Vestar Development Co. last month began construction on Orange County’s next big shopping center.
The Phoenix-based developer plans a 1 million-square-foot center at the former Tustin Marine base to rival the Block at Orange and Irvine Spectrum Center, according to Tustin officials.
I did a big story on the project a year ago, when Vestar still was hammering out details with the city.
Vestar is developing the project in a venture with New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Kimco Realty Corp., a real estate investment trust and money partner in the deal.
The center, dubbed The District at Tustin Legacy, is set to be the main retail draw at the former base. It’s set for the corner of Jamboree Road and Barranca Parkway.
Plans include movie theaters, eateries, a grocer and some larger stores.
“There are nearly 1.5 million people living within 10 miles of The District and 900,000 people working within that same area,” said Jeffrey Axtell, project director for Vestar, in a statement.
True, but not far down Jamboree is The Market Place, a popular center owned by Newport Beach-based The Irvine Company.
Still, Vestar should benefit from new homes at the base. And though selected by Tustin, Vestar should gain from developmental guidelines being worked out by Irvine. The District is set to be built near a swath of Irvine being singled out for housing development.
The Jamboree corridor has become the hottest housing submarket in Irvine. Four condominium towers are under construction along Jamboree,two at Michelson Drive and two at Campus Drive.
Other developers have built or plan thousands of condos and apartments southeast of John Wayne Airport.
Irvine is seeking to get area housing development under control, after local manufacturers protested the encroachment of residents.
City staff have drawn up boundaries where housing would be allowed. Their drawings concentrate housing close to Jamboree, leading right up to Vestar’s project. Lucky developer.
Vestar specializes in building open-air shopping centers.
It developed the 1.2 million-square-foot Desert Ridge Marketplace in Phoenix. That center is anchored by an 18-screen AMC Entertainment Inc. theater.
The company also developed Long Beach Towne Center, a 1 million-square-foot mall in Long Beach; Spectrum Towne Center in Chino, an 830,000-square-foot center that is the second phase of a 1.4 million-square-foot mall; and the 600,000-square-foot Cerritos Towne Center, adjacent to the Center for the Performing Arts there.
Irvine-based land developer SunCal Cos. and New York’s Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. last month paid $120 million to California for 470 acres in Chino.
The state’s real estate services division managed the transaction for California. The division is selling surplus land to offset the state’s budget deficit.
Back in August, SunCal received approval from Chino to build a masterplanned community, dubbed College Park, on the land. The development is set to include 2,200 homes as well as shops and offices.
The state also put aside 140 acres to add to Chino’s Ayala Park and 100 acres for a new Chaffey College campus. California donated the park land to the city and the campus site to Chaffee College, contingent on SunCal’s purchase of its 470-acre parcel.
The state’s total of 710 acres was declared surplus and first put up for bid in 2003. SunCal and Lehman beat out a proposal from Lennar Corp., KB Home, Centex Corp. and Lewis Operating Cos.
SunCal has started marketing lots to builders. The company plans College Park Village Center, 50,000 square feet of shops and offices.
In other SunCal news, the company recently hired Mark McCammon as director of asset management. He has more than 17 years of management experience with development and investment firms.
Most recently, McCammon served as a consultant for Maly Commercial Realty, where he led the Columbia, Mo.-based company’s acquisitions and joint ventures.
Prior to working with Maly, McCammon was chief financial officer for JMI Realty Inc., a San Diego-based investment and development company.
At JMI, he headed capital investment oversight, underwriting and risk management. He played a role in JMI’s mixed-use redevelopment of San Diego’s Ballpark District.
Out of This World
You know mortgage companies are working hard to keep the lending boom going when you see stuff like this: LoanPros.com in Huntington Beach recently announced a $1 million prize to the first person who can bring in an extraterrestrial being for a home loan.
“We believe the existence of extraterrestrials is real and we want to do whatever we can to promote government disclosure, but it’s also a good promotional idea,” said company President Wayne R. Goldman in a statement.
LoanPros.com has been in business for three years. The company has assets of some $20 million, according to the company.
