Costa Mesa’s Chartwell Real Estate Development last week said it had reached a deal to buy the Fun Zone, a block-long site that’s among Southern California’s oldest and best-known coastal amusement areas, from Discovery Cube, the nonprofit children’s science center.
Discovery Cube, which on May 28 reopened its main local museum in Santa Ana to visitors, put the Newport Beach property on the market last year due to financial impacts from the pandemic. It was the first time the site was actively marketed for sale in decades.
The bayside property—Orange County’s smaller-sized version of Coney Island—includes the Edgewater Place boardwalk, which holds a Ferris wheel and other amusement attractions, plus a nearly 17,000-square-foot retail and entertainment building, as well as a 21,400-square-foot marina.
The site, which faces Balboa Island and is next to the Balboa Island Ferry dock, counts some 212 feet of water frontage, according to marketing materials for the property.
Restoration Plans
Terms of the sale, expected to close later this summer, were not immediately disclosed. Chartwell was one of nearly 20 bidders for the property, whose history dates back some 80 years, according to brokers with Cushman & Wakefield who worked on the deal.
Others had eyed the site for potential redevelopment to other product types, but the local buyers say a restoration and preservation effort is their primary focus.
Beyond the acquisition itself, “we plan to invest [significant] additional dollars” into the site, said Chartwell Operating Partner Henry Pyle
“We’re not knocking it down to put up condos,” he said.
Chartwell’s Henry Pyle led the acquisition on behalf of the Pyle family, who have been Newport Beach residents since the 1960s. His father, David Pyle, is the chief executive of American Career College and executive chairman of West Coast University.
The family made local headlines last year near the onset of the pandemic when they gifted more than $1.6 million to workers at some of their favorite area restaurants and other community members in need.
Henry Pyle said the amusement park area played a fun part of both his and his father’s youth, and that when the site was listed, “We pursued it vigorously.
“Anything in our hometown that’s iconic, if it [is listed for sale], we’re paying attention,” he said. “This is as iconic as it gets.”
The new ownership group’s ties to the community should ease any worries about development at the site that’s out of character for the area, said Bob Thagard, executive managing director for the Irvine office of Cushman & Wakefield, who notes he himself was “was born and raised in Newport Beach.”
“I can’t envision a more ideal family—one that understands the area—to acquire the Fun Zone,” said Thagard, who represented the buyers in the transaction. Cushman’s Lars Platt and Joseph Lising represented the Discovery Cube.
“They understand what it means to provide stewardship,” Thagard said of the Pyle family. “They’ll make it better than it’s ever been.”
Added Newport Beach councilwoman and former Mayor Diane Dixon: “I am thrilled to have a local family lead the revitalization of the Fun Zone for local residents, business owners and visitors.”
Leasing Task
Specific upgrades and improvements to the site haven’t been disclosed yet; Henry Pyle said his group is a few months away from approaching the city with their plans.
In addition to renovations, leasing efforts will be part of the new ownership group’s first tasks.
While the Discovery Cube’s educational vessel, the Dylan Ayres, will continue to dock at the Fun Zone, the nonprofit’s Ocean Quest center won’t remain at the site, whose main building was only about one-third leased when put on the market.
A mix of entertainment, retail and food tenants will be sought for the vacant space, in keeping with the site’s history, Pyle said.
The Fun Zone is one of the smaller-sized projects currently on Chartwell’s docket. The privately held real commercial real estate company counts more than 400,000 square feet of industrial projects in development in Fontana, Corona, and Rancho Cucamonga, according to its website.
Closer to home, it’s been involved with a smaller-sized industrial project, retail space and an events center in Costa Mesa.
“It’s a new experience for us,” Pyle said of the latest acquisition. “We’re honored to have the privilege to breathe some new life into it.”
