TOP STORIES
Santa Ana-based real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. secured $18 million in financing from Los Angeles-based Colony Capital LLC. The pact could lead to a bigger investment by Colony, which has about two months to negotiate additional terms. The deal with Colony came shortly after Grubb hired San Francisco-based JMP Securities to explore a possible sale of the company. The company’s shares saw wild swings last week as investors worried about limited options for Grubb and then reacted to the financing deal. Grubb’s stock has been battered by the real estate downturn of the past few years and had a recent market value of about $50 million. The company still is sorting out its 2007 combination with Santa Ana-based NNN Realty Advisors Inc. Grubb was the surviving entity in the deal and moved its headquarters from Chicago to Orange County. It recently started Daymark Realty Advisors as a separate company to manage assets from NNN Realty. Daymark is being run as a separate business in Santa Ana, overseeing about 8,700 apartments and 33 million square feet of commercial space bought through NNN Realty-sponsored tenant-in-common funds. Colony made a $206 million loan to Newport Beach-based homebuilder William Lyon Homes Inc. in 2009.
Orange County drew 42.7 million visitors in 2010, about even with 2009, while spending rose 4% to $7.4 billion, according to the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau. About 75% of visitors stayed overnight and came from the region and neighboring states. International visitors made up 8% of visitors and almost 13% of overnight stays. Anaheim saw a decline of 2.5% but still drew the most visitors with 15.9 million, helped by baseball’s 2010 All-Star Game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Spending in Anaheim rose 4% to $4.2 billion.
REAL ESTATE
Newport Beach-based developer Bay City Partners ended legal wrangling with a pact for 48 homes near where the San Gabriel River reaches the ocean in Seal Beach. The company agreed to sell the city 6.5 acres from a 10.7-acre parcel for $2 million. Bay City will be allowed to file a claim for a charitable donation based on what appears to be a below-market price on the land. The homes are planned on the remaining 4.2 acres and require approvals from various government bodies.
Santa Ana-based Far West Industries Inc. bought a condominium project in Los Angeles County from a bank that had taken the project back from its initial developer, according to the Whittier Daily News. Terms of the deal for the 96-unit, uncompleted Gables of Whittier—once valued at about $40 million—were not disclosed. Far West executives said they plan to begin work on the second phase of the 5.5-acre development soon.
APPAREL
Tustin-based Raj Manufacturing Inc. will make and sell women’s swimsuits under the Nautica Apparel Inc. brand. Nautica, with headquarters in New York, is part of apparel company VF Corp. Raj also has licenses with St. John Knits International Inc., Hurley International LLC, Guess Inc. and others. It also sells swimsuits under its own brands and has estimated annual revenue of $130 million.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based healthcare real estate investor Sabra Health Care REIT Inc. made its first deal since its November spinoff from Irvine-based Sun Healthcare Group Inc. Sabra is paying $62.7 million for the Texas Regional Medical Center of Sunnyvale, a 70-bed hospital in a Dallas suburb. Sabra owns 86 other properties with a total of 9,603 beds, most leased to Sun.
TOURISM
The Nixon Memorial Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda opened an exhibit on the Watergate scandal. The $500,000 installation is overseen by the National Archives and intended to give a more balanced view of Watergate at the library.
TECHNOLOGY
Infrared-imaging defense electronics maker Qwip Technologies in Brea was sold, along with other North American businesses of Cantronic Systems Inc., to Skytech Systems Inc. The total price of the deal between the two Canadian companies was $5.9 million.
ENTERTAINMENT
Chapman University in Orange plans to start a film production company with a goal of making up to 10 movies a year. Chapman Entertainment plans to own and distribute films and expects them to have budgets of $250,000 to $625,000, which is considered micro-level for movies. The university’s goal is to see some commercial success while raising the profile of its Dodge College of Media and Film Arts and giving a boost to the careers of graduates and students.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: Average room and occupancy rates at hotels in Orange County in January compared to a year earlier. Room rates increased 6.1% to $137.57, according to Colliers PKF. The occupancy rate rose to 58.7% from 55.8% in January 2010. The increases are the latest sign of improvements in tourism here (see related item in Top Stories).
