Mercury Insurance, one of the largest corporate employers in the city of Brea, has sold many of its office holdings in the area to an affiliate controlled by one of Brea’s larger property owners, in a $31.5 million deal.
The sale was the most expensive real estate deal for the Brea/La Habra area for the past 12 months, per CoStar data.
“Since the pandemic, Mercury has taken a simultaneously forward-thinking and responsive approach in its return-to-work strategy,” Jeremy Dee, president of Corporate Realty Associates and co-agent on the listing team, said in a statement about the sale.
“With successful hybrid/work-from-home programs for a number of its employees, Mercury identified cost-saving opportunities in the disposition of key office assets.”
The Greenbriar Lane, a company associated with real estate developer Dwight Manley, submitted plans to the city of Brea to redevelop the 9.7-acre property with a three-floor, 164,908-square-foot office building at 1698-1700 Greenbriar Lane into a residential development with 180 units.
Manley, also known as “Mr. Brea,” was also a professional athlete agent, representing former NBA players such as Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman. The Brea-based Manley made the Business Journals OC500 list in 2019, when he was recognized as the largest property owner in his home city’s downtown area.
Mercury Insurance previously sold Manley a 6.5-acre empty lot for $12.2 million in 2017. Manley, who has previously told the Business Journal about his interest in building affordable housing, could be the largest landowner in Brea as he owns about 20 buildings, several of which are in the downtown area.
When contacted by the Business Journal, Manley declined to comment.
Replacing Office with Housing
Dee said Brea needs to increase its housing supply.
Public documents shared by the city of Brea show the new owner of 1698-1700 Greenbriar Lane plans to demolish the Mercury Insurance Group building and neighboring parking structure, then replacing all of that with 180 housing units.
The public record also shows three types of housing developments could be pursued on the 9.7-acre site on Greenbriar Lane: 5-plex buildings with one- and two-car garages; attached three-story duplexes with two-car garages with side entry and rear yards; or, attached three-story duplexes with two-car garages with a roof-top deck.
Lennar Homes of California Inc. would be the project’s developer.
The Mercury Has Risen
Mercury Insurance bought Brea Plaza Office Park II from Western Federal S&L Associates for $5.8 million, or $34.97 per square foot, in 1992.
Los Angeles-based Mercury Insurance has long held its biggest offices in Brea. The company, which has a $3.7 billion market cap, generated about $4.6 billion in revenue in 2023 and employs about 4,100 (NYSE: MDY).
Beverly Hills-based Kennedy-Wilson marketed the former home of Mercury Insurance Group without a sales price, according to the listing’s marketing brochure.
The sale was brokered by Kennedy-Williams and Corporate Realty Associates.
The building, constructed in 1976 and renovated in 1993, was vacant at the time of the sale.
The insurance company, with the sale of 1698-1700 Greenbriar Lane, now only maintains about 85,000 square feet of office space at 555 W. Imperial Hwy. in Brea.
