Ambling Moves into OC; Willow Partners Planning Senior Complex
COMMERCIAL
The Central Orange County office market is hot,at least a corner of it is.
A complex of buildings near the northwest corner of Anaheim, where the Riverside (91) Freeway and the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway meet, has drawn increased interest from office users. Not long ago, auto insurer Coast National Insurance Co. signed a five-year lease to occupy roughly 50,000 square feet at the Anaheim Place office building at 505 North Euclid St. The deal is valued at roughly $5 million.
The lease, one of the biggest in the immediate area in years, is indicative of the heightened interest in this small corner of the market is generating, said Robert Kehiawan, an executive with Anaheim Place Partners, which owns the building.
Along with continued inquiries from other prospective tenants, the Coast National deal has prompted building owner Anaheim Place Partners to acquire an acre of nearby land, where it is exploring putting up a six-story building with between 60,000 to 80,000 square feet, Kehiawan said.
“It’s a very unique little submarket,” said Kehiawan, whose Anaheim-based company purchased the property and proceeded to completely rehab it, investing a total of $7 million. “It’s not the Anaheim Central Business market. You have downtown Anaheim, you’ve got Disneyland and the convention area and then you’ve got us.”
Kehiawan said Anaheim Place Partners is betting on the area’s upside potential.
“We’re looking at this area as a very aggressive sleeper,” he said. “It’s a play for us to do some value-added deals up here.”
Brian Downer, an associate vice president with Daum Commercial Real Estate Services’ Anaheim office, has tracked the overall central Orange County market and that particular submarket. He looks at the Anaheim Place purchase and rehab effort and figures it to be a fairly safe investment.
“In a tight market, they went to that location and knew that with the freeway access and those amenities, all they had to score was one tenant,” he said. “In this market, that’s a good bet.”
Building a Cobra Den
Oltmans Construction Co. has broken ground on a 70,000-square-foot, build-to-suit corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility in Yorba Linda for Cobra Engineering, which is relocating from Anaheim.
The new two-story facility at 23801 La Palma Ave. will have 15,000 square feet of office space, with the remainder being R & D;, manufacturing and warehouse space.
Approximately 100 people will be employed at the facility, which will more than double Cobra Engineering’s capacity. Cobra is slated to occupy its new building in the spring.
RESIDENTIAL
New Hampshire-based Shadowbridge Corp. has paid $20.8 million to Newport Beach-based CT Realty Corp. and joint venture partner Acacia Capital Funds for the 240-unit Shadowbridge Woodbend Apartment complex in Vista.
CT Realty acquired the 15-acre, 24-building property in May 1998 and proceeded to renovate the facility and improve cash flow before deciding to resell it. The move is typical for CT Realty, which rarely holds assets long-term.
Ed Rosen and John Chu of Burnham Real Estate Services’ San Diego office represented CT and Acacia. Shadowbridge represented itself in the transaction.
Talega Taps Heritage Golf
Talega Associates LLC has chosen San Diego-based Heritage Golf Group to own and manage the Talega Golf Club, a planned 18-hole, par-72 course in San Clemente.
The golf course, scheduled for a January opening, is one of the centerpieces of Talega, a masterplanned community in San Clemente.
The Talega Golf Club also will include a 13,500-square-foot clubhouse, a restaurant and a pro shop, all scheduled to open in mid-2001.
Ambling Sets Up in Orange
Count the Ambling Cos. among the increasing number of national developers setting up shop in Orange County.
The Valdosta, Ga.-based developer of university housing has opened a new office in Orange and hired former Catellus Residential Group exec Conrad Sick to head its local operation. The office will be responsible for bidding and overseeing construction of the Ambling Cos.’ West Coast jobs.
The company already has several projects locally, including the University Hills community at University of California, Irvine and some faculty housing at California State University, Fullerton.
Senior Project
Willow Partners has purchased a 1.92-acre parcel in San Juan Capistrano for $2.1 million from Laguna Niguel-based Birtcher Senior Properties.
The property at Ranch Viejo Road and Paseo Espada has received the necessary permits and approvals for a 74-unit senior housing apartment development. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2001.
Dave Stolte and Jeff Searcy, directors of the senior housing group at Charles Dunn Company, represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer was represented by Bob Taylor of Wesley Taylor.
