Hopkins Buys Valencia Land for Retail Projects
Abbey Co. Buys Back Stake; Equity Eyes More Apartment Deals
REAL ESTATE
by Daniel D. Williams
Newport Beach-based Hopkins Real Estate Group said it has bought four parcels in Valencia and expects to close on a fifth by August with plans for more than 220,000 square feet of retail space.
The company didn’t disclose the value of the deals. Hopkins is planning several retail centers on the land:
n Seco Canyon Plaza I is set to be home to Facey Medical Group, a Starbucks and Grand Panda Restaurant slated to open early this summer.
n Valencia Village is planned as a 30,000-square-foot convenience center and is set to open in coming weeks.
n River View Place calls for a 52,000-square-foot retail center anchored by Sav-On Drug. Prospective tenants include Starbucks and a La Salsa restaurant.
n Highridge Crossing is designed as a 70,000-square-foot retail center with tenants including Arco, Wendy’s, Starbucks and a La Salsa.
n Seco Canyon Plaza II is planned as a 42,000-square-foot retail center anchored by a pharmacy. It’s planned for completion a year from now.
Hopkins is betting on continued growth in Valencia and strength in the company’s core shopping center market.
“Our niche is in developing urban/infill areas,” said Stephen C. Hopkins, the company’s president at a recent roundtable discussion of shopping-center executives. “Most of our projects are either razed and new projects are developed, rehabilitation of existing projects or even creating mixed-use opportunities. One of the main reasons we are involved in this niche is that we do not run into environmental or growth-related issues that could stop a potential development.”
Abbey Buyback
Donald G. Abbey has acquired a stronger interest in the company that bears his name,Garden Grove-based The Abbey Co.
Using a loan from Chicago-based Capri Capital Select LLC and the notes on the company’s properties from Wachovia Securities, Abbey acquired a $142 million stake in the real estate investment company previously held by the Netherlands’ Rodamco, North America NV.
Rodamco formed a pact with Abbey in 1998 but has scaled back its Southern California operations.
“With this transaction completed, the company will continue to focus on further growth in 2002,” Abbey said. “We’ve reserved $50 million for acquisitions in the coming year. We are very enthusiastic about our relationships with both Wachovia Securities and Capri Capital Select as part of our expansion.”
According to company reports, Abbey’s portfolio stands at 3.6 million square feet and is valued at $350 million. The portfolio grew from 870,000 square feet to today’s total during Rodamco’s alliance with Abbey.
RESIDENTIAL
Equity Residential Properties Trust is in a growth mode in Orange County,and California in general, according to Fred Tuomi, executive vice president for the Chicago-based apartment owner and president of its Western division.
Since 1994, California has been a strong play for Equity, the nation’s largest publicly traded real estate investment trust with $14 billion in assets and some 225,000 apartments in 35 states.
“Being in so many different areas has insulated us from the highest highs and the lowest lows of the national economy,” Tuomi said.
Equity has more than 20,000 units in California with 3,200 of those in OC and another 4,000 in Los Angeles County.
Although he wouldn’t let on to what regional properties are in Equity’s sights, Tuomi said the company could grow its OC portfolio this year through apartment acquisitions, portfolio buys, company takeovers and development of new complexes.
Last year, Equity made roughly a dozen acquisitions in California. The biggest addition in OC was the 563-unit Toscana apartments in Irvine, which pull an average monthly rent of $1,439.
Bits and Pieces:
Newport Beach-based The Irvine Company Office Properties named Bill White of the Orange County office of Colliers Seeley International and Mark Zuvich and Jeff Cannon of Irvine-based Zuvich Cannon Associates brokers of the quarter for the fourth quarter. White earned the recognition for his brokering the relocation of Toyota Materials Handling USA’s headquarters from Torrance to a 36,000-square-foot facility at Jamboree Center in Irvine. Zuvich and Cannon brokered the move of medical company Endocare Inc. The company completed a move within the Irvine Spectrum, doubling its headquarters Santa Ana-based Benefit Land Title Co., a regional title and settlement services company, has consolidated with other regional providers Commerce Land Title Inc. and Metropolitan Title and Guaranty Co. to form Commerce Title, a national operation. All three companies are subsidiaries of Dallas-based Centex Corp. Costa Mesa-based developer and property manager Donahue Schriber has begun a $2 million refurbishment project for Peninsula Shopping Center, a 300,000-square-foot project in Rolling Hills Estates. Long Beach-based architect Perkowitz + Ruth, Studio One Eleven is designing the project, which is set for a summer completion date.
