Raintree Partners LLC is thinking long term about Dana Point. And they’re not the only ones.
The previously Laguna Niguel-based real estate investment and development firm has made several deals in the city over the past year.
It purchased the 14,900-square-foot Plaza Pacifica office building in 2018 for $6.6 million, spruced it up and moved headquarters there shortly thereafter; acquired two buildings nearby on Pacific Coast Highway; and will start leasing its first multifamily development in the area this summer.
Raintree acquired the entitlements for the luxury apartment project, called Prado West, from Majestic Housing and Development in 2016, which began planning on the project in 2014.
The 109-unit project—near the intersection of PCH and Del Prado Avenue—broke ground in 2017 and is expected to wrap up by early 2020.
The midrise project will have an assortment of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, along with 25,000 square feet of retail space.
Raintree’s investment in the area echoes a larger development plan for Dana Point, one of Orange County’s youngest cities.
Prado West is one of the first projects to move forward under a revitalization plan for the downtown Lantern District that the city approved in 2008. The plan changed the zoning of the area to allow for mixed-use development, and is also expected to add housing, retail and other economic opportunities while improving the pedestrian landscape of the area.
Meanwhile, a renovation plan valued well in excess of $300 million is underway about a mile away at Dana Point Harbor. The overhaul of the county-owned property, led by three Newport Beach real estate firms—Burnham Ward Properties, R.D. Olson Development and Bellwether Financial Group—will add a pair of hotels, restaurants and shops to the area, in addition to a marina, among other improvements.
Construction on the first phase of the project is moving ahead.
A handful of other hotel projects are in various stages of development in Dana Point, including a boutique project by Newport Beach-based Berk Development that’s scheduled to begin construction later this year, after getting a $6 million construction loan from Knighthead Funding in Connecticut.
The 35,000-square-foot project, called The Wave, is projected to hold 57 rooms. It’s one of two hotels proposed on land next to the Strand at Headlands residential community.
Berk Development received approval from the city of Dana Point in 2017 to begin construction on the 1.4-acre project. It will also include 4,000 square feet of restaurant space, 2,851 square feet of outdoor dining, an 800-square-foot visitor center and a 52-bed hostel.
The developer is also planning to build the Main Strand Hotel, a 90-key, 110,750-square-foot luxury hotel not far from the Wave.
Arizona Acquisition
An affiliate of Irvine-based Bascom Group LLC bought a 423-unit multifamily building in Tempe, Ariz., for $89.2 million.
Bascom Arizona Ventures LLC purchased Tempo at McClintock Station Apartments for about $210,000 per unit.
Fore Property Co. built the complex near Arizona State University in 2017 for about $65 million.
The new owners are planning upgrades to the units and some public spaces, including the leasing office, clubhouse and pool.
The deal represented “an exceptional, high-quality, low-risk, off-market investment opportunity in the ever-growing ASU/Tempe area,” Bascom’s Mark Brotherton said in a statement.
CBRE Group Inc. arranged debt financing from Oaktree Real Estate Finance II LLC for the purchase, with Melody West advising the buyer and seller.
Bascom Group has more than a dozen subsidiaries and joint ventures, including Irvine-based executive office suite landlord Premier Business Centers, and has completed over $15.5 billion in multifamily and commercial transactions, including more than 321 multifamily properties with several in Orange County.
