Irvine-based Sares-Regis Group has closed on a sizable ground lease related to an apartment development it plans near the Bella Terra shopping center in Huntington Beach.
The active industrial and multifamily developer is planning to build a nearly 487-unit complex called the Boardwalk at the northeast corner of Edinger Avenue and Gothard Street near Bella Terra and a few blocks from the San Diego (405) Freeway.
The 12-acre site previously held a Levitz furniture store.
Plans for the project, which includes about 10,000 square feet of retail space, have been in the works for some time. Huntington Beach’s planning commission approved the project early last year.
Site work for the development is already under way, and Sares-Regis plans an official ground-breaking for the complex next quarter.
One key part of the development just got completed: Sares Regis formally closed on a 99-year ground lease transaction at the site. Sources close to the deal indicate the ground lease rent was a lump sum payment of about $24 million.
Brokerage data show Santa Ana-based Freeway Industrial Park as the property’s owner.
Greg Sullivan, a senior land adviser with the Irvine office of brokerage Whittlesey Doyle, represented the ground lessor in what he described as a “unique” deal.
“Effectively, we came up with a lump sum rent payment structure that allowed our client to 1031 exchange the proceeds while maintaining long-term ownership of the land for the benefit of future generations of the family run corporation,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan noted that the area around Bella Terra is seeing a heavy dose of development activity of late, with a combination of more than 1,800 apartments in the works or proposed along Edinger and Beach Boulevard.
Other Apartment News
Sares-Regis recently announced plans to build a 240-unit project in the Little Tokyo region of Los Angeles.
The seven-story project is being built on a 1.7-acre parcel that the developer bought from The Related Cos.
Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed. Sares-Regis said the development, which will include 17,000 square feet of retail, should begin next year and will have a $100 million value when it is complete.
Target Land
A nearly 9.6-acre land site in Anaheim that once held a Target store has been sold to an apartment developer.
Sacramento-based St. Anton Partners recently closed on the purchase of land at 1881 W. Lincoln Ave. The site is a few blocks from the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway, and has been eyed for residential redevelopment for several years.
Minneapolis Target Corp., which has another retail location nearby the Lincoln Avenue site, sold the land for an undisclosed price.
St. Anton plans to build a 232-unit apartment community at the site. It’s the second notable local apartment deal the company has inked in recent months; it is also planning to work with Newport Beach-based Irvine Co. to build a project at the Tustin Legacy development.
Target was represented in the Anaheim deal by Raymond Eldridge and Michelle Jefcoat, brokers in the Newport Beach office of CBRE Group Inc., along with Suzanne Washbur from the company’s Orlando office.
Apartment Sale
It’s not the San Diego Padres, but communications exec Gary Jabara has made another acquisition.
The chief executive of Newport Beach-based Mobilitie LLC—who earlier this month made it on the Business Journal’s annual list of OC’s wealthiest residents—recently snapped up a 12-unit apartment complex in Newport Beach for about $5 million.
The Newport Courtyards complex is on Rutland Road, near the Westcliff Plaza shopping center and Mariners Park. It was sold by Newport Beach-based Burnham USA Equities, which had owned the property since 2006, according to property records.
The apartment complex is one of a handful of real estate investments made in recent months by Jabara, who last month was rumored to be in the running to buy San Diego’s baseball team.
Kilroy Buy
A tenant-in-common investment group managed by Irvine-based Passco Cos. has sold a 321,000-square-foot office in Hollywood to Kilroy Realty Corp. of Los Angeles.
The 22-story Sunset Media Center building traded hands for about $79 million. Kilroy is reportedly assuming a $54 million loan due in 2016 as part of the transaction, and plans to renovate the building.
