Irvine-based Birtcher Development and Investment Co. has developed some of the area’s more unique high-rise office buildings.
Among them: Irvine’s 486,000-square-foot Lakeshore Towers and Santa Ana’s 305,000-square-foot Xerox Center.
But Brandon Birtcher, the company’s president, has been staying clear of office projects of late.
Industrial has been a focus, particularly in the Inland Empire.
Birtcher Development just closed on a pair of land deals in Riverside County, where close to $70 million in speculative projects is planned.
The company acquired a 23-acre site near the Riverside (91) and Pomona (60) freeways, where a 286,000-square-foot, three-building industrial park is expected. Construction should begin in early 2007. The plan is to offer the buildings for sale.
The land for the Birtcher Business Centre at General Drive went for $4 million.
Birtcher said he expects the development to cost about $28 million. The lenders for the deal are Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC and Bank of America Corp.
The deal follows on the heels of another Riverside County industrial deal. Birtcher Development bought about 91 acres of land near Hunter Park.
The company plans to develop a 426,000-square-foot, four-building industrial park with buildings for sale.
Groundbreaking for the project is set to start in early 2007.
Land for the project, dubbed Birtcher Business Centre at Mt. Vernon, went for about $9.6 million. Development is expected to cost about $42 million.
Guaranty Bank provided construction financing, which was arranged by Newport Beach-based Buchanan Street Partners. Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers is the equity lender.
Birtcher said he still sees a significant need for midsize industrial centers,particularly those 50,000 to 300,000 square feet,serving the Los Angeles ports.
Closer to home, the company’s biggest project is focused on retail with the 310,000-square-foot South Coast Home Furnishings Centre.
The eight-building showroom center is under construction along the San Diego (I-405) Freeway in Costa Mesa.
Tenants still are being lined up for the project, which should be completed early next year.
In all, Birtcher Development has a $330 million pipeline and 3.5 million square feet of space under development.
More office development isn’t out of the question, Birtcher said. The company is looking at office projects south of OC, in suburban areas near San Diego, he said.
In OC, the cost of land makes it challenging to find the right spot to build on, especially with rising construction costs, Birtcher said.
Furniture Shopping
San Juan Capistrano-based Nouveau Group LLC, a furniture designer, bought three new office buildings totaling 49,231 square feet in its hometown for $12.6 million.
The three buildings, ranging from 10,671 square feet to 19,714 square feet, are on Valle Road, next to the San Diego (I-405) Freeway.
Nouveau Group plans to operate the buildings as an office park. In a rarity for the area,which has been dominated by for-sale office condos,the buildings will be offered for lease.
Centra Realty Corp. of Irvine built the offices. They were completed earlier this year. Centra owned two of the buildings. King Insurance owned the other building.
Chris Clark and Tim Walker of Voit Commercial Brokerage LP’s Irvine office represented Nouveau Group and are acting as marketing agents for the buildings. Dave Travis, also of Voit’s Irvine office, represented the sellers.
One of Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp.’s first big urban, transit-oriented developments has been derailed.
The future of The Axis at Union Station project, a $34 million condominium project well under way in Los Angeles, was put in flux late last month when Standard Pacific offered buyers their deposits back, citing construction delays.
The 272-unit complex is being built next to rail lines at Union Station on Alameda Street. Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. is building the condos. Standard Pacific was set to buy the complex upon completion.
The first phase of the project was due to be ready for residents within a few months. But local reports said Standard Pacific has been mailing buyers refunds of their deposits, plus $8,500 per unit for relocation costs. About 40 of the units had been bought, at prices around $600,000.
A letter to buyers from Standard Pacific cited schedule delays, as well as questions over whether the company could acquire title to the complex. The company said market conditions were not behind the decision.
Standard Pacific has stopped sales. A conversion to apartments is likely, according to sources.
