Hong Kong’s Lee Kum Kee Grabs City of Industry Warehouse
Spectrum Land Goes for $2M; Job Growth Drives Fieldstone
REAL ESTATE
by Daniel D. Williams
Lee Kum Kee Inc., the U.S. arm of 113-year-old Hong Kong food and beverage maker Lee Kum Kee Co., has signed a 10-year, $5.5 million lease to occupy a 109,777-square-foot distribution center in the city of Industry.
The distribution center also features 10,000 square feet of office space. The facility, currently under construction, is on 6.1 acres at 14881 Don Julian Road. Lee Kum Kee is set to occupy the building in March.
“The project was leased while under construction largely be-cause it is a new state-of-the-art structure in a size range that was rare in the submarket at this time,” said Ted Carpenter, a principal at Newport Beach-based Carpenter & Associates, which represented Bechler Corp., the project’s developer, in the Lee Kum Kee lease.
Started in 1888, Lee Kum Kee counts five major divisions,sauces and food products, health care products, restaurants, property investment and transport. The Asian food and beverage division, Lee Kum Kee’s core business, will be the focus of the Industry facility. Steve Bellitti of Colliers Seeley Co. represented Lee Kum Kee.
Newport Beach-based Hill Pinckert Architects firm is designing the project, which includes 30-foot minimum interior clearance and onsite parking for 150 vehicles.
Irvine Spectrum Land Sells
A pair of Orange County private investors snatched up a parcel of Irvine Spectrum land. Mr. and Mrs. Phil Quarnta looked beyond the short-term slowdown in acquiring a 2.2-acre parcel at 560 Telsa Ave. Despite high vacancy rates in the Spectrum,the latest figures have more than 2 million square feet vacant in the area,the Quarntas paid $2 million for the land with plans for development.
Early reports indicate the Quarntas plan to build a 33,000-square-foot industrial building on the site during the first quarter. Dick Silva, a senior vice president at the Newport Beach office of Lee & Associates, represented the Quarntas in the deal. The seller was The Irvine Company’s Irvine Community Development Company, which represented itself.
Oops!
In a column earlier this month, I mentioned that the Newport Beach office of Marcus & Millichap brokered two deals at Town Center Plaza, Laguna Niguel, for 147,276 square feet worth $25.4 million. I also mentioned that private investors purchased the properties from an affiliate of San Francisco-based Capital Management.
But I forgot to mention that Priscilla Pacheco, director and project coordinator of The Lucescu Group @ Marcus & Millichap was the broker of record. My apologies.
Bits & Pieces:
The Santa Ana Unified School District tapped the architectural design team of Newport Beach-based JBZ Architecture + Planning and Costa Mesa-based Ralph Allen Associates to design a $40 million high school at Raitt Street and MacArthur Boulevard. Groundbreaking on the 39-acre campus is set for September, with a completion date of August 2003 Irvine-based Leighton and Associates, a geotechnical consultant, has been added to the design and build team for the $171 million, 700,000-square-foot Caltrans headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. Design work begins in January Irvine-based Sperry Van Ness has opened a regional office in Chicago, bringing its operations to 35 offices nationally. The Orange County Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management has slated its annual economic forecast luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine. Dr. Rocky Tarantello, principal of Chicago-based Real Estate Research Corp., and J. R. Wetzel, partner, PGP Partners Inc., Newport Beach, are set to discuss the local and national economies. More details: www.iremoc.org.
RESIDENTIAL
Fieldstone Communities Inc. shrugged off a slumping economy in 2001, saying it set records in the number of homes sold and in revenue for the year.
The Newport Beach-based homebuilder said it closed on 721 homes worth roughly $260 million. During the year, Fieldstone kept its focus on three key areas,Orange County, San Diego and Utah. The company split its sales fairly evenly among the areas, selling 276 homes in OC, 267 homes in San Diego and 178 homes in Utah. According to Frank Foster, Fieldstone’s chief executive, the company benefited from continued job growth in OC. “Of the leading economic indicators, job growth has proven over time to be one of the most important to our industry, and job growth remained strong this year,” Foster said. But Fieldstone said the company doesn’t expect to match last year’s figures in 2002. Still, California’s diverse economy makes it better equipped to handle a downturn and mount a comeback, according to Steve Cameron, president of Fieldstone’s OC division. Cameron said political influence would be needed to keep the OC housing market viable. “Local politicians need to be sensitive to the housing needs of Orange County as they review new housing projects,” Cameron said. “The high cost of housing and energy will discourage new businesses from relocating here and create incentives for others to leave. Without the continued job growth that new businesses generate, our economy will suffer.”
