The company first proposed plans last summer to remake the property in the heart of Laguna Beach, along Coast Highway, into a showroom-like space complete with a coffee bar, screenings and events in addition to opportunities for test drives.
Those plans are now coming to life, with the maker of SUVs, pickup trucks and Amazon delivery vans closing on the 15,890-square-foot property at 162 S. Coast Highway last month after receiving the green light on its redevelopment plans from the city.
Glendale-based Principal Theatres Inc. sold the building for $10.7 million, or about $980 per square foot, property records indicate.
On a per-square-foot basis, the deal is tops for larger-sized retail transactions in the city since 2019, when telecom executive and real estate investor Gary Jabara acquired Aliso Creek Shopping Center, a nearly 50,000-square-foot mall along Coast Highway and across from the Montage Laguna Beach, for $57.6 million, or nearly $1,170 per square foot.
Experience Center
The South Coast Highway property saw the first theater there bow in 1923, with the current structure opened in 1935. The city’s only movie theater closed in 2015.
Rivian’s plan for the space—to be called A Rivian Experience Center—includes restoring the theater as a community landmark that will be used for public programming.
“The community in Laguna has a deep artistic history and a strong love of nature,” said Rivian Senior Director of Facilities Design Denise Cherry in a prior statement.
A timeframe for its opening hasn’t been disclosed.
For Rivian, the Laguna retail project is part of a larger retail strategy that calls for 10 locations to open across the country by the end of this year for purposes of showcasing its SUV and truck offerings.
It’s the rapidly growing company’s first such location in OC.
Zero to $50B
Rivian has been fast tracking its Orange County expansion in the past two years.
The company inked a pair of new leases in June totaling more than 250,000 square feet, including its new headquarters at 14600 Myford Road, a roughly 186,000-square-foot building about a mile from the Market Place shopping center.
The company is reportedly looking to go public as soon as September.
Bloomberg News, the first to report the possible initial public offering for the Irvine-based company, said the goal would be a valuation of at least $50 billion. That would make Rivian OC’s second-most valuable public company.
Rivian, which is backed by Amazon, Ford and other big-name investors, in January raised $2.65 billion in a round that brought its total raised to date to $8 billion.
Rivian is set to begin deliveries of its R1T truck and R1S SUV this summer. The vehicles have starting prices of $67,500 and $70,000 respectively.
