Master developer SunCal Cos. is starting to make big waves in its backyard again.
The Irvine-based company recently announced the purchase of a nearly 15-acre site at Sixth and Alameda streets in Los Angeles’ arts district.
CBRE Group Inc. brokers who worked on the deal describe the land as one of the largest development opportunities available in Los Angeles.
News reports put the purchase price at about $130 million.
It’s the company’s largest purchase price for a single asset in the past five years, SunCal officials said.
It’s also a return of sorts for SunCal, one of the area’s larger masterplanned developers prior to the last downturn and related bankruptcy of onetime financial partner Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which led to the developer shedding numerous local properties.
Much of its activity since then has taken place on the East Coast and markets outside of Southern California.
The developer is planning a major overhaul of the arts district property, now the site of a variety of older industrial buildings, although it said it hasn’t finalized exact plans.
It anticipates a multiyear planning process involving collaboration with arts district business owners, the general community and city officials, SunCal said.
“Potentially, the Arts District community could be interested in a variety of different forms of housing types including live/work and creative office space,” the developer said in a statement.
“I’m not sure about the exact plan, but what I do know is that it will be a highly creative project with keen attention to design and quality,” said Bradford McCarthy, a CBRE senior vice president who represented the property’s seller, Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises.
SunCal appears to have found another deep-pocketed financial partner to replace Lehman Bros.
Bloomberg Business, which first reported the land sale, said the site was purchased with financing from Michael Dell’s family office, MSD Capital.
MSD was an initial investor, as was Lehman, in Lennar Corp.’s 2005 purchase of land at the former El Toro Marine base in Irvine.
Industry watchers say SunCal is considering other area sites for investments.
The company is believed to be one of at least three developer groups that have approached the Santa Ana Country Club this year to gauge its interest in selling the 127-acre golf course, which straddles the Costa Mesa-Newport city line.
SunCal, which has several projects in process in Northern California, is also working with the Oakland Raiders on site-review work for a potential new football stadium in Oakland, according to a report last month in the San Francisco Business Times.
The Raiders are rumored to be exploring numerous sites across the state for a stadium, including Los Angeles.
The arts district land SunCal bought was described by Bloomberg as being “the size of 11 football fields,” but there’s been no indication a stadium is a possibility for the site.
Orange Apartments
A 260-unit apartment development is under way next to the 16-story Orange Executive Tower and down the street from Westfield MainPlace Mall in Orange.
San Juan Capistrano-based apartment developer Picerne Group said it’s proceeding with the 224,293-square-foot project, which will go by the name Eleven10 West.
The 2.8-acre site is next door to Orange Executive Tower.
Both are part of the 1110 Town and Country Road parcel that’s one block from Children’s Hospital of Orange County and St. Joseph Hospital.
The driver behind the development “is jobs, jobs, jobs,” Picerne Group Managing Director Brad Perozzi said in a statement. “Three of the top ten hospitals in Orange County are located in close proximity to the project.”
Rockwood Capital and the Muller Co., which own and operate the Orange Executive Tower, are part of the development team for the apartment complex, according to Picerne Group.
The five-story podium apartment building is being designed by TCA Architects and will include 43 studios, 117 one-bedroom apartments, and 100 two-bedroom units.
SunCal aims to open the development for lease in the summer of 2017. The complex will include a 13,000-square-foot swimming pool and courtyard area.
