Shady Canyon $7.9M Lot Sale Sets Irvine Co. Record

Orange County Business Journal, Apr 16-Apr 22, 2007 by Mueller, Mark

Farmers & Merchants Buys First Pacific Gateway Building; Night at the Fights Set for May 3

REAL ESTATE

RESIDENTIAL

Dana Point's Strand at the Headlands is getting some competition for having the most expensive home lots in Orange County.

The Irvine Company just sold one of the few remaining home sites it owns at its upscale Shady Canyon community for $7.9 million. It is the highest price paid for a lot anywhere on the Irvine Ranch, company officials said.

The 1.3-acre site also is believed to be the priciest inland home lot sale in OC history. Developer Sanford Edwards' Strand has been cornering the high-priced oceanfront market as of late.

The Irvine Co. isn't saying who the buyer was, other than noting it was a local resident.

Part of the high price is due to the lot's size and location at the end of a cul-de-sac over-looking much of the region, said Joe Davis, president of the Irvine Co.'s Irvine Community Development Co.

There are six unsold lots out of 291 at Shady Canyon, which opened in 2000. The development has a total of 400 homes.

The Irvine Co. says the deal is the latest sign that the luxury end of the housing market still is holding up. Custom lots and luxury home sites on the company's land continue to stay strong, Davis said.

"We haven't seen a slowdown in those markets," he said.

For less expensive homes, the mood is a little different.

"It's slower than a couple years ago, no doubt," Davis said. "Appreciation has begun to level off, but we don't see a big degradation in value."

One bright point: the number of people coming out to see homes on the Irvine Co.'s Northern Sphere projects Portola Springs and Woodbury is "huge," Davis said.

It's a good sign for future sales, Davis said.

"People have plenty of other things to do on a Saturday" than visit a sales office, he said.

Buyers are definitely interested in buying, but "they are concerned about what they hear and read," he said. "They need to be convinced that the sky isn't going to fall."

For sales at the company's 4,500-home Portola Springs development, buyers aren't sticking to a particular type of house, Davis said. Both the least-expensive and pricier homes are seeing about the same amount of interest, he said.

COMMERCIAL

Gardena-based developer Overton Moore Properties has wrapped up the first phase of development at Seal Beach's Pacific Gateway Business Center. The company has also found a buyer for one of the phase's six industrial buildings.

The 44-acre project, totaling 830,000 square feet, is the largest industrial project being built in the county in several years.

The first phase totals 626,444 square feet. Long Beach-based Farmers & Merchants Bank bought the first of those buildings for $8.1 million.

More sales and lease transactions should be announced in the next few months, according to Brian DeRevere, a senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. Greg Gill of Charles Dunn Co. represented Farmers & Merchants in the buy.

DeRevere, Bob Goodmanson, John Schumacher and Jeff Morgan of CB Richard Eliis represented Overton Moore.

Plaster HQ

Orange-based Padilla Construction Co., one of the larger plastering contractors in the Westem U.S., has acquired a 28,500-square-foot industrial building for its new headquarters and OC branch.

Padilla paid $4.7 million for 1130 N. Trenton Way in Portola Hills.

Chris Migliori, executive vice president for the Anaheim office of Daum Commercial Real Estate Services, represented Padilla. Jeff Read of Grubb and Ellis Co. represented the seller, Newport Beach's Burnham USA Equities Inc.

Fight Night

The Southern California chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties is getting the word out for one of the real estate industry's big yearly events. Night at the Fights, set for May 3.

The night of boxing (and booze and cigars) is set for the Hyatt Regency Irvine. More than 1,000 members of the commercial real estate group are expected to attend.

This year's event features three boxing matches, including two California Golden State Championship title bouts.

The event raises money for the association's SoCal Political Action Committee, which advocates on industry issues such as environmental regulation and transportation. The chapter also donates $10,000 to the Building Block Foundation fund.

Yours truly will be keeping a close eye on the vodka bar.