Newmeyer & Dillion Attorney Wins Award

NEWPORT BEACH, CA-Joe Ferrentino, a partner with prominent Orange County real estate law firm Newmeyer & Dillion, has been recognized as Orange County Real Estate Litigation Lawyer of the Year for 2014 by U.S. News and Best Lawyers. Ferrentinio, who works with prominent real estate industry developers and builders such as Centex Homes, Lennar, Pulte Homes and Fieldstone, has been recognized for handling significant construction defect, insurance-coverage and real estate litigation matters. U.S. News and Best Lawyers, the leading survey of lawyers worldwide, have joined to rank more than 10,000 firms in 118 practice areas in 170 metropolitan areas and eight states. Best Lawyers, whose listings are compiled according to an annual peer-review survey, is the oldest and most highly respected peer review guide to the legal profession worldwide.

SALES

CARLSBAD, CA-IDS Group has sold Faraday Research Center, a 4.59-acre site at 2251 Faraday Ave. in the master-planned Carlsbad Research Center here, to Alvarez & Marsal Capital Real Estate for $12.7 million. Rick Reeder and Aric Starck of Cassidy Turley, along with Ron Jacobson of Madison Partners, represented the buyer as well as the seller. The single-story building totals 65,840 square feet of R&D space and is 73% leased to Abbott Labs, a biotech firm. Approximately 18,000 square feet is available for lease.

BOULDER CITY, NV-MVP REIT Inc. has formed a limited-liability company with Vestin Realty Mortgage II Inc. to acquire a 299-unit self-storage facility located adjacent to Nevada Highway here for $5.2 million. The 5-acre, 23-building facility consists of two separate sites, totaling approximately 112,000 rentable square feet, including 288 single-story units with an additional 11 open recreational vehicle spaces. The facility is currently more than 97% occupied. MVP REIT and VRMII will hold a 51% and 49% interest, respectively, in the limited liability company, which will be jointly managed by MVP Realty Advisors LLC and Vestin Mortgage LLC. Together, MVP REIT and VRMII financed $2.7 million of the purchase with American Family Insurance Co. through a seven-year term loan amortized over 25 years at 4.35% APR.

LOS ANGELES-Ness Holdings Inc. has acquired a six-tenant retail property at 7601-7615 Beverly Blvd. here across from landmark sites: the Grove, Pan Pacific Park and the Broadcast Center Apartments. Ness acquired the property for approximately $6.2 million.  The site is located in a prime Mid-City West area and includes one of L.A.'s top eateries, Terroni Restaurant. The firm plans to reposition the month-to-month leases and renovate the property.

LEASES

BEVERLY HILLS, CA-Madison Partners has arranged two leases at 8350 Wilshire Blvd. here totaling more than 24,000 square feet and with an aggregate value in excess of $7 million. Southwest Securities Inc. (formerly known as ML Stern Co.) has renewed its lease for the entire third floor, composed of 12,839 square feet, for 89 months. The tenant has been in the building for more than 15 years. Also, the combined L.A./Westside MLS Inc. has inked a new nine-year lease for the entire ground floor, totaling 11,279 square feet. Mitchell Stokes and Joe King of Madison Partners acted as the exclusive leasing agent for the landlord in the transactions.

SANTA MONICA, CA-Charles DeSantis and Kyle Gulock of Charles Dunn Co. have completed a 10-year office lease for 6,540 square feet of space at 1334 Lincoln Blvd. here. The team represented tenant CLARE Foundation in a lease valued at more than $3 million in which the nonprofit organization will fully occupy the space. Jeff Pion and Michelle Esquivel-Hall of CBRE represented the landlord, Los Angeles-based the Bradmore Group.

DEVELOPMENT

SANTA ROSA, CA-Fountaingrove Lodge, the nation's first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender retirement community to offer resort living and continuing-care services, is officially nearing completion. Designed and constructed by Oakmont Senior Living, the 10-acre retirement campus, which is the only LGBT retirement community to provide continuing care, is on schedule to open in November. While others have proposed similar full-service LGBT retirement communities, Fountaingrove Lodge will be the first in the nation to be built. The community features craftsman-style architecture, finishes reflecting the beauty of the native landscape, fine woodwork and natural materials.

FINANCING

BURBANK, CA-HFF has arranged $11.24 million in financing for the Burbank Collection, a 39,428-square-foot urban retail center here. The HFF team representing the borrower, a joint venture between GPI and KBS Capital Advisors, was led by senior managing director Kevin Mackenzie and associate director Greg Brown, who secured the three-year, 2.53%, floating-rate loan through a regional bank. 

The Burbank Collection was built in 2008, and its tenant roster includes Barney's Beanery, Panera Bread, Skechers, Johnny Rockets and Pinkberry.  The property is shadow-anchored by one of the top-performing AMC Theatres in the nation as well as Macy's and Ikea.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

SAN DIEGO-Jones Lang LaSalle has hired Stephen J. Holland as managing director to lead the company's San Diego tenant-representation team. Holland, who has more than 22 years of commercial broker experience, was previously a SVP with CBRE's San Diego occupier group, where he was consistently one of the top-producing brokers. Holland has represented a variety of top companies, including CareFusion, Cardinal Health, Celgene, Maxwell Technologies, LPL Financial Services, Gordon & Rees and Vistage.

LAS VEGAS-The Equity Group has hired Neal Anzalotti, Tyler Mays and Jason Brooks as VP and senior brokerage associates, respectively. In addition, the firm has promoted Steve Neiger to senior brokerage associate. Anzalotti obtained his real estate license and joined Joel Laub & Associates in 1990. While at JLA, Anzalotti focused on land acquisitions for major builders as well as retail and industrial sales and leasing. Mays played professional golf for three years before starting his commercial real estate career with Sperry Van Ness in 2006. Prior to joining the Equity Group, Brooks leased a real estate portfolio for a local firm consisting of over one million square feet. After joining the Equity Group in 2011, Neiger has had $5.5 million in transactions leasing over 134,000 square feet in retail, office andindustrial space.

SAN FRANCISCO-The San Francisco office of international design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman has hired John L. Miller as an associate principal. His chief focus will be on enhancing the scope and versatility of the West Coast office's regional healthcare practice. Miller has supported Perkins Eastman in a consultancy role since November 2012, when he was brought on board as architect of record and medical planner for a variety of pending local and international healthcare projects. He brings to the role over 35 years of experience in large-scale medical projects, including as project director for the 473,000-square-foot Surgical and Emergency Services Pavilion for UC Davis Medical Center, completed in 2010. Prior to joining Perkins Eastman, Miller led healthcare studios for the Sacramento offices of Stantec Architecture and HMC Architects.