San Juan Capistrano-based real estate investor Birtcher Anderson Realty has made its largest purchase in several years, picking up a portfolio of light industrial and flex buildings in Northern California.
The company was part of a venture that last month paid close to $64 million to buy 18 buildings in Concord, Fairfield and Folsom that total about 533,700 square feet, or nearly $120 per square foot.
Affiliates of area developer Garaventa Properties sold the buildings.
Birtcher Anderson bought the properties in a venture with Merced Capital LP of Minneapolis and Kentfield-based Restart Investments.
It’s the largest reported investment since the last real estate downturn for Birtcher Anderson, which is led by longtime Orange County real estate veterans Arthur Birtcher and Bob Anderson.
The company has managed more than 22 million square feet of commercial property for its own investment and for private and public investment entities over the past 40 years.
Its deal pipeline has been expanding over the past year, according to Jeff Eales, senior vice president of asset management.
The company made a smaller purchase in Texas last year and also is nearing another sizeable buy in Phoenix, Eales said.
More deals are possible in Northern California, according to Anderson.
“We have consistently had a presence in Northern California, and this portfolio provides a critical mass of properties on which to build with future acquisitions,” he said in a statement.
The latest purchases include buildings in Garaventa Business Park in Concord, Fairfield Corporate Commons in Fairfield, and Lake Forest Business Park in Folsom. Tenants include Comcast, Contra Costa County, Johnson Controls and DirecTV.
“This is a strategic opportunity with great near-term growth potential and fits with the company’s historic strengths of adding value to management-intensive properties,” Anderson said.
Crestaville Funding
Irvine-based Steadfast Cos. has gotten $95.5 million in financing for a senior housing project it’s developing in Laguna Niguel.
The company’s planning a 211-bed project called Crestavilla on an 11.5-acre property about a block from Crown Valley Parkway at 30111 Niguel Road.
Irvine-based Flintridge Partners LLC got city approval for the project on the site of Shepherd of the Hills Church in 2012 and two years later sold a majority interest to Steadfast, according to property records.
The three-story, Spanish Colonial-style project will house 61 independent-living units, 115 assisted-living units and 25 memory-care units, totaling 201 units with 211 beds.
Plans call for the facility to house a spiritual-resource center allowing the church to continue its ministry there.
Steadfast’s new financing deal includes $27.9 million in joint venture equity capital with San Francisco’s Fremont Realty Capital, plus a $67.6 million construction loan from an undisclosed local bank.
HFF Managing Director James Fowler and Senior Managing Directors Ryan Maconachy and Chad Lavender from the brokerage’s Newport Beach office represented Steadfast in the equity and debt deals.
Vantis Hotel
The Aliso Viejo-based Vantis development has a new hotel.
Denver-based Stonebridge Companies just opened a 129-room hotel called Homewood Suites by Hilton Aliso Viejo-Laguna Beach on the corner of Aliso Viejo and Vantis drives.
The four-story project is a few blocks from the 169-room, full-service Renaissance ClubSport, which opened in 2008.
Vantis is a development of Aliso Viejo-based Shea Properties and sister company Shea Homes in Walnut. Other parts of Vantis include 250,000 square feet of office space, condominiums and townhomes, live-work units, and an under-construction 450-unit apartment project being overseen by Shea Properties.
Real Estate Red Carpet
The fifth annual SPIRE Awards take place this Thursday night at the Center Club in Costa Mesa.
The award, which stands for Superior Performance in Real Estate, is handed out by Commercial Real Estate Women-Orange County and honors the best projects, transactions and people in the local real estate community last year.
This year’s event will draw an estimated 350 people from the industry, including a motley assortment of awards judges. Tickets are on sale from $75 to $95.
