Lot prices for the latest batch of homebuilding at Great Park Neighborhoods don’t appear to be cheap.
Nine builders were tapped in January to construct homes at Beacon Park, the second community planned for Great Park Neighborhoods.
The 960-home project is going up on land between Trabuco Road and Irvine Boulevard.
Sales are expected to begin this year. The first phase of homebuilding at Great Park Neighborhoods, the 726-home Pavilion Park, opened in 2013 and is in the final stages of sales.
Financial terms of land sales for Beacon Park haven’t been disclosed, though some recent clues point to project developer FivePoint Communities Management Inc. in Aliso Viejo charging top dollar for some lots.
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taylor Morrison Corp. recently closed on one portion of the community, according to property records. CoStar Group Inc. data placed a $26 million price on the deal.
Records from the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s office show the builder buying 53 single-family home lots in the transaction, which would put the per-lot price for the deal at about $490,000.
That’s on par, if not higher, with what Newport Beach-based Irvine Company is charging builders for lots on much of its land in Irvine, not taking into account high-end sites in the company’s Orchard Hills community, according to real estate sources.
It’s unknown whether developer profit-participation deals—a common feature of Irvine Co. land sales—are being employed by FivePoint in its land deals, a feature that could add to its earnings on the sales.
Taylor Morrison has yet to disclose plans for its Beacon Park homes. The homebuilder has spent close to $100 million to buy sites in Irvine, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach so far this year, according to brokerage data.
Hello, El Segundo
The company behind one of the best-known brands in Japan is checking into a new creative-office project of Irvine-based Bixby Land Co. Sanrio Inc., the Japan-based company that owns the Hello Kitty brand, announced this month that it’s moving its West Coast operations from Torrance to an office Bixby owns in El Segundo.
Bixby said it leased 28,584 square feet to Sanrio, which will more than double the size of its offices. The company is expected to take occupancy this summer.
The real estate developer and investor bought the 112,695-square-foot property at 2101 El Segundo Blvd. in 2013 when it was vacant. It spent an estimated $10 million to transform the office, which was previously occupied by defense contractor Raytheon Co., into a building that resembles a resort or boutique hotel.
The building, in addition to a lobby lounge area that opens to an outdoor deck, will feature a Peet’s Coffee in a lobby coffee bar, and the first South Bay location for the Specialty’s Café & Bakery chain.
Bixby officials said they’re in lease negotiations for an additional 13,000 square feet at the building to bring the office to 89% occupancy.
Pricey Walgreens
A Walgreens drugstore in Huntington Beach has sold for an eye-opening price.
A 13,772-square-foot building at 4935 Warner Ave. recently traded hands for $16 million, or $1,162 per square foot. That’s the highest-ever price recorded for a Walgreens in California, according to brokers from the Long Beach office of Marcus & Millichap who worked on the deal.
Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Gartenstein Properties LLC bought the property from an affiliate of Long Beach-based Lorbeer Equity Management, according to CoStar records.
Marcus & Millichap’s Joe Linkogle and Adam Friedlander represented the seller.
