Compiled by Carol Park and Paul Hughes
Ranco Huntington Investments LLC is in escrow to buy two closed school sites totaling nearly 21 acres. Ranco Hun-tington plans to build slightly more than 100 homes once the zoning for the land is changed. Ranco Huntington is buying the land for $40 million from the Fountain Valley School District, which owns the two parcels, formerly home to the Lamb and Wardlow elementary schools. At one time, Dallas-based homebuilder Centex Corp. pledged $58 million for the land in an auction but later walked away from the deal. Grading could start in 2010 or 2011. Homes would be 2,600 square feet to 3,300 square feet, selling for more than $1 million. Ranco Huntington is a venture of Ranco Realty Group of Temecula and Huntington Land Development LLC of Newport Beach.
Los Angeles-based KB Home may be building homes in the city after all. It paid $24.7 million for 13 acres in 2005 for the closed McDowell Elementary School at 17210 Oak St., west of the San Diego (I-405) Freeway, near Warner Avenue and Magnolia Street. As the housing market cooled, KB reportedly shopped the site but found no takers. Grading could start as early as January, according to Fountain Valley’s planning department. The site is approved for 54 homes of about 3,000 to 3,800 square feet, and a 1-acre park. Santa Ana-based Far West Industries recently started grading on a similar project with the same number of homes, same size range and a park, just two miles from KB’s land. Far West’s models are set to open this month, with homes starting at just less than $1 million.
Brookfield Homes Corp. of Del Mar plans to build townhomes and stores in the city’s downtown. The “Broadway mixed-use” development is set to occupy a parking lot behind the Boys & Girls Club near Broadway and Philadelphia Street. The project is set to include 100 to 125 townhomes. Brookfield plans to sell 10% of the homes as affordable housing. Plans also call for the construction of a 28,000-square-foot center for the Boys & Girls Club and a 30,000-square-foot YMCA with a pool and fitness center. The Anaheim Police Activities League is set to get new facilities as well. Prices for the homes have not been announced.
Brookfield also plans to build 80 to 85 townhomes and upgrade an old citrus packing plant near Anaheim Boulevard and Santa Ana Street in the city’s downtown. Plans for the packing house community call for townhomes to be built on both sides of Anaheim Boulevard. Brookfield is working with Kenwood Investments on the project. Construction is slated to begin in late 2008. The townhomes are set to be 1,400 to 1,700 square feet. Brookfield officials said they see continued demand for smaller projects in already developed areas and are looking to in-fill projects to help weather the housing downturn.
Costa Mesa-based BKM Development Co. completed renovations on the Lampson Business Park at 7465 Lampson Ave. The business park includes five buildings totaling 102,781 square feet. The project was valued at $17.5 million. BKM has gotten city approval to sell offices as condominiums at the business park, according to BKM project manager Dave Campbell.
Renovations are under way on a former pawnshop in the city’s downtown, a hotbed of restaurants and shops. The 7,000-square-foot building is set to be divided into three spaces for stores and a restaurant, according to city officials. The pawnshop recently moved to Anaheim, squeezed by higher rents from an influx of restaurants and bars downtown. Marianne Shearer, owner of The Dresser bridal boutique a couple blocks from the former pawnshop, plans to move her store to the site, taking 3,000 square feet. Shearer bought the 7,000-square-foot building for an undisclosed price. She plans to lease the remaining 4,000 square feet to a photographer and a Cajun restaurant. Fullerton-based Silber Architects is handling the nearly $750,000 in renovations. Construction should finish in November.
