Person to Watch:
Gary Jabara
Jabara’s Mobilitie, a wireless infrastructure firm whose business model is run much like a traditional real estate landlord, entered the year promising the “largest network deployment in the U.S.”
So far, the results look strong for Newport Beach-based Mobilitie, which is now OC’s fastest-growing large private company by revenue growth. It took in about $500 million in the 12 months ending in June, a 1,120% increase over what it made two years earlier.
That growth’s largely due to a new venture, the installation and operation of outdoor small-cell base stations, which are used by wireless companies to improve their network capacity in areas that have high mobile data usage.
Mobilitie is said to be working with Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint Corp. to roll out a countrywide upgrade of the wireless giant’s network, in addition to small-cell contracts it has with other carriers.
One area where Jabara hasn’t made as much news is in the local commercial real estate sector; after a number of notable property buys in OC over the past few years, particularly in his hometown of Newport Beach, his name hasn’t been tied to any recent purchases.
Company to Watch:
Hines Interests LP
We figured that keeping an eye on the local office of Hines, one of OC’s most active commercial real estate investors over the past few years, would provide a good barometer of the health of the local office market this year.
That turned out to be a pretty good call.
Hines’ Newport Beach office continued its active pace of local acquisitions, spending close to $100 million to buy big office properties in Anaheim and Orange, and the land underneath a big property it owns in Fullerton.
The company and its investment partners also proved to be opportunistic sellers of a number of properties it bought in recent years, including sites in Yorba Linda and Irvine.
The combined price tag on the highly profitable deals was more than $200 million.
A number of those properties were sold by Hines to high-net-worth investors, a rising source of business recently for local property sellers.
Hines hasn’t broke ground yet on an office development yet near the airport in Irvine, but is full force on the redevelopment of its recently-bought Intersect campus. The Irvine project, featuring some creative-office flourishes, is starting to see strong leasing activity.
And the company appears to be ending the year with a bang: It’s the odds-on favorite to buy Broadcom Ltd.’s under-construction campus in Irvine, which would be a blockbuster deal for the region (see story, page 1).
— Mark Mueller
