Chase Merritt Investments LLC of Newport Beach is continuing to look to Texas for real estate deals.
The company’s latest acquisition: a five-project portfolio in San Antonio totaling about 880,000 square feet. The deal includes 11 office buildings and two flex buildings in three area submarkets.
The properties are about 70% leased, according to local reports. San Antonio-based Darren Casey Interests Inc. was the seller.
Terms off the deal weren’t disclosed. Based on other office deals in the area, the transaction could be worth close to $115 million, making it one of the larger San Antonio deals in several years. The portfolio was bought through a venture with Fairfield, Conn.-based GE Capital Corp. Financing was provided by Chicago’s Wrightwood Capital.
Chase Merritt has been focusing on acquisitions in Texas during the past year, including Austin, Houston and Dallas.
The company,which is an outgrowth of Newport Federal, a 35-year-old real estate investor in Newport Beach,is said to be eyeing up to $110 million worth of properties in Houston.
Shamrock Expands
Shamrock Supply Co., a Santa Ana-based distributor of industrial products, has bought a 45,325-square-foot industrial building in Anaheim.
The property, located at 3366 E. La Palma Ave. just off of the Riverside (91) Freeway, sold for $6.8 million. It also includes a two-story office area, and a newly installed showroom.
The deal will nearly double the size of Shamrock Supply’s main offices and distribution center. The company counts another 50,000 square feet of space locally, including a retail store in Carson.
Shamrock Supply is a wholesale distributor of industrial products and supply chain management services. Its clients include companies in utilities, aerospace, manufacturing, and financial services. The company was formed in 1975 and counts about 75 workers.
It recently was named a regional winner for Family-Owned Business of the Year by the Santa Ana District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Shamrock Supply was represented by Chris Migliori of Daum Commercial Real Estate Services. Seth Davenport, Louis Tomaselli and Mitch Zehner of Voit Commercial Brokerage LP’s Anaheim office represented the seller, Atlas Commercial & Technical Inc., which is based in Anaheim.
New Golf GM
Real estate duffers take note: The Irvine Company has a new general manager for its Pelican Hill and Oak Creek golf clubs.
The Irvine Co. named Stephen Friedlander as its general manager of golf within its resort properties division. He comes aboard as the Irvine Co. is preparing to re-open the two Tom Fazio-designed courses at Pelican Hill this fall. The Resort at Pelican Hill will open a year after that.
Friedlander, 54, previously served as general manager and group director of golf at Kohler Co. in Kohler, Wis. The company operates a number of luxury golf resorts, including Whistling Straits,which hosted the 2004 PGA Championship,and Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin. It also owns The Duke’s in St. Andrews, Scotland.
Friedlander, who’s about a six handicap, tells the Business Journal he’s had two holes-in-one.
Axiom Moves HQ
Axiom Microdevices Inc., an Irvine-based wireless chip designer, is moving to a bigger headquarters in the Irvine Spectrum.
The company just signed a deal to take 17,306 square feet of space at 7585 Irvine Center Drive. The building is part of the Irvine Business Center, a 10-building low-rise campus where monthly rents run about $2.05 per square foot, according to landlord Irvine Co.’s Web site.
The new lease is an expansion for Axiom, a company that designs chips that help cell phones get better signals while easily connecting with other handset chips. It had been leasing about 12,000 square feet of space nearby, at 21 Technology.
Barry Gail and Richard Essen of Costa Mesa-based Orion Property Partners represented Axiom in the deal.
Big Project
Costa Mesa-based developer Donahue Schriber has kicked off construction for Countryside Marketplace, a 735,000-square-foot shopping center in Riverside County. It’s located in Menifee, near the intersection of I-215 and Newport Road.
The first tenants at the project are expected to open in late 2008. The center will include anchor tenants Target, Kohl’s and Lowe’s. It’s also got an In-N-Out Burger. The center is 90% pre-leased.
