REDA Residential, the multifamily arm of Newport Beach-based Real Estate Development Associates LLC, last month paid $49 million for Fox Hills Plaza, a retail center in Culver City, sister publication the Los Angeles Business Journal reported.
The acquisition, done in partnership with an undisclosed private family office, is a redevelopment for the industrial and residential developer, which aims to tear down the 7-acre site’s existing shopping hub to make way for an apartment complex.
Culver City’s housing mandate allows for up to 100 units per acre on mixed-use, high-density projects, according to city filings.
On the site—at 6201 and 6299 Bristol Parkway—currently sits a more than 64,000-square-foot retail center built in 1973. The lot is about 1 mile off the Marina (90) Freeway and the San Diego (405) Freeway junction and is walking distance from the Westfield Culver City mall.
Tenants at the plaza include CVS Pharmacy, Quiznos and State Farm.
“We’re still in the early days of the planning process,” Jason Krotts, REDA co-founder and principal, told the Business Journal. “We’re aiming to align the project with the city’s housing goals.”
CBRE Group Inc.’s Laurie Lustig-Bower represented the seller, Los Angeles-based real estate investor and developer HSH Management, in the deal. Eric Mandell of Ally Commercial Real Estate brokered the acquisition on behalf of REDA.
REDA, which focuses on industrial and residential land investments, touts a $4 billion portfolio comprising of 675 acres of acquired land.
Nixed Plans
Construction for REDA’s project could start as early as next year, if the project gets approval from Culver City’s city council.
The Bristol Parkway site had been previously eyed for redevelopment by HSH Management, which purchased the lot in 2022 for $56 million.
That project, however, fell through, prompting HSH Management to sell the lot to REDA at a 12.5% discount.
Retail-to-Residential Projects
Timelines for REDA’s other retail-to-residential developments are clearer than Bristol Parkway’s.
The firm expects to complete Enscape, a 206-unit multifamily complex in Sacramento by 2026. The 0.7-acre site was previously home to an auto repair shop.
Hillcrest, a 196-unit apartment community in San Diego, is projected to deliver in 2027. That site, a 0.5-acre parcel, formerly housed a free-standing retail center.
Enscape and Hillcrest mark a new product type for REDA, which launched its residential arm last year through co-founder Nate Johnson.
“We’re looking at more projects around OC for multifamily development, there’s lots of interesting opportunities,” Johnson said.
REDA isn’t the only local firm heading retail-to-residential conversions.
Shopoff Realty Investments, an Irvine-based developer, paid $16 million for a building in Pleasanton that was formerly home to a Nordstrom.
The acquisition was the company’s only purchase last year, which it bought through a joint venture with Irvine-based Praelium Commercial Real Estate and an affiliate of Chicago-based Singerman Real Estate LLC.
The deal is the first step in a residential redevelopment play for Shopoff.
The Pleasanton lot is one of many retail-to-multifamily conversions for the company, which in 2022 paid $96 million for 26 acres of Westminster Mall for a mixed-use development.
The rise in retail-to-residential conversions comes as the state pressures cities to create more housing with quotas, under a state law designed to alleviate the statewide housing crisis.
