IRVINE, CA-Wood Partners LLC has started construction of the company's first Southern California apartment project a 132-unit complex that is also the first under the aegis of its new office in Newport Beach. The Atlanta-based company has hired Karl Huff, a specialist in upscale mid-rise and garden-style apartments, as regional construction manager in charge of the project.
The three-story development is under way at 2552 Kelvin Ave., one block from the intersection of Jamboree Road and Main Street. Called the Alta Pacific, the project is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2007.
Wood Partners acquired the development site early this year from Essex Kelvin Apartments of Palo Alto for $10.5 million in a deal that was brokered by Joe Leon of the Newport Beach office of Hendricks & Partners. The development site is close to a number of other multifamily, office and retail developments.
Wood Partners is under way on its project at a time when the Orange County apartment market is strengthening, according to a recent report by Hendricks & Partners. "With little competition from the area's prohibitive single-family market and abundant condo conversions, apartment operations strengthened markedly," the Hendricks report says.
The report showed that Orange County rental rates grew at 6.7% for the 12 preceding months, the fastest rate in more than four years, with average rents exceeding $1,400. The widespread condo conversion activity, coupled with economic growth and an increasingly inaccessible housing market, are expected to "bolster Orange County's apartment market in the years ahead," the Hendricks report concludes.
Huff will be responsible for managing construction for Wood Partners' projects in Southern California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. He has more than 35 years of experience in new construction and formerly was an SVP of operations for Legacy Partners Builders Inc., where he oversaw projects that included Legacy's 290-unit mid-rise project at Main Street and Jamboree Road.
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