EF Education First has closed on the former Trinity Broadcasting site in Costa Mesa that will ultimately hold a new international education campus.
The international language education company paid $25.5 million for the 6.2-acre Bear Street site in a deal that closed last month, according to data from real estate market tracker CoStar Group Inc.
The property, on the southern edge of the San Diego (405) Freeway across from South Coast Plaza, currently holds an ornate 65,000-square-foot property that will be converted into a college-like campus scheduled to open by this fall.
The new sales price works out to $388 per square foot and marks a nearly 40% premium over the site’s value three years ago.
CBRE Group Inc. represented EF Education in the deal; Bac Real Estate Group represented the seller, Alliance South Coast Properties LLC, a Pasadena-based real estate investment and development company.
Amenities
Trinity Broadcasting, a Christian media network, occupied the campus from the 1990s until 2017.
The property was well known for its elaborate light show that used to run during the holidays.
Alliance purchased the campus for close to $18 million in 2017. The latest sale is roughly 40% higher than the prior price paid.
The new campus at 3150 Bear St. will include 50 classrooms, a student services area, cafeteria, faculty offices, outdoor recreational facilities including a pool, and new dormitories that could hold about 600 students. Approximately 720 additional students are expected to live off-campus with host families.
$80M Impact
The campus is being designed after EF’s 14 other international language campuses in North America, “especially our newest campus in San Diego,” Shawna Marino, EF Education First’s vice president, previously told the Business Journal.
“The San Diego school was formerly a hospital and underwent a major renovation in 2014 before opening in 2016,” she said, adding that there are now more than 1,000 students at the school.
Mayor Pro Tem John Stephens has said the proposal potentially results in $500,000 in additional revenue to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, $80 million into the local economy and $3 million to host families in Costa Mesa.
“Costa Mesa is already a world-class destination for the arts and shopping. Now we will earn a place on the world stage as an international destination for learning,” Mayor Katrina Foley said.
