Meridian’s move to convert a vacant building near one of OC’s biggest office developments into a medical office property has paid off.
The San Ramon-based real estate investor sold a recently renovated 53,574-square-foot building at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Sunflower Street for $29.9 million, marking a 47% premium over the $20.4 million that it paid for the property in 2019.
Southern California healthcare provider AltaMed paid just north of $558 per square foot for the Santa Ana office at 3601 W. Sunflower Ave. It already occupies space there.
The site was previously used by culinary arts school that shuttered.
Meridian bought the building in 2019 from Courtney Dubar, a founder of local clothing company Affliction, and a frequent investor in commercial real estate in the area.
The site is near the Santa Ana and Costa Mesa city line, and is across the street from the northern edge of The Press, an under-development 640,000-square-foot creative office project to be occupied by technology defense firm Anduril.
“The location of this property is very exciting,” said R.J. Sommerdyke, vice president of acquisitions at Meridian, which operates locally out of Newport Beach.
“The opening of The Press will bring thousands of employees to the immediate area within the next couple of years. As a result, we expect the [area] to continue evolving and attract future investment.”
In addition to The Press, other nearby attractions include the SOCO shopping center a few blocks away.
AltaMed was represented by Newmark’s Justin Hodgdon, John Scruggs, David Kluth and Mai Hu. Meridian was self-represented.
Owner-User
After buying the property in 2019, Meridian invested in an extensive renovation to create a Class A medical office building, a strategy it has deployed at other sites in Orange County.
Meridian signed on AltaMed as a tenant for a portion of the building shortly after the sale.
AltaMed currently occupies about half of the building and is expected to expand within the building.
“The acquisition gives the health system flexibility to grow its service lines within the building or lease the vacant space for complementary uses,” Sommerdyke said.
Meridian CEO John Pollock notes that the company is currently scouting acquisition and development opportunities in the western United States, with a focus on value add, adaptive reuse and build-to-suit deals.
