A 2.25-acre site in Signal Hill that is entitled for 54 townhomes has been sold by a local family in the tiny jurisdiction to City Ventures, a homebuilding company based in Santa Ana.
The $4 million deal – and the flurry of offers for the property – is a sign that builders are on the prowl for development sites.
The property at Pacific Coast Highway and North Orizaba Avenue was the subject of a bidding war, and seller Lorbeer Enterprises received 14 offers, said broker Scott Goligoski of GW Realty Co., which specializes in residential land deals.
“It’s a deal that nine or 10 months ago would not have been done,” said Goligoski, who represented both parties.
City Ventures made the highest offer on the property, which was on the market for just 45 days, he said.
What made those 14 offers even more encouraging, according to Goligoski, was that the site needs a significant amount of demolition and remediation before homes can be built there. An old car dealership, a motel and warehouses need to be razed, while soil contamination from oil wells needs to be remediated. Signal Hill, which is surrounded by Long Beach, had significant oil reserves that are largely depleted.
Goligoski said that since the homebuilding market hit “rock bottom” about a year and a half ago, builders have begun to find projects that pencil out and have returned to the market. That sentiment was echoed by the buyer, which plans to break ground in October.
“We feel there is a lack of supply,” said Craig Atkins, chairman of City Ventures and the founder of brokerage O’Donnell/Atkins Co., a defunct land specialist. “We won’t build in the Inland Empire, but we are building in the 13 coastal counties.”
Atkins said the project is slated for completion in 2012. City Ventures is projecting an average sales price of $370,000 per house. The homes will range from 1,368-1,615 square feet and will be targeted at least partly at commuters.
Lorbeer Enterprises is the entity of the Lorbeer family, longtime property owners in Signal Hill and residents of Long Beach.
Big Promotion
Local commercial real estate broker Ron Harris was named executive vice president of investments at Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc. on July 23. He is one of just four executive vice presidents at the Encino-based brokerage, which has more than 1,200 brokers nationwide.
Harris, 54, who specializes in multifamily investment sales, previously held the title of senior vice president of investments. He said the appointment was an honor after more than two decades with the company.
“I was very flattered,” said Harris. “There are certain hurdles – earnings, tenure and reputation – that come into play where the senior management decides one has achieved certain benchmarks.”
Westwood Deal
Robert Half International, a publicly traded staffing and consulting firm, has signed an 11,094-square-foot lease at 10960 Wilshire Blvd. in Westwood. The Menlo Park-based company’s 10-year deal with landlord Equity Office Properties is valued at $4.1 million. It closed at the end of June.
The deal starts at just under $3 per square foot per month on a full-service gross basis and escalates annually by about 3 percent, according to broker Hunt Barnett of L.A. Realty Partners.
“It was an even-handed deal,” said Barnett, who represented the landlord, a unit of New York private equity firm Blackstone Group LP. “Everyone was walking away thinking nobody got the better of the other.”
The firm, which has other offices in Southern California, is moving from the nearby Center West office tower, also in Westwood. It will move into the office in December after remodeling. Barnett said that with the deal the building is 81 percent leased.
Equity Office was represented in-house by Andrew Goodman, and by Peter Best, Beau Rawi and Karly Nolen of L.A. Realty Partners. The tenant was represented by Mike McRoskey and Brian Niehaus of Jones Lang LaSalle.
Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.
