part of the company’s plan to “build in key markets where the firm recognizes opportunity,” Faris Lee recently said it is opening offices in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
The Arizona operations are starting with four brokers, all hailing from the local office of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, including managing director David Wetta.
The Las Vegas office is being headed up by managing director Robert Moore, who recently served as president of Gatski Commercial Real Estate Services.
Faris Lee’s also looking to expand into Atlanta and Miami, officials said. Existing clients want brokers there “to be on the ground working with their properties and portfolios,” according to President Rich Walter.
Faris Lee, which said it has completed $20 billion in national real estate transactions in its history, already has an office in New York.
