Hopkins Closes on 27-Acre Retail Site

SUN CITY, CA-Hopkins Real Estate Group of Irvine has closed on the purchase of the land for its previously announced 270,000-sf community shopping center here, one of two new shopping venues slated to be developed within a few miles of each other in Southwest Riverside County. The other is a 650,000-sf community center called Countryside Marketplace that another Orange County developer, Donahue Schriber, plans for a site just one freeway exit south of Sun City.The Hopkins project is called Menifee Valley Crossroads and will be developed at a site that Hopkins bought from Canyon Lake-based Valley Commercial Properties. The 27-acre site occupies the northeast corner of Interstate 215 and McCall Boulevard. Hopkins says the new venue will be designed to serve residents of Sun City, Menifee and other nearby communities. Those new communities will include the future residents of Heritage Lakes, a master planned community being developed by Standard Pacific. The Heritage Lakes development is one of dozens of residential projects that are adding thousands of new homes within a few miles of the Hopkins Group retail site. Hopkins' plans for Menifee Valley Crossroads include a supermarket, a home improvement retailer, a fitness club and other tenants, including restaurants and service shops.The shopping center will be HREG's third project with San Francisco-based partner Rockwood Capital. The partners closed escrow on 40-acre Vernola Marketplace in Riverside County in March and are also developing an upscale neighborhood shopping center on 10 acres at Talega in San Clemente. The other Menifee area project, also previously reported on GlobeSt.com, is called Countryside Marketplace and is planned for the southwest corner of Interstate 215 and Newport Road. Donahue Schriber plans to break ground in late 2006 on the $62-million development.