ULI Targest Strip Centers; Olson Will Build Talega Athletic Club
COMMERCIAL
Colliers Seeley International Inc. has found recent success in the industrial sector,an area that has some in the real estate community nervous (see story on page 26).
First up, Colliers closed a deal for an 11-building industrial park in Fullerton. The 228,401-square-foot park, on 13.59 acres. It is fully leased.
Tenants include Walt Disney Co., Fairchild Corp., Los Angeles Times and American Greeting Corp.
“It’s Disney’s costume-manufacturing facility,” said Randy Coe of Colliers Seeley. The facility ships the garments and costumes to their theme parks throughout the world, according to Coe.
Michael Ross, David Norcott and Coe, all of Colliers Seeley, represented the buyer, Times Square Real Estate Investors, and the seller, RREEF.
In another industrial deal, Colliers Seeley completed a transaction for a $6.2 million, 80,000-square-foot build-to-suit facility in Santa Ana.
In the transaction, I.C. Myers Properties Inc. acquired the property for Santa Ana-based Melmarc Products, a contract imprinter, according to Tim Joyce, senior vice president of Colliers Seeley International’s South Orange County operations.
Lee A. McCullough and Chip Dever of Colliers Seeley represented I.C. Myers. The late John Sutherland of Property Resources Inc. and Gary Stache of CB Richard Ellis represented the developer, Ewing Development Co. of Newport Beach.
Melmarc will consolidate its operations from multiple locations in Santa Ana and Fountain Valley to the new, larger facility in Santa Ana.
Ugly Is as Ugly Does
Americans like to reinvent themselves. Just look at Madonna, or Dennis Rodman. OK, don’t look at Dennis Rodman. He’s “oogly” enough, as we used to say in Mississippi. And, besides, he’s been in the news plenty lately, with the antics surrounding his 40th birthday bash.
Turning an eye to real estate, The Urban Land Institute has an opinion on ugly, too. The Washington-based nonprofit organization wants to reinvent what it considers an American eyesore: the Suburban Strip. After a study of strips in the Washington, D.C. metro area, the ULI believes that too often, strip malls blight instead of enhance the nearby residential areas.
“The whole idea is to conserve, enhance and extend the existing neighborhood to create a better environment,” said ULI Senior Resident Fellow Michael Beyard. “Our highways need to be converted from congested, ugly strips of disparate, stand-alone projects into attractive transportation corridors that take people to places.”
Just don’t ask Rodman to plan the entertainment for Suburban Strip kickoff celebrations.
Olson to Build Talega Club
With all the business parks and homes coming on line in the Talega area, all those people will need some way to relax. That’s where the Talega Swim & Athletic Club, in San Clemente, will come in. The Club has hired Irvine-based R.D. Olson Construction for general contracting on the four-phase project, which includes a 30,000-square-foot clubhouse (that will sit upon an 18-hole golf course designed by Fred Couples) and a 7,500-square-foot recreation center. Already completed is the $1.5 million Welcome Center. On tap is a golf clubhouse. The whole project will cost about $7.5 million.
Approximately half of the Talega community’s 3,510 acres will remain as open space and The Dahlin Group Inc. has designed The Talega Swim & Athletic Club to reflect and maintain the natural aspects of the landscape.
“It is a pleasure working with such fine architectural designers and knowing this recreational project will be a focal point of such a uniquely planned community,” said Dennis Reyling, president of R.D. Olson Construction.
Among those focal points are a 1,172-acre nature reserve and, eventually, 19 miles of hiking and biking trails.
RESIDENTIAL
Forbes magazine has come out with another one of its rankings. Its “Platinum 400” ranks the best-performing big public companies and pegged Richmond American Homes’ parent company, MDC Holdings Inc., as the second-strongest national homebuilder. The company also was rated one of the nation’s 10 largest homebuilders by Builder magazine.
Headquartered in Denver, Richmond American has a solid presence in Orange County. Irvine is home to its Southern California division, which ranks No. 8 among OC residential builders on the Business Journal’s list.
Richmond American’s OC activity has grown from 45 homes in 1994 to about 1,100 homes last year.
Its homes range in price from the mid-$100,000s to a peak of about $2 million, according to division president Robert T. Shiota, with a total sales volume last year of $340 million.
Richmond American also offers buyer services through its affiliate companies HomeAmerican Mortgage Corp. and AHI Insurance Agency Inc.
