COMMERCIAL
Irvine? Bixby Land Co. says its finances are in good enough shape to start planning its next round of acquisitions.
The real estate investor and developer, which holds about $1 billion in assets, is in the early stages of another round of fundraising. The company? looking to raise $50 million or more, said William ?ill?Halford, the privately held company? chief executive.
With private equity investors at a standstill, Bixby plans to target its fundraising from wealthy people and family businesses that are leery of putting their money in the stock market but still want the possibility of sizable returns.
Properties the company will be looking to buy in 2010 and 2011 could provide investors ?n unequaled opportunity,?Halford said.
Between the lack of debt available for deals and the ongoing downturn, capitalization rates for some commercial properties sold in the next couple years could rise to 10% to 11% from about 7.5% today?ffectively cutting property values in half from the peak of the market, Halford predicts.
The only buildings that are likely to be sold soon are those held by distressed owners who need to sell, Halford said. Many of those properties offer the opportunity of solid cash flow and the chance of equity appreciation in the low-to-mid teens, according to Halford.
Bixby was one investor able to refinance the large office and industrial deals it made in the past few years, Halford said. It recently extended loans tied to those properties to 2014.
Refinancing ?s relatively easy?f you can afford it,?Halford said.
In the short term, the company? paying more interest and higher mortgage payments than it originally expected when it first struck some deals it made in the past three years.
It? a much better alternative than the stark choices facing other debt-heavy real estate investment trusts and other investors, many of whom aren? likely to survive the downturn, according to Halford.
McMonigle Commercial
Newport Beach? McMonigle Group, one of the country? top brokerages for high-end homes, is starting up a commercial division.
The division? first major deal was the purchase of the land for the McMonigle Group? new corporate headquarters on Newport Center Drive, next to Fashion Island.
Other business has included the site selection in Dana Point for the West Coast headquarters of Creata Promotion USA Inc., the company said.
Other assignments under way include three medical lease site selections and a new retail development sale. The new division also is preparing to launch an investment fund focusing on bank-owned commercial real estate foreclosures, company officials said.
Storage Opening
A big self storage facility in Tustin several years in the making is opening its doors this month.
I-5 Self Storage, a roughly 220,000-square-foot building developed by Newport Beach-based Golden Horizon Enterprises, recently finished construction and is having its official grand opening later this month.
The building? just off the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway, at 2631 Michelle Drive. The site formerly was a 141,000-square-foot factory and office site that Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas Co., part of Dow Chemical Co., used to make circuit boards.
Golden Horizon bought the 7-acre property in 2004 and began its redevelopment. It now has 1,600 self-storage units and spaces for boats and recreational vehicles. Leasing at the property already has begun, according to Randy Scott Wong, owner and developer.
Wong is seeing business from small businesses that are subleasing some of their off-site warehousing space and moving their stored inventory to the facility, Wong said.
Fight Night
Commercial real estate practitioners who feel like they?e been battered in a 12-round boxing match during the past year can watch some professional fighters feel the pain instead.
The Southern California chapter of the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties is hosting its 20th annual Night at the Fights gala Thursday at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine.
The gala features live boxing and it? typically the local real estate industry? most popular networking event. This year? boxing slate includes two state title fights among the three match-ups.
Tickets are going for $600 per person and $6,000 for a table of 10.
Proceeds are used for NAIOP? legislative advocacy efforts.
