COMMERCIAL
Newport Beach’s Greenlaw Partners, one of the area’s most active real estate investors of late, has made a change to its executive team.
The investment management and development company recently added James Camp as an executive vice president. He’ll be involved in managing the company’s portfolio of commercial real estate assets and will participate in the company’s acquisitions.
“What attracted me to Greenlaw was how well they’ve done in a difficult market. They’re very well positioned to buy a lot of properties,” Camp said.
The company’s most prominent local office is the 2050 Main Street office in Irvine, which Greenlaw bought earlier this year for about $56 million. Greenlaw has increased occupancy at the newly-built, 13-story tower from 30% to 60% since the acquisition.
Greenlaw also is part owner of Costa Mesa’s Triangle Square mall, which is expected to be revamped in the near future into more of an entertainment-focused destination center. It’s currently a pure retail-focused shopping center.
Camp counts more than two decades of commercial real estate experience. Prior to Greenlaw, he was a senior vice president and portfolio manager for Newport Beach’s Voit Real Estate Services, and helped with the company’s expansion into the third-party asset services and property management business.
Outside of work, he’s chairman of the legislative affairs committee for the Southern California chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
Camp’s taking on some of the duties of Greenlaw cofounder John Tumminello, who’s stepped back from the company for personal reasons. Wilbur Smith, Greenlaw’s other cofounder, remains active at the company, which counts about 25 workers.
EuroLease
Costa Mesa’s Eurocar Inc., a luxury automobile dealership, has moved its operations near John Wayne Airport.
The company, one of the West Coast’s largest independent dealers of used luxury and exotic cars, signed a five-year lease for 52,922 square feet of office and warehouse space at 2920 Red Hill Ave. in Costa Mesa.
Eurocar is using the location for showroom and office space. It sells Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche brands.
The building previously was the headquarters of baby bedding maker CoCaLo Inc., which now operates out of Irvine. CoCaLo was bought by New Jersey’s Russ Berrie and Co. in 2008 for $16 million.
The Eurocar lease is valued at $2.2 million, which equates to monthly rents of about 69 cents per square foot, according to landlord Western States Technologies Inc. of Los Angeles.
Dave Desper with CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.’s Newport Beach office represented Western States in the lease, while Trent Walker of the Irvine office of Voit Real Estate Services represented Eurocar.
RESIDENTIAL
New Home Co., the homebuilding company started last year by former John Laing Homes chief executive Larry Webb, has a new home itself.
The builder moved its operations to 95 Enterprise in Aliso Viejo, part of the Summit Office Campus. It had been based in Irvine near the site of its first housing project in Woodbury.
New Home Co. is building 64 homes at Irvine Company’s Woodbury development, under the Carmel name. Joe Davis, the former head of Irvine Co.’s homebuilding arm, is one of four partners at New Home Co., along with Webb and former John Laing executives Tom Redwitz and Wayne Stelmar.
About two-thirds of those 64 homes, which start at a little more than $900,000—the priciest homes going up in the latest phase of Woodbury building—have been sold, according to data released this month from Costa Mesa-based Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
In addition to OC, New Home Co. also has homes going up in Sacramento. It plans to build about 100 homes in the master planned development of Elk Grove in the next two years, according to local reports.
The company said it recently closed escrow on 27 home sites for a second development in Elk Grove, called Lincoln Crossing. It’s planning to open models there by early next year.
Lyon in Long Beach
Lyon Communities, the apartment division of Newport Beach’s William Lyon Homes, has opened another project in Long Beach.
The company recently opened Gallery421, a 291-unit luxury apartment complex just north of Ocean Boulevard.
Lyon now owns three upscale apart- ment buildings in Long Beach, including an 18-story oceanfront high-rise, totaling about 700 units.
Lyon Communities manages more than 11,000 apartment homes across the country.
