Humphreys Leaving Shea Homes Bigger Than When He Joined It
Hendricks & Partners Handles Aliso Viejo Apartment Sale; Voit’s Year-End Report Details Decline.
REAL ESTATE
by Daniel D. Williams
RESIDENTIAL:
SUB:
Roy Humphreys is retiring after 27 years with Walnut-based Shea Homes.
Humphreys, who has been president of the homebuilder since 1980, first joined Shea Homes, a division of J.F. Shea Co., in 1974 as an offsite coordinator for the Southern California division.
Under Humphreys, Shea Homes grew from yearly sales of 400 new homes and $17 million to 5,600 new home sales a year and roughly $1.8 billion in revenue.
Among the highlights of Humphreys career: Shea’s acquisition of Mission Viejo Co. in 1997; the 1998 buy of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based UDC Homes Inc.; and the launching of Shea Financial Services in 1995 and the company’s active adult division in 1999.
One deal that didn’t happen during Humphrey’s tenure was Shea’s proposed buy of Phoenix-based Del Webb Corp., a builder of retirement homes. Shea tried to take over Del Webb in 2000 and supported a dissident group of board candidates in a bid to complete the deal after prolonged due diligence. Shea’s bid fall apart after shareholders opted for candidates backed by Del Webb management.
Outside of Shea, Humphreys served on committees for numerous organizations, including the Urban Land Institute’s Residential Blue Flight Council. In 1989, he was president of the Building Industry Association’s Southern California chapter. In 1994, California Builder magazine named him builder of the year. A year later, the California Building Industry Foundation inducted Humphreys into its hall of fame.
According to a company spokeswoman, Shea plans to replace Humphreys with an internal candidate and expects to announce a new president soon.
Hendricks Brokers Apartment Deal
The Newport Beach office of Hendricks & Partners closed on Canyon Point, an Aliso Viejo apartment complex. Hendricks paid $18.6 million for the 124-unit apartment community.
Located at 22681 Oak Grove St. in Aliso Viejo, Canyon Point went for $150,290 per unit.
The seller was the Newport Beach office of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. The buyer was Redwood Residential LLC of Martinez in the Bay area. Joe Leon of the Newport Beach office of Hendricks & Partners represented both parties in the deal.
Bridlewood Estates Breaks Ground
Avalon Homes has broken ground on Bridlewood Estates in Yorba Linda with the grand opening set for June. With prices starting in the $600,000s, the homes are set on 10,000-square-foot plots and offer Tuscany, Monterey or Prairie styles. Upon build out, Bridlewood Estates is set to offer 44, three- to five-bedroom homes. Twelve of 18 homes have sold in the first phase of one- and two-story houses.
COMMERCIAL
The Orange office of Voit Commercial Brokerage has released its office market report for 2001, and the results are what real estate watchers have come to expect: vacancy rates were up while absorption, lease rates and construction were down.
The county’s vacancy rate climbed to 14.78% in last year from 9.27% in 2000. Net absorption sloughed off from a record of 3.6 million square feet of positive net absorption in 2000 to 775,570 square feet last year. Lease rates declined 2.24% last year from 2000. In the fourth quarter, rates dropped to $2.18 from $2.23 in the year-ago quarter.
Construction was off as well. During the fourth quarter 2001, space under construction totaled 1.25 million square feet, half of production from the same period 2000.
Bits and Pieces:
In building up its Southern California presence, Chicago-based Cohen Financial has hired away senior mortgage banker Mark Strauss from the Orange County office of Marcus & Millichap and relocated financial analyst Forencio DeAvila from Chicago to its Newport Beach office Newport Beach-based Buchanan Street Partners hit record numbers in 2001. For the year, the firm said it arranged 75 transactions totaling $814 million in debt and equity. Among the transactions was a $28 million capitalization for City Place Apartments, a five-building, 221-unit apartment complex in the City Place Mall area of Long Beach Irvine-based Sperry Van Ness landed the marketing assignment for Lakeview At Superstitious Springs, an apartment community in Mesa, Ariz. The owner, Mesa 306 LLC, is asking $56 million for the property, a record asking price for an apartment community in the Phoenix area Snyder Langston, the Irvine-based construction company, has broken ground on the four-building, 104,163-square-foot office park for the Evangelical Christian Credit Union in Brea. Phase one of the $13 million project is set for a July 2002 completion date Trendzitions, a Newport Beach-based real estate consulting firm, said it grew its business 65% in 2001. Among its contracts, the company provided real estate planning for World Environmental in Irvine and Orange Coast Electric in Santa Ana According to Tom Giffin, executive director of marketing, Coldwell Banker Commercial has opened Coldwell Banker Commercial Orange Coast, a new office in the Irvine central business district.
