Snyder Langston Takes Center Stage at SCR; Centex Buys More in Serrano Heights
COMMERCIAL
Laguna Niguel-based Birtcher Real Estate Group recently broke ground on a four-story, 95,000-square-foot building in Portland, Ore., one of a string of new developments in the West that is sure to keep the family-owned company busy for the foreseeable future. The Portland building, part of the AmberGlen Business Center, follows Birtcher’s recent completion of 250,000 square feet of office space in that market. In Vancouver, Wash., the company has a 220-acre project in the works. It plans to build 1.2 million square feet of office and industrial space,and that’s just the first phase. The company envisions another 1 million square feet in phase two.
Closer to home, Birtcher recently completed construction of a three-building, two-story complex in the Pacific Commerce Center in Lake Forest. “I think there’s incredibly strong absorption from small to large users, from the 3,000- to 7,000-square-foot users all the way up to the 80,000- to 100,000-square-foot users,” said company co-chairman and chief development officer Brandon Birtcher. “I think supply is cautiously growing to meet demand, so I do not perceive an imbalance in the supply-and-demand equation.” Birtcher said he believes that not only about Southern California, but also about other major Western markets such as Denver, Phoenix and Portland, where Birtcher is also active. In addition to development, Birtcher is moving forward aggressively on the acquisition front. Although he declined to be specific about location, Birtcher said he expects the company to soon pick up about $60 million worth of property. “It’s in the West and most of it is flex and office space,” he said. Just last month, Birtcher closed escrow on the 400,676-square-foot Brookhollow Office Park in Costa Mesa, having paid $41 million in one of the largest low-rise office transactions in Orange County this year. Birtcher, which teamed with Pradium Funds out of New York, acquired the property from a partnership of Santa Ana-based CALVEST Realty Advisors Inc. and Dallas-based Olympus Real Estate. “We have decided that we are going to be a significant force in the real estate development, investment and property management markets in the Western U.S., which include Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona,” Birtcher said.
SCR Casts Snyder Langston
Irvine-based Snyder Langston has been selected to provide pre-construction and construction services for the $19 million expansion and renovation of Orange County’s South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa. Plans for the 40,000-square-foot facility call for the addition of a third theater, enlarging the lobby, and renovation of the two existing theaters, production facilities, dressing rooms, theater shops, offices and classrooms. Irvine architectural firm McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners is overseeing the year-long project, which is scheduled to begin next fall.
Insignia Skirts Irvine Co. Ban
The folks at Insignia/ESG seem pretty adept at walking a fine line. The local office of the property management and brokerage firm recently brokered its first major leases in Orange County, securing more than 400,000 square feet for tenants Global Center, FCB Worldwide and AIG. The total value of the leases exceeds $160 million. The company’s push into brokerage services locally is new, although the firm has been doing it in other markets for some time. Insignia/ESG is the dominant property management firm for The Irvine Company and its extensive portfolio of properties in Orange County. In the past, the Irvine Co. has not allowed its property management firms to offer brokerage services in Orange County, believing there could be conflicts with its in-house brokers. However, Insignia/ESG seems to have reached some sort of accommodation with the giant landowner.
The three major leases recently signed:
—Global Center, a provider of Web hosting and infrastructure services, signed a 15-year, roughly $70 million lease for 232,000 square feet at 18311 Jamboree Road in Irvine.
—FCB Worldwide, the fifth-largest advertising agency in the world, has signed a 15-year, $35 million lease for 100,000 square feet at 535 Anton Blvd. in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Metro Center.
—AIG, an international insurance and financial services provider, signed a 9 1/2-year, $18.4 million lease for 70,000 square feet at 1 MacArthur Place at Nexus Development’s new office complex off the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway.
RESIDENTIAL
Centex Homes has closed escrow on 40 lots in the Serrano Heights planned community in Orange. The homebuilder paid $4.7 million for the roughly 4,000-square-foot lots. Anaheim-based SunCal Cos., developer of Serrano Heights, was the seller. Mackey O’Donnell, Craig Atkins and Mike Hunter of Costa Mesa-based brokerage firm O’Donnell/Atkins Co. represented both parties in the transaction.
