LAGUNA HILLS, CA—Stream Realty Partners has been awarded leasing and management responsibilities for Saddleback Financial Center, a 72,900-square-foot, class-A medical/office property here. Parties unrelated to the deal say the owner is True North Management Group. The four-story building is situated next to the I-5 Freeway at El Toro Rd., adjacent to Laguna Hills Mall, and is currently 62% leased. Stream plans to reposition and improve the asset in order to attract new tenants to the building. Capital improvements are also planned for both the interior and exterior of the building, including offering spec suites. The building features an upgraded stone-clad lobby, views of Saddleback Mountain and suites ranging from 1,400 square feet to 18,250 square feet.

NAPA, CA—The Meritage Resort and Spa here has just completed an approximately $8-million renovation of its 157 original rooms. Combined with the May 2012 expansion and other improvements the resort boasts 322 rooms, the two largest ballrooms in the Napa Valley, four dining options—including Siena Restaurant; the Commons: A Wine Bar,the sports-themed Crush Ultra Lounge with six bowling lanes, an adults-only pool with private cabanas, hillside vineyards; and Estate Cave with luxurious spa, tasting room and event space.

PORTLAND, OR—The Governor Hotel is undergoing a $6-million renovation by local owner Provenance Hotels and Dallas-based Woodbine Development Corp. Dubbed Sentinel, the renovated hotel will serve as a luxury urban retreat and meeting place for business travelers. Upgrades for the historic, 100-room hotel include the reinvigoration of all guest rooms, four floors of meeting space and the lobby. Jackknife, a new destination for craft cocktails, wine and beer, is slated to open in Sentinel's lobby this spring. The Sentinel project is the first collaboration between Provenance and Woodbine.

SALES

SEATTLE—Columbia West Properties has sold one of the last remaining prime development sites in the Seattle CBD for $16 million to an affiliate of Continental Properties LLC. The site is approximately 19,440 square feet at 2001-2013 2nd Ave. in the Belltown neighborhood, next to Pike Place Market. Kidder Mathews commercial real estate brokers Jim Klinger and Ross Klinger represented the seller. The property was purchased at $823 per square foot of land. Currently, the site is a parking lot and could potentially be developed into a residential tower of up to 400 feet tall, with approximately 300 units.
STOCKTON, CA—A local family with a large multifamily portfolio looking to diversify into different markets has sold the Vintage Square apartments on March Lane here for approximately $8 million to a private partnership from the Bay Area. The transaction was the largest apartment property sale in San Joaquin County in approximately four years. Ryan Wagner, Stephen Jackson, Mark Feldman and Joe Owens of Colliers International represented the seller. At the time of closing, Vintage Square was approximately 90% occupied, while market occupancy in central Stockton remains at about 95%.

RIDGECREST, CA—Ridgecrest, CA-1 LLC has sold a 15-year triple-net-leased Dollar General property at 500 W. Drummond Ave. here to a private California-based trust for just over $3 million at a 6.25% cap rate in a 1031 exchange. The buyer was represented by locally based broker Scott Ketchum. The property measures 12,406 square feet on nearly 1.5 acres of land.

LEASES

VICTORVILLE, CA—Stirling Capital Investments has closed a series of lease transactions and has begun spec-office build-out activity at the Southern California Logistics Centre, a 2,500-acre industrial and commercial complex here. Solar City Corp. has signed a new four-year, 7,359-square-foot lease. Pacific Aviation Group has extended and expanded its existing lease to 119,128 square feet of space for six years and Southern California Aviation has renewed its long-term lease of a 55,000-square-foot space for an additional five years. Additionally, Stirling has commenced the build-out of office in its two remaining vacant facilities to meet strong, immediate market demand in the High Desert market.

SAN DIEGO—AleSmith Brewing Co. is quintupling its San Diego brewing operations with an 11-year, $9.7-million lease for a 105,600-square-foot Westcore Properties-owned building at 9990 Empire St. in the Miramar area of San Diego. The locally based AleSmith plans extensive building renovations on the property, which is part of Westcore's more than 20 million-square-foot office and industrial portfolio. Opening of the new facility is slated for January 2015. In the transaction, Westcore was represented by Mickey Morera, James Duncan and Jeff Brown of Cushman & Wakefield. Glenn Arnold with Cassidy Turley represented AleSmith. The tenant plans to add up to 25 new positions in production, retail, sales and management in 2015. 

FINANCING

LA QUINTA, CA—Robert R. Hervey, EVP/senior managing director of NorthMarq Capital's Los Angeles-based regional office, has arranged a $21-million acquisition loan for Mediterra Apartments, a 223-unit multifamily property at 43-100 Palm Royale Dr. here. The transaction was structured with a 10-year term with two years interest-only followed by a 30-year amortization and was arranged for the borrower through NorthMarq's relationship with a correspondent life company. The transaction was co-brokered with Troy Tegeler of CBRE Capital Markets.

DRAPER, UT—Thorofare Capital has provided a San Francisco-based real estate investment and asset management firm with a $14.5-million senior secured loan to refinance the Lone Peak Center, a 87,672-square-foot, class-A office building at 11747 Lone Peak Pkwy. here. The proceeds were used to pay off existing senior debt and repatriate equity to partnership. The sponsor had acquired the property as an REO from Milwaukee-based M&I Bank (now BMO Harris) after the original developer of the property, DBSI Group of Cos., underwent bankruptcy liquidation in 2010. Built in 2007, the property is currently 99% occupied by two tenants under long-term leases. The building serves as one of nine global customer service support centers for Hopkinton, MA-based EMC Corp.

TEMECULA, CA—TMC Financing has arranged a 20-year, fixed-rate SBA 504 loan of $11.3 million for the purchase of Holiday Inn Express Temecula, a 46,263-square-foot building on an 113,099-square-foot area of land at 27660 Jefferson Ave. here. The financing will allow the Holiday Inn Express franchise owners to make interior upgrades and retain working capital, creating and retaining almost 30 employees. Ron Coomes, SVP in TMC Financing's Los Angeles office, worked with Holiday Inn Express to provide the financing. The lender on the project was BBCN Bank in Los Angeles, and the sellers were Sapna and Sharad Khandwala of Alps Group of Hotels.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

IRVINE, CA—Faris Lee Investments has promoted John Redfield to director. Redfield previously served as senior financial analyst with the firm. In his new role, Redfield will leverage his years of experience servicing private and institutional owners to provide them with retail real estate advisory. He has more than seven years of experience in the commercial real estate industry and has been directly involved in more than $315 million in commercial real estate transactions. His background includes acquisitions, dispositions and underwriting of retail, office and multifamily asset types. Prior to joining Faris Lee, Redfield worked in acquisitions/dispositions and asset management in the West Coast office of Goldman Sachs-owned Archon Group.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA—Progressive Real Estate Partners has hired 25-year veteran real estate executive Robert Levyssohn as senior retail specialist.  In his new role, Levyssohn will specialize in the lease and sale of retail properties in the Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley markets. His broad experience includes commercial real estate brokerage, site acquisition and ground-up development. Most recently he led his own firm, Stuart Thomas & Co., which provides an array of services including commercial leasing, land sales and entitlement services. Prior to that, Levyssohn had an extensive corporate real estate career with Starbucks, McDonalds, Applebee's, Jack in the Box, 7-Eleven and Wachovia, during which time he completed over 250 retail lease transactions. 

BREA, CA—Griffin Cogorno has joined Unire Real Estate Group Inc. as director of client services. In his new role, Cogorno will be responsible for the creation and day-to-day implementation of the business-development strategy to support a long-term growth initiative for the firm. The position will focus on expanding market awareness of its existing platform of services, securing new business for the company, and sourcing and evaluating other potential revenue generating opportunities.

COSTA MESA, CA—Scott Morehouse has joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as a partner in the firm's real estate, land use and environmental practice group, based in the firm's Orange County office here. Morehouse joins from Greenberg Traurig. He counsels real estate funds, REITs, pension funds, banks and other institutional clients in transactions involving the financing, acquisition, disposition, development, construction, and leasing of real property throughout the US. Morehouse's finance and capital markets experience includes the origination, acquisition, structuring, and restructuring of permanent and bridge loans, construction loans, mezzanine loans and other subordinate debt financings, A/B loan structures, loan participations, and other co-lending arrangements. Morehouse also has represented lenders and borrowers in resolving troubled real estate loans, and the purchase and sale of distressed and non-performing loans. Additionally, he assists clients with the structuring and execution of acquisitions and dispositions of all major commercial property types, including office buildings, major retail malls and shopping centers, hotels, multi-family residential, industrial, and land. Morehouse has handled complex multistate transactions, including portfolio acquisitions, dispositions and financings.