Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but industry sources estimate the buyer, HOMA LLC of Los Angeles, paid more than $40 million for the center, which was 100% leased at the time of the sale. Crown had owned and operated the center for the last five years, but before that it embarked on a nine-year process of assembling parcels for the project. Jaime Sohacheski, Crown Realty chairman, explained that the company assembled the development site from a group of 75 lots, primarily neglected properties, acquired from 1987 to 1996.
The first property acquired for the project was a vacant industrial building that the developer leased for the short term to the President Reagan Foundation as a records repository before the completion of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA. The property also was leased for the production of the "Tales from the Crypt" television series.
Once Crown assembled the land, it razed existing buildings and underwent an entitlement and development process that included environmental mitigation, design challenges in the tight infill space. The project was funded internally until its development was completed, allowing the company to obtain outside financing.
Reza Etedali and Gwen Mackenzie of the Irvine office of Sperry Van Ness represented both Crown and HOMA. Etedali tells GlobeSt.com that there were "lots of prospective buyers" interested in the property. "It's in a strong infill location where it is very difficult to find development sites," Etedali says. The center is anchored by Ross Dress for Less, Albertsons, Sav On and other national retailers.
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