Mark Mueller
Editor
Mark Mueller covers commercial and residential real estate for the Orange County Business Journal. His beat also includes title insurers and mortgage lenders, as well as government stories that relate to real estate. He can be reached at mueller@ocbj.com.
Phone: 949-833-8373 Extension: 226
Recent Stories
$48M Sale for One of IBC’s Remaining Housing Sites
REAL ESTATE: Mix of rentals, for-sale from Alliance, KB Home
One of the last sites in the Irvine Business Complex approved for housing redevelopment under the city’s current 15,000-unit cap for residential entitlements in the fast-growing area has traded hands for a hefty price.
Hines Global REIT Unloads Irvine Office for $46.6M
Busy Corner: Hotel Next To Office Sold in October
The intersection of Main Street and Von Karman Avenue in Irvine, already one of the busiest in the city, is now one of the busiest for real estate transactions.
Anaheim Power Play
Ducks Owner Pays $125M for Office Site Next to Stadium
Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli has made his largest reported acquisition, buying a three-building office complex that sits next to the Honda Center, home of his hockey franchise.
Watty Sets Sail
It’s one thing, perhaps expected at this point, for Texas to poach local companies looking for cheaper business environments.
Surf City Offices Trade for $124M
Largest OC Deal for Pendulum Property Partners
Irvine-based Pendulum Property Partners, a real estate investment and development firm that started operations in 2016, has made its largest area purchase to date, buying Huntington Beach’s most prominent office complex.
Delayed IBC Rental Project Gets Top Dollar in Sale
REAL ESTATE: Developer still on hook, despite $118.5M price
Not every new apartment project in Irvine’s rapidly-growing base of rental communities is a money-winner for its development team.
Google Pays Top Dollar for Silicon Valley HCP Site
Tech Giant Adds More Space and Jobs in Irvine
It’s a good time to own property leased to tech giant Google.
A Break in Direction
Dec. 4 will see a swearing-in ceremony for Anaheim’s two new city council members, one re-elected council member, and a new mayor, Harry Sidhu, a pro-business Republican candidate, Disney ally, and former city councilman.
WeWork’s OC Base Grows to 5 Coworking Locations
Spectrum, Costa Mesa Get 2nd spots
New York-based coworking giant WeWork Inc. has added two more prominent Orange County locations to its quickly expanding local portfolio, which now includes five existing and coming office spots that top 200,000 square feet combined.
Mophie Execs Start Smartphone Biz
INNOVATION: $2.5M for Costa Mesa’s Nimble
Costa Mesa-based Nimble, a newly formed maker of what it’s promoting as sustainably made smartphone accessories, has raised $2.5 million to help fund growth.
Stillwater, CrossHarbor Add Orange Biz Park to Mix
$18.6M Buy as Duo Nabs Glaukos for AV Campus
It’s been an active few weeks for Newport Beach-based Stillwater Investment Group, a privately held investor in office, industrial, apartment and retail properties that’s been operating since 2014.
OC to Be Home to Another Asian Carmaker’s US Arm
AUTOMOTIVE: Zotye sets up in Lake Forest
Chinese carmaker Zotye Automobile International Co. plans to use a new Lake Forest-based distribution company to sell vehicles in the U.S. by 2020.
No Incentives, No Problem: Radisson Blu Work Starts
HOSPITALITY: 12-story project a mile from Disney
A contentious political climate in Anaheim over the past few months hasn’t stopped every high-end hotel project in the city from moving ahead.
Investors Pay $230M for Pair of San Clemente Rentals
REAL ESTATE: Two of city’s three top sites sell
Institutional investors have bought two of the three largest apartment complexes in San Clemente in separate deals valued at about $230 million combined.
Device Maker Glaukos Moving HQ to Aliso Viejo
REAL ESTATE: 3-office lease biggest in OC in 2018
Fast-growing medical device maker Glaukos Corp. is moving its headquarters from San Clemente to Aliso Viejo, after striking the largest office lease of the year in Orange County.
Ubiquity’s Former HQ in Spectrum Gets New Tenant
CBD Products Maker Growing Fast
Medterra, a Laguna Hills-based maker of cannabidiol oil and other CBD-related healthcare products that started operations last year, is taking a more prominent location in the Irvine Spectrum.
Olenicoff Makes $169M Push in Atlanta, Nashville
REAL ESTATE: Says OC deals becoming harder to find
Igor Olenicoff, Orange County’s second-wealthiest businessperson, doesn’t plan many local real estate acquisitions in the current frothy market.
Double Shot of Hotel Development
Dual-Branded Model Makes Local Inroads
Hotel developers in and around Orange County are seeing double.
Dana Point Harbor’s Revamp Team Gets to Work
66-Year Lease Kicks Off For Est. $338M Project
The development “dream team” tasked with revitalizing Dana Point Harbor now has the keys to the nearly 300-acre waterfront site in South County, part of which will become one of the region’s largest commercial development sites over the next few years.
SCP Pushes For Quiet Sears Closure
RETAIL: Tries to avoid gaudy liquidation plan
South Coast Plaza is known for luxe shops, exclusive brands and fine dining.
Newport Center Eviction Action Gets National Press
Eagan Avanatti Behind On Rent at Irvine Co. Tower
Newport Beach’s glitzy 520 Newport Center Drive building, which opened in 2014, could soon see its first notable eviction, along with its first big sublease of space.
Life in the Fast Lane
IPOs, Relocations, New Markets Add to Ranks
It’s getting a bit harder to be one of Orange County’s fastest-growing public companies. But for those who make the cutoff, the payoff remains sweet.
New Home Eyes More Stock Buybacks as Shares Dip
‘Company in Transition’; Pivot to Affordability
Fast growth in sales hasn’t translated to stock gains for New Home Co.
Newly-Built Hyatt House in Irvine Trades for $42M
HOSPITALITY: Hyatt Corp. sells to McWhinney
One of the newest hotels in the John Wayne Airport area has been snapped up by a hospitality investor and developer in Colorado.
Top Dollar Paid for Newport Beach Waterfront Offices
Redwood West Pays $660 PSF for Two Buildings
Redwood West executives have a simple explanation for their recent $23.2 million purchase of Newport Beach’s Bayside Square office complex, a deal that ranks among the area’s priciest per square foot.
Device Maker Axonics Boosts Size of IPO Plans
HEALTHCARE: Irvine firm could nab $122M from offering
Irvine-based medical device maker Axonics Modulation Technologies Inc. is beefing up plans for going public.
Charged Office Sale
REAL ESTATE: NFL team’s HQ sells for $84 million
The Costa Mesa office complex that’s home to the operations of the Los Angeles Chargers football team has traded hands at a 75% premium to its prior sale.
City Ventures Sees Green in Eco-Friendly Homes
REAL ESTATE: On pace for 600 sales this year
You could call City Ventures the Prius of homebuilders.
Glidewell Labs Adds 2 More Offices to Irvine Campus
REAL ESTATE: $88M buy its largest to date
Newport Beach-based dental products maker Glidewell Laboratories, already one of the largest owner-users of commercial real estate in the area around John Wayne Airport, has made what appears to be its largest-ever local property acquisition.
Surf City Center Near Bella Terra Commands $65M
Edinger Plaza Sale Tops For OC Retail This Year
Edinger Plaza, a 155,275-square-foot shopping center in Huntington Beach across the street from the city’s largest mall, Bella Terra, has changed hands.
Eagle Four Takes Flight to Denver in Big Hotel Buy
HOSPITALITY: $415M value estimated for Sheraton
Newport Beach-based hospitality investor Eagle Four Partners is the latest local name taking notice of Colorado’s red-hot hotel market.
Sears Closing South Coast Plaza Location
Sears Holdings Corp. plans to shutter its location at Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza as part of its just-announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
IBC Site Near The District Eyed for Senior Housing
3-Acre Site Would Hold 370 Units and Run 424,000 SF
A 3-acre site in Irvine that’s across the street from the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center is being considered for a sizeable housing project for older residents.
Orange, Anaheim Offices Trade Hands for $61M
REAL ESTATE: Both in hub of rental developments
Two Central Orange County offices in Orange and Anaheim have traded hands in deals totaling about $61 million.
Competition Up For EvoNexus Spots
INNOVATION: Irvine incubator adding startups
Much like the university down the road from its Irvine office, it’s getting harder for applicants to get accepted to startup incubator EvoNexus.
Foundation Building Materials Refocuses After Sale
SERVICES: Distributor keeps better-performing biz
Foundation Building Materials LLC, a Tustin-based distributor of wallboard, ceiling systems, and other products that’s used an aggressive roll-up acquisition strategy to build its business, is hitting the reset button.
Bedford Part of New Home Co. Affordability Push
Incredible Locations ‘Are Going Away,’ Webb Says
New Home Co. isn’t cutting the prices of its homes in half, though it may seem that way based on a reading of the Aliso Viejo-based builder’s financials.
Goodman Nabs Anaheim Industrial Site for $36M
REAL ESTATE: Could construct two buildings
Goodman North America, one of the country’s largest industrial developers over the past six years, has made its first reported acquisition in Orange County, an existing property in Anaheim near the Santa Ana (5) and Riverside (91) freeways interchange.
Edwards Expansion Proceeds Amid Sales Chatter
Royalty Carpet Building Next to Irvine HQ Razed
There’s one less industrial building on Red Hill Avenue in Irvine.
Legacy Partners Looks to Double South Coast Base
233 Units Proposed Along Sunflower, Near 580 Site
The developer of 580 Anton, the first upscale apartment project in the Costa Mesa arts district area in a decade, has a second residential project in the works a few blocks away, just over the city line in Santa Ana.
Business Bites
Other items of interest Orange County Business Journal Vol. 41, No. 39
The Orange County Museum of Art hired Sarah Jesse as deputy director.
Granite Pays $125M for Newport Beach Offices
REAL ESTATE: Latest big-dollar sale near JWA
Plano, Texas-based real estate investor Granite Properties has completed the largest single-property office deal of the year in the John Wayne Airport area, snapping up Newport Beach’s 100 Bayview complex.
WeWork Expanding To Boardwalk Midrise
INNOVATION: Largest co-working lease in OC
WeWork Inc. has plans to open the largest co-working space in Orange County, at the newly-built Boardwalk office development near John Wayne Airport.
Sares-Regis Pays $72M for Boeing Site in Surf City
REAL ESTATE: Office to be converted to industrial
One of Huntington Beach’s largest office buildings has sold, and is expected to make way for an industrial park.
Laguna Niguel Housing Push Will See Condos Added
100-Unit Project on Street Busy With Apartments
The city of Laguna Niguel could soon see one of its largest for-sale housing developments in years go up on an office site near Crown Valley Road and the San Diego (5) Freeway.
Urovant Inks New Licensing Deal as IPO Beckons
HEALTHCARE: $95M commitment; OAB focus
Urovant Sciences Ltd., an Irvine-based clinical-stage biopharma company focused on developing and commercializing drugs for urologic conditions, has inked a deal for a second product candidate.
Business Bites
Other items of interest Orange County Business Journal Vol. 41, No. 38
Allergan PLC is buying Newport Beach-based Bonti Inc. for $195 million.
OC Insider
Signs of the Times
The leaves don’t change much in Irvine during the fall; the best sense you’ll get that November is approaching in OC’s fastest-growing city is the fast-growing collection of political signs dotting the area’s main thoroughfares, which have been popping up since before Labor Day. Anyone hoping for a respite in negativity and obfuscation in the city’s campaigning (which peaked with June’s Veterans Cemetery referendum) is bound to be let down.
UCI Starts Work on Science & Engineering Building
EDUCATION: six-story structure to hold new hires
Work has started on a sizeable new science and engineering facility at the University of California-Irvine, designed to foster cross-disciplinary research in engineering, computing and physical sciences.
Fairfield Residential Pays $70.5M for Orange Offices
Site Near MainPlace Mall To Get 727 Residences
A nearly 12-acre site close to Santa Ana’s MainPlace Mall that’s being eyed for a residential development has changed hands for an eye-opening price.
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