$42M Takes 98,000-SF Retail Center

MISSION VIEJO, CA-A San Diego-based pension fund adviser has acquired the 97,669-sf Plaza del Lago shopping center from Birtcher Anderson Properties Inc. of San Juan Capistrano for $42 million, according to Grubb & Ellis. The buyer was Washington Capital Management.Dixie Walker of the Newport Beach office of Grubb & Ellis tells GlobeSt.com that the buyer was one of 18 institutional and private bidders for the center, which he describes as a "one-of-a-kind" property. He explains that the center, at 27752 Vista del Lago, features about 800 feet of frontage along Lake Mission Viejo and is filled with a mix of restaurants and retail stores along with some office space.The restaurants at Plaza del Lago feature tiered patios flowing to the lake front, and the property in general is one of the most upscale and architecturally detailed centers in the region, notes Walker. He and Charley Simpson, also of the Newport Beach office of Grubb & Ellis, represented both the buyer and the seller.Walker points out that Birtcher Anderson, which bought the center several years ago when the property was about 40% vacant, filled the vacancy with tenants that were carefully chosen to be both compatible and complementary. Birtcher Anderson totally remodeled the center, which was built in 1984.Plaza del Lago was 99% leased at the time of sale to a tenant roster including Century 21, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo and Tortilla Flats. The buyer assumed an existing loan of $22 million at an interest rate of 5.67%.