Irvine Co. has landed Amazon after all.
Well, not that little expansion project, but it’s a start.
The Newport Beach-based developer said the e-commerce giant will open a retail location at its University Center shopping center across the street from the University of California-Irvine.
The store will be roughly 5,000 square feet, according to center leasing materials.
Amazon has been beefing up its physical presence at college campuses across the country with a store concept that sells “everything (students) need for college life, from course materials to dorm supplies,” the Seattle-based company said.
Typical Amazon Campus stores also allow students to pick up and return goods that were delivered to them, and the new school-focused division offers “a personalized, co-branded shopping experience exclusively for your school,” according to the company’s website.
It’s the second big national retailer to recently join University Center that offers a tweaked format for students.
This summer, Minneapolis-based Target Corp. opened a 20,000-square-foot “flexible-format” store there that’s about half the size of a typical Target. One of the first four college-focused locations Target rolled out, it sells groceries, sandwiches, salads, beverages and snacks; health, personal care and beauty products; an assortment of dorm and apartment essentials; men’s, women’s and local sports team apparel; and portable technology products and accessories.
Target plans to open more than 100 flexible-format stores in “dense urban, suburban and college campus neighborhoods over a 3-year period,” the company recently said.
University Center is about 170,000 square feet. Irvine Co. said it’s spent $12 million to upgrade it over the past five years and plans an additional $4 million to $6 million in upgrades over the next 18 months.
The center’s sales have jumped nearly 30% in the past five years as a result of the upgrades, Irvine Co. said.
Other tenants include Mendocino Farms, Tender Greens, Trader Joe’s and In-N-Out Burger.
Meanwhile, city of Irvine responses to Amazon’s RFP for a $5 billion second headquarters called HQ2 are due in mid-October. Irvine Co. has said it will work with the city, UCI and other civic leaders in its pitch to land it.
Storm Updates
Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. had a challenging September as several hotel properties it owns in Florida and Texas were impacted by hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
The Aliso Viejo-based hotel investor’s latest acquisition, the Oceans Edge Hotel & Marina in Key West, appears to have been the most affected in the company’s portfolio. It was closed for more than two weeks due to Irma before it opened on a limited basis last week.
“The property sustained limited physical damage as a result of Hurricane Irma and Sunstone is working in conjunction with the hotel manager, engineers and other professionals to prepare and execute restoration plans,” the company said in a statement.
Repair costs haven’t been disclosed. “The cost of the required restoration work may or may not exceed the related property insurance deductible amount,” the company noted.
Sunstone bought the property in July for $175 million, or $1 million per room.
“We are fortunate that damage from the storm was minimal and we are excited to re-open,” the hotel’s website said last week.
The company’s 781-room Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld “remained open and operational during Hurricane Irma and did not incur any meaningful physical damage,” Sunstone said. It did lose some business-related guests but said it offset much of the losses with incremental transient demand during the hurricane.
Sunstone’s two hotels in Houston, the 480-room Hilton North Houston and the 390-room Marriott Houston, remained open and operational during Hurricane Harvey and sustained only minor damage.
No hotel employees or guests were injured, the company said.
Sunstone’s market value is about $3.6 billion. Its stock price hasn’t changed much since early this month, prior to the hurricanes.
