Newport Beach-based Birtcher Development hasn’t bought a site in Orange County since its sale roughly six years ago from Australia’s Goodman Group, but that’s expected to soon change as the company updates its leadership team and targets new local investment opportunities.
Brooke Birtcher Gustafson has been named president of the industrial development and investment firm, marking the fifth generation to lead the family-owned company, one of Orange County’s better-known names in real estate, as it marks its 85th year in business.
Birtcher Gustafson, the great-great-grandaughter of company founder Justus Birtcher, is the firm’s first female president.
Her father, Brandon “Brandy” Birtcher, has served as CEO since 2002.
She has been with the company since 2007, and previously served as managing director since 2017, when the firm rebranded itself following its split from what was then known as Goodman Birtcher, with a renewed focus on logistics warehouse development across the U.S.
“Brandy and I started this new iteration of our firm in 2017 and have acted in the role of owners and operators in the years since,” Birtcher Gustafson told the Business Journal. “I plan on continuing the vision and setting up the next generation.”
Since 2017, Birtcher Gustafson is credited with the firm’s acquisition of 260 acres across Southern California for more than 4.5 million square feet of industrial development across 11 buildings, and grown the company to a team of 12.
Now, Birtcher Gustafson is focused on alternative investment opportunities, such as industrial outdoor storage (IOS) and third-party asset management, in the face of new economic headwinds.
The company has “a couple sites under contract” for industrial storage within Orange County, and is scouting additional deals locally to ramp up its presence in its backyard, according to Birtcher Gustafson.
“We’ve got some ventures in place with equity partners that will allow us to expand our foothold in Southern California,” Birtcher Gustafson said.
Goodman Partnership
“When we sold our interest in the partnership with Goodman in 2017, we started a clean slate with essentially no partners and no projects. It was a reset,” Birtcher Gustafson said.
“We’ve been intentional about the projects we’ve pursued, and we’re proud of the team we’ve built.”
The locally based division was formed in 2012 when Birtcher Development—then based in Irvine—joined forces with Goodman Group, which was looking to grow its U.S. presence.
Goodman Birtcher completed about 3.3 million square feet of industrial development in Southern California, in addition to other big projects across the country, prior to its dissolution; Goodman North America still operates locally out of Irvine.
Industrial Outdoor Storage
Birtcher Development remains bullish on the industrial segment despite ongoing economic headwinds that have cooled the product type off of the historic highs seen during the first two years of the pandemic.
The company is particularly interested in Orange County, Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.
“Industrial is still the preferred asset class that can provide steady returns to investors,” Birtcher Gustafson said. “The fundamentals of building high-quality real estate are still there, and there’s always going to be a flight to quality and a premium for Class A industrial.”
Increasing demand for industrial outdoor storage has provided a new business line for Birtcher Development, which is currently focused on acquiring and repositioning existing IOS sites, as well as developing IOS facilities on a speculative basis.
“There’s opportunities all over Orange County for storage, including container storage for the nearby ports,” Birtcher Gustafson said.
Outside of industrial outdoor storage, Birtcher Development is looking for by right industrial sites within OC for bigger box development in markets without a CUP, or conditional use permit, requirement.
The firm also recently hired an associate for acquisitions, Alex Staff, to oversee new market opportunities.
Current Projects
In July, Birtcher began construction on a 492,410-square-foot logistics facility in the Inland Empire, in Rialto. The project is expected to deliver in the first quarter of next year.
Earlier this year, Birtcher broke ground on a 330,048-square-foot project in San Bernardino, dubbed Birtcher Logistics Center Fontana.
Elsewhere in the IE, Birtcher expects to deliver the first phase of the Birtcher Oak Valley Commerce Center in Calimesa by 2025. The 2.5 million-square-foot industrial campus will include four logistics buildings.
