A couple of high-end deals on the Newport Beach waterfront hold the potential to finish the summer selling season off with some star power.
Word has it that Chinese battery inventor and entrepreneur Winston Chung is in escrow on the Bayshore house once owned by actor Nicholas Cage and now in the hands of Las Vegas gas station and gambling bigshot Jerry Herbst.
Herbst paid $35 million for the place—across from a home he owns on Linda Isle—in 2008.
It’s now listed for $28.5 million.
Chung has been in the headlines lately as the buyer in a deal for The Balboa Bay Club and Resort that could close in coming weeks (see related Cover Story).
The deal calls for Chung’s Delaware-based Seven-One Capital-Business Inc. to acquire International Bay Club Inc., the parent of oceanfront yacht club, resort and apartments, along with its Newport Beach Country Club, a private golf club.
Terms of that deal have not been disclosed.
There’s no word on whether he plans to take up full-time residence at the house in Bayshore or join the ranks of OC’s weekend wealthy.
Chung founded China-based Winston Global Energy Ltd., which makes electric, lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, including cars, buses and limousines.
The Chinese businessman will join a slew of buyers from China who’ve been snapping up homes in Newport Beach and Newport Coast. After Canadians, the Chinese make up the largest number of international buyers in the U.S.
Chung is boosting his stake in Orange County and Riverside.
This year, he’s invested at least $9 million in Brea-based Krystal Koach Inc., one of the country’s largest makers of limousines.
Chung also put $310 million into MVP RV, a Riverside-based maker of recreational vehicles.
Earlier this year, Chung donated $10 million to University of California, Riverside, to fund a new clean energy research center at the Bourns College of Engineering’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology. The new center will be called Winston Chung Global Energy Center.
The donation also will fund two new professors who will teach energy innovation and sustainability.
Chung was named the inaugural fellow of the Bourns College of Engineering during its commencement ceremonies held in June.
George & Julia
Real estate developer and former U.S. ambassador to Spain George Argyros and his wife Julia are said to be considering a third lot on Harbor Island, where the couple is nearly finished building a new house.
The distinct pink Mediterranean estate, fronted by three large archways, has been in the works for a while.
The home takes up two lots. The couple bought the second lot in 2007 and tore down that house as well as the one on their original lot to build the mansion.
Argyros and his wife have lived on the island for decades.
While the Argyros house was getting finishing touches, the two cruised the Adriatic Sea aboard their yacht, Huntress. Chapman University President Jim Doti, who was along for the ride, told the tale of his adventure on the Chapman blog.
Their destination: graduation ceremonies in Czech Republic of students from Chapman’s Argyros School of Business and Economics’ Prague MBA program.
Hom’s Harbor Tour
Newport Beach-based Hom Real Estate Group Inc. recently took Chairman Mike Shapiro’s yacht out for a short cruise from The Balboa Bay Club to 24 Harbor Island.
It was a business trip.
To help find a buyer for the $26.5 million property on the exclusive island, Hom listing agent Kathryn White invited about 60 agents to get a gander at the grassy swath of land—minus a house.
Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co.’s cofounder Bill Gross is the seller.
Gross bought the property a couple of years ago, tore down the house and was expected to build a new one. The land has been vacant for some time. His primary residence is in Laguna Beach.
Agents from Beverly Hills-based Teles Properties, Prudential California Realty and Coldwell Banker Previews International were aboard for the jaunt.
White recently listed the property, which has its own website: 24harborisland.com. The new promotional brochures show what the property might look like with a house built on it.
The buyer of 24 Harbor Island will have billionaires Donald Bren and Argyros as neighbors.
Vegas Buyer
A Las Vegas family recently bought a $5.5 million bayfront home at 1807 E. Bay Ave. in Newport Beach as an investment.
“They just thought this was a good time to buy waterfront for the long term,” said Hom agent Kimberly Bibb, who represented the buyer.
Mary Ellen Weglarz, an agent with Coldwell Banker Previews International in Newport Beach, represented the seller.
The Cape Cod-style home on Balboa Peninsula is the buyer’s second in Orange County. The other is a secondary residence that’s not on the water.
Built in 2002, the 3,138-square-foot house has four bedrooms and four bathrooms. It is fronted by a beach area and has a dock for a boat up to 55 feet long.
The home was originally listed at $5.7 million in March.
The purchase price wasn’t far off the listing price, according to Bibb.
