San Diego County

Bethany Summit

The Orange County office of HFF has arranged a $12.18 million bridge loan for Bethany Summit Apartments, a 114-unit garden-style apartment complex in Oceanside. HFF director Mark Erland worked on behalf of the borrower, Village Investments, to secure the bridge loan through M&T Realty Capital Corp. The purpose of the loan was to provide economical financing to allow time to process a FHA 223(f) take-out next year. M&T Realty Capital provided a 60%-of-cost, non-recourse bridge loan at 5.5% interest only, with no prepayment penalty for an M&T-provided FHA or Fannie Mae take-out loan. Erland describes the financing as "a much more efficient execution than many bridge loans with higher rates, recourse, and/or significant prepayment penalties or lockouts." The transaction was significant in that it was the first loan closed under a new bridge loan program at M&T, with which HFF has a correspondent relationship. Erland and Charles Halladay co-led the financing efforts for Sean Deasy’s multifamily team, which is based in HFF’s Orange County office. Bethany Summit is located at 3634 College Blvd., about four miles from the coast in Oceanside. The property comprises 10 buildings of two and three stories along with a single-story management office/fitness center. The recently renovated complex is at 95% occupancy.

Legal Aid Society of San Diego purchased the 23,500-square-foot multi-tenant office building located at 1764 San Diego Ave. in San Diego for $3.8 million. The seller, Citibank, was represented by Robert Griffith and Steven Ward of Grubb and Ellis and the buyer, Legal Aid Society of San Diego, were represented by Marc Frederick and Bud Marsh of Colliers International. The Legal Aid Society of San Diego will occupy approximately 15,000 square feet, while the balance of the building is leased to three tenants: Advanced Spine and Back Center, Sabine Purps, DDS, and FedEx.

Olin, LLC, a private investor, acquired a 3,190-square-foot single tenant retail property at 6571 El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego, for $1.09 million. The property is leased to 7-Eleven and is close to San Diego State University. Jereme Snyder, senior vice president in Colliers International’s Irvine office, represented the seller, Summit Realty Advisors LLC. Pacific Commercial Investments represented the buyer.

Santa Clara, CA

Lee

The Santa Clara County housing market appears to be recalibrating towards further recovery in 2011-a year that will likely see strong sales and higher inventory, but also rising interest rates, according to a prepared statement. Buyer demand is strong-in November approximately 48% of all homes on the market, including singlefamily homes, townhouses and condos, were in escrow, according to MLSListings Inc. "Buyers recognize that the cost of homeownership will go up a lot once interest rates start climbing from all-time lows-in fact rates have been rising in the past month," says Karl Lee, president of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors. "The number of closed sales might have been even higher with a more efficient short sale process and less stringent underwriting." The inventory level is trending down from the year's peak of 6,872 in September. Approximately 5,902 homes were for sale in November. But the downward trend may change in the coming year. Lee adds, "Santa Clara County will probably see more short sales and foreclosures unless unemployment and income significantly improve. Sellers are well advised to put their homes on the market before competition increases from further influx of distress properties and as the typical market doldrums during the holidays end."

Los Angeles

Klorman Construction has been selected as a subcontractor on the Bradley West Project, which, according to a prepared statement, is one of the most ambitious airport projects in the country. It calls for the complete renovation, reconfiguration and a new West Terminal of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. The Woodland Hills-based firm will construct the structural concrete portion of the terminal, a seven-story building that will total more than 665,000 square feet. The project will also feature a Baggage level footprint of roughly 158,000 square feet, with 24" thick retaining walls and architectural concrete towers standing nearly 90 feet tall. Airport officials plan to expand the Tom Bradley International Terminal by 1 million square feet to make room for ticketing desks, security screening, lounges, shops and restaurants. The project also calls for the construction of fourteen new airline gates, capable of handling the next generation of super-sized jumbo jets, including the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. "This is certainly an ambitious project and one of major significance to the longterm economic growth of the airport and, by extension, the region," says Bill Klorman, president of Klorman Construction. "We're proud to play a significant role in such a pivotal project and look forward to bringing our more than 30 years of expertise in structural concrete work and our nationally recognized accomplishments in BIM to this project." The Bradley West Project is expected to create 4,000 construction-related jobs during the four-year project schedule.

Beech Street Capital LLC provided a $12.4-million Fannie Mae DUS Loan for the refinance of a multifamily portfolio of the Los Angeles and Inland Empire MSAs in California. The transaction was originated by Meridian Capital Group LLC and was financed by Beech Street Capital as part of its correspondent relationship with Meridian. The portfolio includes six mid-rise and garden-style properties, each with a swimming pool, totaling 264 units. The fixed-rate loan has a term of 10 years, with 9.5 years of yield maintenance and a 30-year amortization payable on an actual/360 basis.

TrueCar Inc. signed a 17,261-square-foot lease at 120 Broadway in Santa Monica for space that will house 90 workers and provide room for further growth. Zag, a TrueCar Inc.company, previously occupied approximately 10,000 square feet at 525 Broadway in Santa Monica, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, which represented TrueCar. The Jones Lang LaSalle team of managing director John Ghiselli and senior vice president Craig Kish represented TrueCar. The building owner, Douglas Emmett, was represented in-house by Bob Zelkin.

Kern County, CA

Colliers International has negotiated the disposition of a 351,723-square-foot single tenant, fulfillment and distribution center at the Tejon Industrial Complex in Kern County, CA to a New York City-based institutional group. The transaction is valued at $23.85 million. The property is situated within the industrial complex at Tejon Ranch, located in the City of Lebec in Kern County. Tejon Ranch is a master-planned development located at the heart of California's north-south connection, just north of Los Angeles near Interstate 5. The industrial property is 100% leased to Brown Group Retail Inc. "This transaction evidences the investment market's continued appetite for 'yield'," says John DeGrinis, executive vice president, based in Colliers International's Encino, CA office, who represented the seller in the transaction. "The property services more than 350 Famous Footwear stores west of the Rockies, and this investment offered the buyer a long-term income stream from a name brand tenant in Famous Footwear."

Las Vegas

The Siegel Group has completed the purchase of the Charlestonwood Apartments; a 232 unit multi-residential apartment complex situated on approximately 4.6 acres of land at 2900 E. Charleston Blvd., in Las Vegas. The Siegel Group purchased the property for $3.6 million in an all cash transaction and closed in just 60 days. Originally built in the '80s, the property has been mismanaged for several years and was foreclosed upon over 15 months ago and has sat stagnant ever since. Currently, the property suffers from deferred maintenance issues and is 65% occupied. The Siegel Group plans to immediately invest capital to renovate the property and bring in its strong local management team to oversee the properties operation. The complex will be renamed Las Residencias and it will be repositioned to capitalize and better serve the needs of Las Vegas' Hispanic community. "This acquisition represents our lowest cost per unit purchase in Las Vegas and it reaffirms our steadfast dedication and ongoing long-term commitment to the Las Vegas market," says Stephen Siegel, the Siegel Group, founder and chief executive officer.  "We strongly believe in the long-term market strength and tremendous opportunity here. We are excited to bring a newly renovated apartment complex, complete with friendly staff and a safe, family environment to the Hispanic community." This multi-unit residential purchase marks The Siegel Group's 18th apartment complex purchase in Las Vegas. This goes along with the array of hotel casinos, boutique hotels and retail outlets that they currently own and operate in Las Vegas. The Siegel Group is aggressively looking for more opportunities in the multi-family, hotel and casino sectors.

Denver

Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Riki Hashimoto and Dan Grooters, senior vice presidents in the company's private capital markets group, represented Pacific Star Capital in the sale of Edgewater Marketplace, a 145,780-square-foot retail center in Edgewater, CO. Weingarten Realty Investors purchased the retail asset for $22 million. "We received a great deal of interest from both institutional and private equity investors, which is a testament to current investor demand for stabilized grocery-anchored retail centers in and around the Colorado area," says Hashimoto. "Additionally, Edgewater Marketplace benefits from a burgeoning surrounding community." Located west of downtown Denver at 1711-1931 Sheridan Blvd., Edgewater Marketplace is anchored by King Scoopers. The property is shadow anchored by Target, which owns the portion of the property it occupies and was not included in the sale. Originally built in 1987 and renovated in 2006, Edgewater Marketplace is situated on approximately 12.5 acres of land and was roughly 98% leased at the time of sale.

NBS Real Estate Capital LLC has completed a $4.13 million preferred equity investment in 1899 Wynkoop, a 162,000-square-foot class-A office building in lower downtown Denver. NBS partnered with the Nichols Partnership, the original developer of the property. The transaction is indicative of the innovative capital solutions provided by NBS Real Estate Capital, according to a prepared statement. "On behalf of the Morrison Street Funds, NBS Real Estate Capital has the flexibility to invest in multiple formats, including joint-venture equity, preferred equity and mezzanine debt," the release states.

Inland Empire

A.M.A. Plastics Inc. bought a 150,109-square-foot warehouse at 1100 Citrus Ave. at the Hunter Park Business Center in Riverside that was built in 2007 from Oakmont Industrial Group for $7.1 million. The seller was represented by senior vice president Milo Lipson and senior associate Ryan Velasquez of the industrial group at Grubb & Ellis Co.; the buyer was represented by Walter Frome of Voit Real Estate Services. A.M.A. Plastics is a plastic injection molding and tooling organization that will fully occupy the building for its corporate headquarters in a relocation from Corona.

Jereme Snyder, senior vice president in Colliers International’s Irvine office, represented the sellers in two Inland Empire transactions. Commonwealth Sevenlen, LLC, a private investor, acquired a 26,455-square-foot, free-standing retail building at 151 E. Valley Blvd. in Colton for $1.99 million. Featuring visibility from the 10 freeway, the single-tenant investment property is occupied by Stater Bros. with an absolute NNN lease. Along with Snyder, Bob Hoyt, senior vice president, based in Colliers International’s Irvine office, represented the seller, Vornado Realty Trust. Hai Luong of Tendwell Realty represented the buyer. In the other transaction, Ramsey Real Estate Group, a private investor, acquired a 10,295-square-foot strip retail pad for $1.15 million, adjacent to a Stater Bros Market at 1717 E. Vista Chino in Palm Springs. The transaction was the result of a court-ordered partnership dissolution. Snyder represented both the seller, L&A Associated, LLC and the buyer.