Crenshaw-Imperial Center

TUSTIN, CA-The sale of an auto dealership here and leases throughout the region have accounted for more than 185,000 square feet of retail activity in recently closed deals, according to brokers involved in the transactions. Tustin-based Coreland Cos., which negotiated the sale of the 35,000-square-foot auto dealership and four retail leases, reports more than 85,000 square feet of deals. Grubb & Ellis Co. reports a lease of more than 100,000 square feet for a Walmart.

The auto dealership that traded was a 3.3-acre, vacant property at 1455 Auto Mall Dr. in Santa Ana that was built in 1998 and was previously the long-time home of Bauer Jaguar. The property is part of the 50-plus-acre, 14-dealership Santa Ana Auto Mall.

The buyer of the dealership was Santa Ana Properties II, which owns and operates a nearby Mini Cooper auto dealership and has plans to relocate that operation to the new property. Santa Ana Properties, which paid $5.75 million for the property, represented itself.

The seller, Jeffrey and Bryan LLC of Costa Mesa, was represented by senior associate Bryan Bauer of Coreland Cos. “In addition to excellent freeway visibility, the property enjoys a prime, up-front position in the Santa Ana Auto Mall, which appealed to the buyer who was looking to purchase a high-profile facility for their dealership,” Bauer said.

Auto Dealership

The four retail leases that Coreland reported, which totaled more than $4 million in value, included two transactions with Big 5 Sporting Goods as the leasing agent for Crenshaw-Imperial Shopping Center in Inglewood. Matt Hammond, director of retail brokerage at Coreland, negotiated a five-year lease with Big 5 for 25,839 square feet at Crenshaw-Imperial, a 165,000-square-foot neighborhood center at the northeast corner of Crenshaw and Imperial. Big 5 is expected to open in mid-December at 11310 Crenshaw Blvd. Klaus Tabar of Pointe Commercial of Laguna Hills, CA represented Big 5. Hammond represented the landlord, One Imperial Plaza LP of Los Angeles.

Hammond also negotiated a five-year lease renewal with Big 5 for its existing 9,800-square-foot store at 2150 E. Highland Ave. in San Bernardino at the Seley Plaza. He represented the landlord, LRCH Sterling & Highland LP of Miami, with Big 5 representing itself.

Coreland’s brokerage division has also negotiated a 10-year lease with Union Bank for a new 3,333-square-foot retail bank branch at 3520 Peck Rd. in El Monte at the El Monte Shopping Center. Union Bank expects to open the branch in late November at the 325,000-square-foot community center at the intersection of Peck Road and the I-10 freeway. Bauer represented the landlord, Decron Properties of Los Angeles, with the tenant represented by Kinden Mitchell of Cushman & Wakefield in Los Angeles.

At the Newport-Camino Plaza in Tustin, Petco signed a five-year lease renewal for its existing 11,500-square-foot store at 13942 Newport Ave. Coreland SVP Steven Hogberg represented the landlord, a private trust located in Tustin. Petco represented itself. Hogberg, who heads the brokerage division at Coreland, observes that “Discounters and financial institutions remain two of the three most active segments” in retail, the third being quick-serve food users.

The Walmart lease is in Anaheim at 88 E. Orangethorpe Ave., where the retailer has taken immediate possession of 100,320 square feet as an anchor tenant at a shopping center that is also anchored by Big 5. The owner of the center, Sterik Anaheim LP, was represented by SVP Mark Baziak and associate Terrison Quinn of the Grubb & Ellis Co. Retail Group. Baziak echoed Hogberg’s comment: “Discount stores have been a very active tenant in the Orange County marketplace this year,” Baziak said.

The Walmart lease brings the occupancy of the center, which was built in 1987, to 95%. The property is situated at the intersection of Orangethorpe and Lemon streets, across from the Orangefair Marketplace and close to Fullerton College and California State University, Fullerton.