What Homebuyers Like; Catellus Picks Up 234 Bay Area Lots
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In the heart of the Orange County Airport Area, Koll Center Irvine grew in stages during the ’80s. Now, the centrally located office park finds itself with a new management team and a new direction.
Transwestern Commercial Services has entered into an agreement with Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. to manage and lease property at the 900,000-square-foot office park. With the agreement, Transwestern plans to relocate its headquarters to Koll Center Irvine from the Hutton Centre at South Coast Metro within the next 2 to 3 months, according to Paul Lentz, president for the Western region of Transwestern.
“Koll Center Irvine remains one of the best-located office parks in the strong airport office submarket,” Lentz said. “And the ownership plans to make a significant investment in refurbishing the buildings and common areas so that it retains its pre-eminent status.”
Lentz added that the office park’s proximity to John Wayne Airport made their decision an easier one.
“(The airport) was a huge attraction, because business is global and businesses need immediate access,” Lentz said.
In addition to managing the existing office park, which includes four 11-story office towers, Prego restaurant and a five-level parking garage, plans are on tap for the development and construction of another 200,000-square-foot office building.
Transwestern has already received entitlements for 200,000-square-feet of office space and is currently trying to decide where to build the building.
According to Lentz, the new development is in the preliminary or planning stages, with the idea that future tenants will bear a strong resemblance to current tenants such as Sprint PCS, Union Bank of California and Nortel Networks.
“It’s a high profile area,” Lentz said. So you can expect more Fortune 500 occupants in the area, “high credit types.”
Lentz added that Transwestern’s ability to offer a wide range of services helped in landing the job. Besides the traditional property management, Transwestern will also offer project leasing, house an investment group and a development team and implement a tenant representation program.
Movers Are Moving
Walker Brothers Machinery Moving Inc. agreed to two recent property deals. The Anaheim-based transporter and warehouser of machinery purchased a 67,500-square-foot industrial building in Anaheim. The $4.5 million transaction allowed Walker Brothers to double its space with the move to the building at 3839 E. Coronado Ave. The deal is a consolidation of properties for Walker Brothers, which is relocating from four smaller Anaheim buildings to the new, central location that will house the company’s corporate offices and its warehousing and distribution operations.
Steve Sprenger of Grubb & Ellis Co.’s Anaheim office and Randy Coe of Colliers Seeley International represented Walker Brothers in the transaction. Jeff Read of Grubb & Ellis’ Anaheim office represented the seller, Acacia Properties Inc. of Newport Beach.
In a separate deal, Walker Brothers sold an 11,200-square-foot building in Anaheim to Johdan Enterprises of Fullerton Inc. for $963,200. The Anaheim-based manufacturer and distributor of optical supplies has already occupied the building, at 2940 Mira Loma Ave. The firm relocated from within Anaheim.
Sprenger and Coe also represented Walker Brothers in that transaction. Ben Seybold and Tom McAllister of CB Richard Ellis represented Johdan Enterprises.
RESIDENTIAL
What do homebuyers want? That’s the question The Concord Group, a real estate advisory firm with offices in Newport Beach and San Francisco, wanted answered in a recent national survey it conducted.
The survey revealed a particular re-emergence of classic Craftsman-style architecture.
“While its aesthetically simple but elegant design motifs appeal to homebuyers, home builders favor the style because it allows the easy mixing of large and small homes and works well with small lot sizes,” said Adam Ducker, a principal with the Concord Group.
And if the survey’s results play out feng shui will make a strong showing in future home design.
“Builder representatives are also reporting that many buyers are looking for home design elements that conform to feng shui principles, such as not building circular staircases, or staircases that end facing the door, which would allow good spirits to escape too easily,” Ducker said.
Other trends: interior courtyards, three and four-car garages, energy efficient windows and appliances, concrete countertops, wood flooring and deep soaking tubs.
Heavy Lifting
Hercules-Victoria LLC, an affiliate of Newport Beach-based Catellus Residential Group, sold 234 residential lots to Santa Clara Valley Housing Group Inc., an affiliate of SCS Development Co., for $23.7 million. Designs for the single-family detached homes range from 1,600 square feet to 2,500 square feet.
The Victoria by the Bay residential community rests on 206-bayside acres of a former oil refinery in the city of Hercules, about 10 miles north of Berkeley.
“The sale of these parcels marks the beginning of the remarkable transformation of this environmentally challenged site into a premier residential community overlooking the San Pablo Bay,” said Nelson Rising, chairman and CEO of Catellus Development Corp., the parent of Catellus Residential Group.
Plans for the project call for approximately 800 attached and detached homes, an elementary school, a park and recreational area and a retail/commercial center.
