North County Sees Trio of Deals; Julian J. Studley Brokers Two
The Orange County offices of Robbins Jorgensen Christopher have relocated from Irvine to an old waterfront fish cannery in Newport Beach. The new digs at Cannery Village make the most of the surroundings including a surfboard-shaped conference table created by Russell Surfboards with sailcloth banners suspended from the ceilings.
“The office space provides more than just an interesting work space,” said Roberta Jorgensen, a principal of the firm that also has offices in San Diego and Palm Springs. “It speaks to the design philosophy of the firm that says new buildings need to be designed to evolve and endure long beyond their first generation of life.”
Jorgensen Christopher is an environmental design firm that provides architecture, landscape architecture and planning to clients in the Southwest region. The firm has 24 staff members in its three regional offices.
Current and recent clients or projects for the Newport Beach office include John Wayne Airport, Hawks Point development, Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency, the cities of Santa Ana, Long Beach and El Segundo, Orange Coast Community College and Ventura County Fire Protection District.
Founded in 1992 by James Robbins, Jorgensen and Janene Christopher, the firm won three design-build competitions last year held by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command for $20 million in construction projects at the Twenty Nine Palms Combat Center and Camp Pendleton.
It also received a $9.3 million design-build competition award for the Systems Integration Laboratory at Port Hueneme Naval Facility.
COMMERCIAL
Grubb & Ellis Busy in Industrial
The Anaheim office of Grubb & Ellis has been busy in the industrial sector, completing a trio of deals in recent weeks totaling $5.9 million.
First up: Chicago-based Bisco Industries Inc., a marketer and distributor of electronic components, purchased a 39,043-square-foot industrial building 1500 N. Lakeview Ave. in Anaheim for $3.7 million.
The facility will house Bisco’s regional headquarters and warehouse/distribution operation. The company relocated its local operations from Orange. Steve Bryant of Grubb & Ellis’ Anaheim office represented the buyer in the transaction. Mike Hefner of Voit Commercial Brokerage’s Orange office represented the seller, Lakeview & Orangethorpe Business Center LP of Laguna Hills.
In a second transaction, Bisco sold the 17,151-square-foot facility it had vacated at 704 W. Southern Ave. in Orange.
Bisco sold the property to Orange-based Generation Growth LLC, an investment company, for $1.5 million.
Steve Bryant and Jeff Read of Grubb & Ellis’ Anaheim office represented the buyer and the seller.
In the last deal, Generation Growth, LLC, leased the property at 704 W. Southern Ave. in Orange to Vista Acquisition LLC.
Relocating operations from Fullerton, the eye care products firm signed a five-year lease at $710,000.
Steve Bryant and Jeff Read of Grubb & Ellis’ Anaheim office represented Generation Growth, while Sam Foster of Jones Lange La Salle’s Irvine office represented Vista.
Studley Closes Two Deals
The Irvine office of New York-based Julian J. Studley Inc. has completed two recent deals totaling $6.8 million.
In the first deal, Holtsville, N.Y.-based Symbol Technologies, Inc. will relocate its sales and service center at 340 Fischer Ave. in Costa Mesa to 25541 Commercentre Drive in Lake Forest. Symbol Technologies, which is expanding in the move, has signed a 7-year lease for 42,000-square feet.
Royce Sharf, corporate vice president and Scott Granger, associate director in Studley’s Orange County office represented Symbol Technologies. Doug Matthews of Grubb & Ellis represented the landlord, Birtcher Properties.
In the second deal, Irvine-based Delta Groups Engineering Inc. relocated its corporate headquarters from 2601 Main St. to 5 Park Plaza. The engineering firm signed a $1.4 million lease for approximately 10,000 square feet.
Sharf and Granger represented Studley while Gary Gerson represented building owner The Irvine Company in house.
RESIDENTIAL
Investor Sells Apartment Complex
Irvine-based investment company Tor-guard Investments sold a 63-unit Corona apartment complex to Joseph Bulwa, an individual investor. Built in 1988, the property, Summerwood Court, was 95% occupied at the time of the sale.
Though national market remains grim, the Inland Empire remains hot. A recent Grubb & Ellis report ranked the area one of the strongest multifamily markets in the country. In the Corona deal, John Stephens of Marcus & Millichap’s Ontario office represented the seller, Torguard, as well as the buyer, Joseph Bulwa of Arcadia.
