Watermarke Apartments Now Are Marked for Sale
By NIDAL M. IBRAHIM
The Sares-Regis Group said it plans to develop and sell as condominiums roughly half of the 535 units slated for its Watermarke apartment complex.
The move marks a new tack for Sares-Regis, which had planned on initially renting out all of the luxury units at the Irvine community.
The hot for-sale market is the main reason for the company’s switch, said David Jacobson, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Irvine-based Sares-Regis.
“Because of favorable interest rates and the good California economy, we decided that half of the project, which is still under construction, will be sold as condominiums instead of being rented,” he said.
Tentative plans call for models to be completed in late July, when sales will begin. The first closings are projected for late in the fourth quarter.
Although prices still are being worked out, Jacobson said he expects them to begin in the high $300,000s, citing the swift sales Sares-Regis had with Seabridge Villas, a similarly priced complex in Huntington Beach.
The first portion of the $140 million complex,consisting of 259 apartments,already has been rented out, which Jacobson pointed to as a sign of the community’s popularity.
Renters will be given an opportunity to buy the units they are currently in or another one in the yet-to-be-developed portion of the project, he said.
Rents at Watermarke run from $1,210 to $3,175 for apartments that range from 635 square feet to 1,482 square feet.
The company always has planned to eventually sell the Watermarke units,Sares-Regis had made the decision to permit and develop the property as condominiums.
“Initially we were going to rent it,” he said. “But nobody knew how good the market was going to be. Demand for infill locations such as Watermarke is strong. It’s never been offered by homebuilders,luxury, high-density condos in Irvine.”
Watermarke sales should be strong, given the lack of affordable housing in Irvine and Newport Beach, predicted Jeff Meyers, chief executive of The Meyers Group, a Costa Mesa-based residential real estate information and research company.
“You’re in the heart of Irvine,” he said. “There’s just not much housing under $400,000 in Orange County.”
The luxury complex is on 10.5 acres at the corner of Campus Drive and Carlson Avenue, near Jamboree Road.
There has been some speculation that Sares-Regis moved up its for-sale plans to get a jump on others who plan to sell condos in the area, but Meyers believes there’s enough demand that this wouldn’t be a big concern.
Competitors are building or planning 2,728 apartments and condos along Jamboree.
Newport Beach’s The Irvine Company is adding 400 units to its high-end Villa Siena community at the corner of Jamboree and Michelson Drive in Irvine.
Across the street, Vancouver, British Columbia’s Bosa Development Corp. has deposits on about 200 of the 232 condominiums being built in two 18-story towers. Prices there range from the high $400,000s to $1.5 million.
Next to Watermarke, the Irvine office of Phoenix-based Opus West Corp. plans 343 apartments.
Additionally, new housing could come on the former Parker Hannifin Corp. site on the northernmost corner of Michelson and Jamboree.
There, owner Highgate Holdings wants to transform the former plant site into 1,745 condos and apartments.
