Summer 2005 - Sares

SARES•REGIS
The SARES●REGIS Group Newsletter
www.sares-regis.com
The SARES•REGIS Group is one of
the nation’s leading developers and
managers of commercial and residential real estate in the western United
States. Currently, the company has
more than 5.7 million square feet of
commercial and over 2,000 residential
units under development. SARES•REGIS
Group has a combined portfolio of
property and fee-based management
contracts valued at more than $2.3
billion, including 12,200 rental
apartments and 14 million square feet
of commercial and industrial space.
Since its inception, the company has
acquired or developed approximately
36 million square feet of commercial
properties and 18,000 multifamily and
residential housing units.
IN THIS ISSUE
Page 2
SRG acquired a 10-building industrial
center from RREEF in Baldwin Park,
Calif., which brokers call the “tightest
industrial market in the United States.”
Page 3
Equity Residential’s David Neithercut
tells why Equity – SRG’s partner in
Watermarke – has embraced condominium conversion as a key strategy to
create added value for its shareholders.
Summer 2005
Early 2006 completion is set for three warehouse-distribution buildings – one of which is sold.
Rialto Commerce Center is 60 miles east of L.A. in the heart of the Inland Empire.
Eighty-Nine Acres Acquired In Rialto, Calif.,
For 1.6 Million Sq. Ft. Of Distribution Space
ARES•REGIS Group purchased 89
acres in Rialto, Calif., and is developing the property about 10 miles
east of Ontario with four warehouse and
distribution buildings totaling 1.6 million
square feet.
S
The projects, north of Interstate 10 off Cedar
Avenue, will form the Rialto Commerce
Center. The parcel in the latest acquisition
is on the northwest corner of Cedar and
Rialto avenues and the facility is slated for
completion in April 2006, Lukanish said.
Larry Lukanish, Vice President in the
Commercial Investment Division, said the
land consists of two parcels totaling 57 acres
acquired last year and a 32-acre piece
purchased this year. All three parcels are
contiguous. RREEF is SRG’s financial
partner in the development.
“Developing state-of-the-art warehouse and
distribution buildings of this size is one of
our specialties. So we’re looking for sites to
develop that can accommodate big box
industrial,” Lukanish said.
Page 4
Developers gone wild. Two buyers
eager for coastal commercial land snap
up all but 20 acres in SRG’s 132-acre
Bressi Ranch in Carlsbad, Calif.
The first building in the project – a 435,000square-foot distribution facility – has been
completed and sold for $23 million to Van
Nuys-based toy maker MGA Entertainment.
Page 6
Regis Homes of Northern California
puts Bay Area city of San Bruno on the
map with transit-oriented multifamily
project Meridian Apartments. Paragon
Apartments is next.
The remaining buildings, totaling 715,000
square feet, 383,000 square feet and
128,000 square feet, are planned for
completion at the beginning of next year
and are available for sale or lease.
Pages 8 & 9
Regis Homes of Northern California
are the masters of infill with innovative
and diverse projects in the cities of
Fremont and San Jose.
SARES•REGIS Group acquired the parcels
from three individual sellers.
SARES•REGIS Group was represented
by Joe McKay and Mike Wolfe of Lee &
Associates Commercial Real Estate Services
in Ontario, Calif. The sellers were self
represented.
2
SARES•REGIS Group Buys 10-Building
Industrial Center In Baldwin Park
S
ARES•REGIS Group acquired the
Baldwin Park Industrial Center, a
450,928-square-foot master-planned
project of 10 buildings in the San Gabriel
Valley east of Los Angeles, from RREEF for
$36 million. The project is in an area that
real estate analysts describe as the nation’s
tightest industrial market with a 1.2 percent
vacancy rate.
SARES•REGIS Group’s financial partner in
the transaction is AIG Global Real Estate.
“This was a rare opportunity to acquire
10 Class-A buildings at once in a premier,
master-planned industrial park,” said
Peter Rooney, President of SARES•REGIS
Group’s Commercial Investment Division.
“Among the major features in the project
that triggered our interest is the fact that the
project is 100-percent leased and because its
buildings, which range from 26,800 square
feet to 64,000 square feet, are on separate
parcels. This gives us the flexibility to sell
any of the buildings to a user or an investor
if we choose to make that decision in the
future,” Rooney said.
The Baldwin Park Industrial Center was
built in the mid ’80s. The tenant roster
includes names like the Los Angeles Times,
New York Frozen Foods and Modine
Manufacturing. The buildings serve as
headquarters, distribution centers and
light manufacturing operations for these
companies and others.
Rooney described the industrial park as a
high-image project strategically located to
the intersections of the 605, 10 and 210
freeways and close to the 60 freeway.
“The Baldwin Park area is a great place to
do business. It’s close to some of the area’s
most affluent communities and it’s centrally
located in the San Gabriel Valley,” he said.
The demand and occupancy for the
Baldwin Park space underscore the strong
industrial market in the L.A. Basin, which
Colliers Seeley describes as “the tightest
industrial market in the United States” in
its latest quarterly industrial report for the
Los Angeles area.
Steven Bellitti and Thomas Taylor of the
Diamond Bar office of Colliers Seeley
International represented RREEF. Larry
Lukanish, Vice President in SARES•REGIS
Group’s Commercial Investment Division,
represented the buyer.
The Colliers Seeley report notes that the
total vacancy rate, including sublet space,
continued to drop, and reached 3.9 percent
at the end of the fourth quarter of 2004.
This was down from 4 percent the quarter
before and from 4.5 percent a year before.
The direct vacancy rate was only 3.3 percent, the lowest rate of any major market in
the U.S., the report said. Total vacancy rates
were exceptionally low in the San Gabriel
Valley, just 1.2 percent.
Baldwin Park Industrial Center is in the nation’s “tightest industrial market,” says broker Colliers Seeley.
3
Guest Column: David Neithercut
Equity Residential Adopts Condo Conversion
As Key Strategy; Providing Affordable Housing
A
s the nation’s largest apartment
REIT, we at Equity Residential
recognize that the demand for
multifamily housing is broader than just
the rental market. Today, the conversion
of many of our rental properties to condominiums is an important part of Equity’s
business strategy as we act opportunistically
to capture the highest and best of selective
existing assets and create value for our
shareholders.
Over the past four years, Equity has sold
more than $4 billion in assets. Most of these
sales were to income investors but, beginning
several years ago, we began to sell more
assets to condominium converters and
entered the conversion business for ourselves. We’ve found that having an in-house
condo conversion division complements
Equity’s core business on several fronts.
First, the company’s size and concentration
of product in attractive markets allows us to
be in the condo conversion business for the
long haul. With almost 1,000 properties
across 32 states, we’ve got plenty of potential
inventory to bring to market. Well-located
older assets can be converted to condos at
prices that offer Equity a significant premium to apartment value and our customers a
discount to the cost of single family homes.
Our capital can then be recycled into newer
assets, allowing Equity to improve its overall portfolio.
We’ve targeted echo boomers who are firsttime home buyers and empty-nest baby
boomers looking for primary or secondary
homes. This target demographic is increasing in numbers, and as it expands so will
the need for reasonably priced housing.
Over each of the next 10 years, nearly 4
million echo boomers will turn 18 years of
age and begin creating their own households. Our typical retail sales price target
of $150,000 - $200,000 per unit is attractive
and affordable to this growing segment, as
well as to the growing number of seniors (74
million people born between 1946 and 1964)
with the discretionary income to purchase a
vacation home. It also offers risk mitigation
as higher priced units offer less protection
in an economic or market downturn: people
need housing and affordable options
remain attractive in any cycle.
So far, the numbers bear out the success of
Equity’s condo strategy. When we instituted
the in-house conversion program in 2003,
we were able to close 411 units at a total
sales price of almost $55 million. In 2004,
we were able to close almost 1,000 units at
a total sales price of $177 million, and are
expecting to close on 1,500-2,000 units in
2005 for a total sales price of $270 million.
That translates into incremental earnings
of $50 million for our shareholders in 2005.
Today, Equity Residential has condominium
conversion operations in Seattle, Phoenix,
Chicago and Florida, and we see continued
opportunity to grow our business into
additional markets. We have a solid infrastructure of talented and experienced real
estate professionals dedicated to making
the most of condo conversion opportunities.
It’s this group that provides valuable due
diligence when opportunities present themselves as happened with Watermarke, our
joint venture development with SARES•
REGIS in Irvine, California.
Given Equity’s interest in growing our portfolio of high quality rental product in the
Southern California market, we were initially
reluctant to convert Watermarke to condos.
We believe in the Southern California
apartment market and expect to continue
pursuing prospects for investment in institutional-quality rental properties. In this
case, though, the opportunity to maximize
return on this investment and create
additional value for our shareholders was
compelling enough to approve the SARES•
REGIS request to change the direction of
the project.
Still, with all the success we’ve had in the
condo business, on our own and with partners like SARES•REGIS, we recognize that
no boom cycle goes on indefinitely. The
market for condos will some day turn, and
turn fast. Given that Equity’s core business
is apartment properties, we have the option
of returning unsold inventory to our existing apartment portfolio. With Equity’s
Continued on page 10
David Neithercut is President of
Equity Residential.
4
Only five lots totaling 20 acres are unsold in SARES•REGIS Group’s 132-acre Bressi Ranch in Carlsbad, Calif.
Developers On A Buying Spree, Snapping
Up Commercial Lots At Bressi Ranch
I
n a clear demonstration of the intense
market demand for ocean-close
commercial property in Southern
California, SARES•REGIS Group has sold
or is under contract to sell to developers
all but 20 of the 132 acres the company
acquired last year on the master-planned
Bressi Ranch in Carlsbad, Calif.
The 132 acres are approved for 2.1 million
square feet of commercial development.
The property is suitable for office, corporate
headquarters, research-and-development
buildings and light industrial facilities.
Slough Estates USA Inc., of Chicago, a
unit of the British commercial development
concern Slough Estates PLC, completed the
largest purchase to date, acquiring 12 lots
totaling 41 acres for $36 million.
Ken Satterlee, a veteran commercial real
estate broker-turned developer, heads two
groups that have acquired or are under
contract to buy 70.9 acres, leaving only 20.1
acres unsold of the original 132 acres that
SARES•REGIS Group purchased from
MetLife.
Peter Rooney, President of SRG’s Commercial
Investment Division, predicted that interest
would be high among developers for the
entitled raw land near Palomar Airport and
the famed La Costa Resort in North San
Diego County.
“Bressi Ranch is one of the last large contiguous parcels of developable land available in San Diego County,” Rooney said.
Lannie Allee, who heads the team of CB
Richard Ellis brokers in Carlsbad, marketing the property for SARES•REGIS Group,
said once the Bressi Ranch is sold, “There
will be no more property available here for
business parks. Period.”
Shortly after SARES•REGIS Group
acquired the property last year the company
subdivided it into 40 parcels and began
construction on the backbone infrastructure
and highly landscaped common areas, all of
which is slated for November completion.
Slough Estates, which has been active in
the San Diego market, will construct office
buildings to sell to business, life science and
research companies, said Jed Stirnkorb of
5
SARES•REGIS
Group Acquires
27 Acres In City
Of Industry For
Industrial Project
S
ARES•REGIS Group acquired a
27-acre site in the City of Industry,
Calif., and plans to develop the
property with approximately 490,000
square feet of industrial development.
Larry Lukanish, Vice President in SRG’s
Commercial Investment Division, said the
property was purchased for $17 million from
glass maker Libbey Inc. (NYSE) of Toledo,
Ohio, which has operated a manufacturing
plant on the property for about 40 years.
Burnham Real Estate, who is marketing the
properties along with colleague John Hucko.
Biotechnology is a major focus for Slough,
which recently broke ground on a new project for Genentech, the world's first biotechnology company. Slough also recently
completed a 770,000-square-foot complex
for Pfizer Inc. in La Jolla. Additionally,
Slough has purchased 47 acres in Poway’s
Parkway Business Center and is building a
complex projected to total nearly 1 million
square feet.
In the Bressi Ranch transaction, Stirnkorb
and Hucko represented Slough. CB Richard
Ellis’ Allee and Rick Sparks represented
SARES•REGIS Group.
SARES•REGIS Group’s first sale on Bressi
Ranch was in March to Satterlee, whose
group, KenToo LLC, acquired the 9.5-acre
Lot 40, on which KenToo plans to construct
nine research-and-development buildings.
Satterlee’s KenToo development group and
his Kelly Capital Group are in escrow on 15
other lots that total 41 acres. These sales are
slated to close in three phases, the last of
which is scheduled in November.
The remaining unsold 20.1 acres consists
of five lots that SARES•REGIS Group is
marketing to users or other developers.
“We’re considering several options for the
land. We are looking at site plans with
anywhere from one to eight state-of-the-art
industrial buildings for speculative development. We also may find one or more users
for whom we could do potential build-tosuits. So we are very flexible,” Lukanish
said.
Under terms of the sale, Libbey will wind
down its operations during the course of the
next year. Then the company will demolish
the existing facility and deliver a rough
graded site to SARES•REGIS Group, which
plans to begin construction in early 2006,
Lukanish said.
The property is on Old Ranch Road and
adjacent to a 12-acre corner parcel that
SARES•REGIS Group bought from Libbey
in 2002. SARES•REGIS Group since has
built and sold two industrial buildings
totaling 260,000 square feet on the site at
Old Ranch Road and Ferraro Parkway.
In the latest transaction, SARES•REGIS
Group and Libbey were represented by
CB Richard Ellis brokers Darla Longo in
Ontario and Barbara Emmons in Glendale.
Longo and Emmons also will represent
SARES•REGIS Group in future transactions for the property, Lukanish said.
The property is near a 400-acre industrial
project called Grand Crossings, being developed jointly by Majestic Realty and the City
of Industry.
6
RHNC’s Early Success With The Crossing
Is Transformational For Bay Area City
L
arry Franzella, Mayor of San
Bruno, is crediting Regis Homes of
Northern California with leading
a raft of exciting new developments to the
doorstep of this city of 6.4 square miles,
12 miles south of San Francisco.
For years San Bruno, which is adjacent to
the San Francisco International Airport,
has been largely passed over by the developThe 300-unit Meridian Apartments was named “Best Market Rate” deal in the Peninsula.
major north-south transportation routes:
I-280, I-380 and highways 101, 35 and 82.
Award For Best Market Rate Deal
RHNC’s first development at The Crossing
is the 300-unit Meridian Apartments. The
project recently won “Best Market Rate
Residential Deal in the Peninsula” from
the San Francisco Business Times. The
Meridian opened for leasing late last year
and at 97 percent leased is well ahead of
expectations, said Rob Parker, Vice
President of Marketing for RHNC.
Now with RHNC’s initial success and the
continuing demand for housing in the
Bay Area, 19 new developments are being
processed by the city of 40,000 people.
Franzella says the onslaught of activity that
started with RHNC’s Meridian Apartments
has “put San Bruno on the map.”
Second Project To Break Ground
ment community. That began to change
with the 2001 purchase of Commodore
Station, the 20-acre surplus Navy base,
by RHNC and joint venture partner TMG
Partners.
RHNC renamed the base The Crossing at
San Bruno and planned it as a transitoriented urban village, a natural fit with its
surroundings. San Bruno is five minutes
from the airport, a third of a mile from a new
BART station and crisscrossed by several
Spring 2007 completion is set for 185-unit Paragon Apartments at The Crossing in San Bruno.
For its next project at The Crossing at San
Bruno, RHNC announced it will co-develop
Paragon Apartments, a 185-unit project,
with TMG Partners and MacFarlane
Partners, firms that also co-developed
Meridian. The $46-million project will
break ground this summer and is set for
spring 2007 completion.
Parker says like Meridian Apartments,
he expects Paragon Apartments to be “a
resounding success.”
“The Crossing is a smart growth development designed to transform the former U.S.
Navy property into a new downtown for
San Bruno,” Parker said.
Paragon residents also will have use of The
Club, an 8,000-square-foot recreation center
and fitness club, which is available exclusively to residents of The Crossing. The Club
has a conference room, business center,
screening room, card and game room, and
two fitness rooms, Parker said.
“It also has a junior Olympic swimming
pool under a retractable roof that opens to
the crystal blue Bay Area sky,” he said.
Paragon’s apartments will include one-, twoand three-bedroom units from 650 square
feet to 1,300 square feet.
7
SARES•REGIS Group Agrees To Buy
Twin Fontana Distribution Buildings
S
ARES•REGIS Group has agreed to
purchase two 1.1-million-square-foot
distribution buildings on 92 acres
in Fontana, Calif., from LNR upon
completion of the twin buildings, expected
next summer. The project is valued at
$110 million.
The project, called Sierra Business Park II,
is contiguous to 62 acres SRG acquired last
year, also from LNR, for a planned 1.4million-square-foot development of nine
industrial buildings, said Larry Lukanish,
Vice President in SRG’s Commercial
Investment Division.
RREEF is SRG’s financial partner in both
developments, which are available for lease.
The nine buildings in the 62-acre Sierra
Gateway Center, will range from 40,000
square feet to 320,000 square feet. Groundbreaking for the 62-acre project at Sierra
and Slover avenues is set this summer with
completion planned for next year. The
project is valued at $85 million.
“With an industrial vacancy rate in the
Inland Empire that is nearly 2 percent,
these projects will provide quality industrial
product to a thriving market,” Lukanish
said.
Artist’s rendering of one of two distribution buildings purchased by SARES•REGIS Group in
Fontana, Calif.
“The project not only provides a strategic
location minutes to major freeways, including interstates 10, 15 and 215, it also offers
companies an abundant and growing workforce that is attracted to one of California’s
most affordable housing markets,” he said.
Randy Kuttler and Joe McKay of the Ontario
office of Lee & Associates are responsible
for marketing the project, which is adjacent
to a planned Hilton Garden Inn hotel and
near a large retail center. The project is
within a 200-acre master-planned industrial
development and minutes from the Ontario
International Airport.
Symantec Has Synergy With SRGNC;
Starts 550K-Sq.-Ft. Culver City Campus
S
ARES•REGIS Group of Northern
California is continuing its long and
successful relationship with software
publishing giant Symantec by developing a
550,000-square-foot campus in Culver City,
Calif.
The new facility will be central to the
Cupertino company’s media relations
efforts. It also will be the location where
media gather when there is a computer
virus outbreak. It will be SRGNC’s fifth
project for Symantec in the past six years.
SRGNC recently received city approval
for the project and has begun removing
330,000 cubic yards of dirt in order to bring
the site closer to street level. Completion of
the two office buildings and parking structure are scheduled for fall 2007.
Rendering of planned Culver City, Calif., campus for Symantec by SRGNC.
8
Regis Homes Of Northern California
Plans 115 In-Fill Homes In Fremont
R
egis Homes of Northern California
closed escrow on approximately
6.5 acres in the Irvington District
of Fremont where it is planning the development of Park Lane, a classic in-fill project
of 115 garden homes and townhomes.
The development will be adjacent to a new
100-unit affordable rental community by
BRIDGE Housing.
“Bringing three types of housing to this
central Fremont location was a big sell to the
City of Fremont,” said Jeff Smith, Project
Manager.
Regis and BRIDGE spent the better part of
2004 working with the community and city
officials to obtain approvals, including an
extensive community outreach program.
The developers sponsored two bus trips for
the city council, planning commissioners,
staff and community, touring the groups
through several Bay Area communities by
Regis and BRIDGE. The bus trips were
educational to display product types, density,
architecture, and the general site layout and
landscape.
“People were really impressed to see our
communities,” Smith said.
Park Lane will include a generous layout for
both vehicle and pedestrian access. The
integration of the two site plans will give the
new community the feel of a united village.
The main entry to the two projects will
culminate at a focal landscaped area at
the middle of the main driveway as the two
developments address one another. This
area connecting the two projects is called
the Village Core.
The Village Core opens up into a large
landscaped open space area and play
area for children. Park Lane will also
include beautifully landscaped open-space
paseos flowing throughout the new homes.
Individual private front yards and patios
are provided for all of the homes.
Construction is scheduled to start early June
2005. The first unit deliveries will occur in
the summer 2006. Sales prices are expected
to range from the high $400,000s to high
$500,000s, a bargain in the Bay Area.
Artist’s rendering of Park Lane garden homes planned in Fremont, Calif. (Below) Conceptual sketch of Park Lane townhomes. Completion planned next summer.
9
‘Little Gem’ Of A Project In San Jose
Is A Hit With Buyers And Judges, Too
R
egis Homes of Northern
California’s newest project in San
Jose, a 66-unit stacked-flat condominium development called 800 North 8th
Street, sold out only months after its grand
opening.
“Not only did it sell out in record time, it
earned four MAME awards, one each for
its architecture, interior merchandising,
brochure and website. We’re really proud
of this little gem,” said Rob Parker, Vice
President of Marketing.
The development is in San Jose’s Japantown
neighborhood, adjacent to the company’s
highly successful Markethouse Lofts project,
a development that also earned kudos for
Regis Homes as well as professional awards
for the project’s architects.
Parker said that an industrial building on
2 acres was razed to make way for 800
North 8th Street. The units ranged from
1,160 square feet to 1,600 square feet and
were priced from $380,000 to $550,000.
The development opened in May of last
year and sold out by December.
The Dahlin Group
of San Ramon was
the architect.
Creative Design
Consultants of
Costa Mesa was the
interior designer.
Graphic and website design were by
P-11 in Santa Ana
Heights.
RGNC’s Rob Parker with MAME honors for sold-out 800 North 8th Street,
an award-winning 66-unit condominium project in San Jose, Calif.
10
Nine Months Of Sales Success Posted
At Luxurious Watermarke In Irvine
N
ine months after condominium
sales began at Watermarke,
404 units have been sold at
SARES•REGIS Group’s 535-unit luxury
development in Irvine.
Not only are many of the buyers secondhome owners and empty nesters looking
to downsize, a large number are young
professionals seeking to live in a five-star
community that’s closer to their jobs in
Orange County.
“I had been commuting from Westwood
to my job in Irvine every day,” said Kristy
Fuller, who said she was surprised to find
“a brand new home in my price range.”
Fuller purchased the one-bedroom Astor
Court plan, which has a spacious great room,
attractive foyer and patio. Watermarke homes
are priced from $350,000 to $750,000.
“I just love all the activities, and it’s not just
the pool and spa. I enjoy Pilates and movie
night in the clubhouse, where I’ve met many
of my new neighbors. I even take advantage
of the concierge service from time to time,”
she said.
Watermarke features 10 distinctive floor
plans, each with upscale interiors that
include kitchens with granite countertops,
European-styled hardwood cabinets, builtin microwaves and self-cleaning oven. The
laundry area has full-size appliances. The
master bath has mirrored wardrobe doors
and stylish glass shower doors.
The 8,000-square-foot clubhouse is accented
with marble floors, a grand spiral staircase,
fireplaces, chef’s kitchen, a screen room and
carefully crafted activity rooms.
There’s a junior Olympic-sized swimming
pool, two courtyard pools, four whirlpool
spas and a fitness center. Watermarke also
has an onsite masseuse and a certified
esthetician.
Watermarke is contiguous with the San
Joaquin Nature Preserve, near the
University of California at Irvine and the
county’s Mason Regional Park.
Buyers are keen on award-winning, super-luxury Watermarke in Irvine, Calif.
Guest Column
Continued from page 3
depth of experience and market coverage,
our chances for success are considerably
greater than speculators with one or two
units in the market or condo converters with
little to no experience in operating rental
properties.
For the immediate future, though, it looks
as though the condo market will continue
its strong run in select markets across the
country. Equity Residential ’s success in the
market has several components, including
creating product in a price range that
appeals to a burgeoning demographic and
having a depth of inventory to sustain an
extended market run. As an owner and
operator of apartment properties, Equity
has resources that aren’t easily matched:
a wealth of experience earned over several
real estate cycles and the option of returning
unsold inventory to a stable, well-performing portfolio of multifamily properties when
the market cools off. Finally, teaming up
with strong partners like SARES•REGIS,
who maximize investment value by moving
opportunistically when the market is right,
makes the condo market a winner for
Equity Residential.
11
Regis Homes’ Seabridge Villas Earns
National Honors At NAHB Event
S
eabridge Villas, a 344-unit Southern
California condominium project
by Regis Homes of Irvine, Calif.,
was honored as Best Attached Suburban
Community of the Year by the National
Association of Home Builders’ prestigious
National Sales & Marketing Council annual
awards competition.
Ocean-close Seabridge Villas in Huntington
Beach, Calif., also won the highest honors in
two other categories and two silver awards.
Additionally, Regis Homes, a division of
the SARES•REGIS Group, won a silver
award for its Bordeaux condominium
development in Valencia, Calif.
“We are, of course, extremely gratified
at winning six awards in an extremely
competitive national field of home building
companies, particularly amid one of the
most expansive periods of housing construction and sales in U.S. history,” said David
Jacobson, Regis Homes’ Senior Vice
President of Marketing.
The awards were presented at the Orlando
World Center Marriott in conjunction with
the NAHB annual convention, which drew
90,000 people. More than 1,000 people
attended the awards banquet. The competition received more than 3,000 entries.
In addition to Community of the Year honors, Seabridge Villas earned gold awards
for best interior merchandising for a model
priced less than $250,000 and best blackand-white advertising for a single project.
The project also won silver awards for best
brochure for a community under $250,000
and for best interior merchandising for a
model priced from $250,000 to $400,000.
Bordeaux earned a silver award for best
black-and-white advertisement for a single
project.
Seabridge Villas
originally was
developed as a
condominium
project in 1987
but operated as a
rental community
until it was
acquired in 2003
by Regis Homes in
partnership with
AIG Global Real
Estate Investment
Corp. Following
extensive renovaSold-out Seabridge Villas earned five NAHB awards, including three
tions to the individ- top honors.
ual units and overall property the condominiums went on sale in late 2003. The
development sold out in one year.
The gated community on 7.27 acres is one
mile from the beach and consists of six 3and 4-story buildings with pools, spas and
fitness rooms. The project features nine
floor plans from studios to two-bedroom
designs with lofts. The condominiums were
priced from the low $200,000s to the mid
$300,000s.
Jacobson also credited his cadre of expert
marketing consultants for the successful
sellout of both projects as well as for the
NAHB’s recognition.
Quick Sell Out Of Bordeaux Condominiums
In Valencia, Calif., In Tight Housing Market
S
ARES•REGIS Group has sold all
168-condominium homes at
Bordeaux, a project the company
developed in 2002 as an apartment community in Valencia, Calif.
SRG acquired the Santa Clarita Valley
development last year from its investor partner, Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors,
which acted on behalf of Massachusetts
Mutual Life Insurance Company.
The company began offering the units for
sale with existing tenants receiving the first
opportunity to buy. Prices ranged from the
mid $200,000s to the low $300,000s.
The $22-million development is on 9 acres
in an area known as Plum Canyon and
consists of five floor plans of one- to threebedroom units and two-level townhomes
with private garages.
12
SRG’s Apartment Leasing Consultants Rank
No. 1 in National Mystery Shopper Survey
S
ARES•REGIS Group’s cadre of 120
leasing consultants in the company’s
Multifamily Property Management
Division have been judged the best in the
apartment industry, according to the secondquarter results of a firm that surveys most of
the nation’s large apartment management
organizations.
“For the second quarter of 2005 we achieved
our goal of first place over 34 of our competitors in Cirrus Marketing’s Multifamily
Industry Benchmark survey,” said Jim
Thomas, President of the Multifamily
Property Management Division in Irvine,
Calif.
“Naturally, we’re tremendously proud of
these findings,” Thomas said. The division
manages approximately 13,000 apartment
units in California, Arizona and Colorado.
Cirrus Marketing mystery shops leasing
agents at hundreds of apartment communities nationwide. In the first quarter Cirrus
reported that SARES•REGIS Group was
second.
Much of the credit for the division’s winning
marks goes to the division’s Training
Department, which also was recognized as
best in its field recently by the South Coast
Apartment Association.
SRG Competing Against The Giants
Among other apartment owners and
managers surveyed are Archstone, Avalon
Bay, CWS, Fairfield, JPI, Legacy, Lincoln,
Trammell Crow, UDRT and Equity
Residential.
“In the past two years we’ve moved up from
16th, competing against a number of large
companies who spend big training dollars.
What’s made the difference is our focus on
training of our on-site leasing professionals,”
Thomas said.
“Our success not only is a feather in our
cap in terms of industry recognition, it’s
also paying real dividends. Our ability to
capture a greater share of prospective,
qualified residents has made a stunning
improvement,” he said.
Cirrus’ method is typical among investigative survey firms in how it tests leasing
agents. It begins when a mystery shopper,
posing as a prospective tenant, telephones
or visits an apartment community.
How They Are Rated
The leasing representative is rated on a
number of factors. For example, points are
scored when the leasing consultant makes a
positive first impression. A sincere inquiry
into whether the tenant prospect has any
specific needs and preferences and the
ability to overcome any objections also
earn good marks.
Additionally, the mystery shopper assesses
points on whether the leasing consultant
discussed all the amenities of the community
and its various features and benefits. Was
there an apartment in move-in condition
that was shown to the mystery shopper?
Was the temperature in the apartment
comfortable? Not least is obtaining a deposit
on an apartment. Did the leasing consultant
ask for it?
“SRG is one of the companies that really
has it together in its training department,”
says Monnie Howard, President of Cirrus
Marketing of Anaheim, Calif.
“We’ve taken customer service seriously
because we’re judges of it. SARES•REGIS
Group takes customer service very seriously
as well,” Howard said.
New website, SRGLiving.com, was developed for Multifamily Property Management Division.
13
John Hagestad Honored By Orangewood
Children’s Foundation At Annual Ball
J
ohn Hagestad, a Managing Director
of SARES•REGIS Group, was
honored recently by the Orangewood
Children’s Foundation at the non-profit
organization’s annual Orange Blossom
Ball at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport
Beach. Founded in 1981, the Orangewood
Children’s Foundation provides housing
and other vital services to more than 2,000
abused and neglected children in Orange
County.
“John has provided incredible, outstanding
leadership to the foundation during the 10
years he has served as our chairman. This
year because we were honoring John and
because the people in the community think
so highly of him we raised more than
$450,000 net from the ball, which is double
what we typically raise,” said Gene Howard,
Orangewood’s Executive Director. About
450 people attended the event.
Under Hagestad’s leadership, the foundation has grown from an organization with
an annual operating budget of $1 million
to more than $7 million. The services it
provides to children have increased from
one program to 14 programs, Howard said.
“John’s leadership has enabled the foundation to develop the most extensive array of
support services of any organization in
California that helps children in foster care
prepare for their independence and adulthood,” Howard said.
Over the years Hagestad has given several
hundred thousand dollars to the foundation and this year made a $1 million commitment to Orangewood’s scholarship fund.
Hagestad Led Era Of Growth
In the early years of the foundation, the
organization raised more than $11 million
to build and expand the Orangewood
Children’s Home, a temporary shelter for
abused and neglected children, and donated
it to the County of Orange. The foundation
then turned to the task of developing programs that focused on the needs of children
in foster care and as they transition into
independent adulthood.
For example, Orangewood’s Children’s
Trust Fund provides educational or
vocational scholarships, emergency living
expenses and special needs, such as eye-
John Hagestad (left) with Cal Winslow, Orangewood Chief Development Officer, Incoming
Chairman Dave Ritchie and Gene Howard, Executive Director.
glasses and dental care, to children in or
recently released from foster care. The Peer
Mentors program utilizes successful former
foster youth who serve as powerful and active
models for current foster care children.
Another program, PALS, provides monthly
speakers and field trips. The Independent
Living Programs offer special assistance to
teens in foster care, including individual
counseling, job assistance, transitional
housing and living skills workshops for
young people preparing for release from
foster care.
In 2003, the foundation provided more
than $696,000 in grants and scholarships
to more than 900 current and former
foster youth. Additionally, the foundation
provides support to 93 former foster youth
pursuing a university, community college
or trade school education; provided 14,000
hours of instruction to more than 800 foster
teens for emancipation; provides support to
more than 15,000 children and their families
at Family Resource Centers; and provides
health assessments and links to health
related resources for 3,800 families with
young children.
Hagestad is a certified public accountant
and graduated from the University of
Southern California with a bachelor’s
degree in business administration and a
master’s degree in finance. He’s a trustee
of the Urban Land Institute, the National
Realty Committee, The Fisher Center for
Real Estate and Urban Economics and
The National Association of Industrial
and Office Parks.
14
Morton Kondracke Headlines Cystinosis
Event; In Search Of Treatments, Cure
Photo by Sonal Vyas
M
Jeff and Nancy Stack flank daughters Alexandra (left) and Natalie
with political journalist Morton Kondracke at recent fundraiser in
Newport Beach, Calif.
ore than
$800,000
was donated
recently by 320
persons helping to
advance research on
treatments and a cure
for cystinosis, a rare
metabolic disease
that deteriorates the
body’s organs and
afflicts approximately
2,000 people, mostly
children, worldwide.
Veteran political journalist Morton
Kondracke was the featured speaker at the
Cystinosis Research Foundation’s fourth
annual fundraiser at the Four Seasons
Hotel. Kondracke is author of the nationally
best-selling book, “Saving Millie, Love,
Politics And Parkinson’s Disease” about his
late wife’s 17-year battle with the illness.
For more information
about cystinosis and
the Cystinosis Research
Foundation, call Zoe Solsby
at (949) 908-2400 or go to
www.natalieswish.org.
“We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of
support aimed at finding new treatments
and hopefully a cure for this insidious
disease that afflicts our teenage daughter
Natalie and some 400 people in the United
States,” said Jeff and Nancy Stack, founders
of the CRF.
The event put the total amount of money
raised over the $2 million mark. The result
of this year’s effort funded five new research
studies that were scientifically evaluated by
the Cystinosis Scientific Review Board:
■ Corinne Antignac, M.D., Ph.D.
Necker Hospital – Enfants Maades
“Characterizations of Cystinosin
Intracellular Trafficking”
$78,000 – 1 year study
■ Ranjan Dohil, M.D.
University of California, San Diego
“Clinical Studies of Cystinosis:
Attempts to Improve Treatment”
$200,000 – 2 year study
■ Thomas M. Jeitner, Ph.D.
Chicago Medical School
“Hydrogen Sulfide as a Therapy
for Cystinosis”
$60,000 – 1 year study
■ Jess G. Thoene, M.D.
Tulane University, School of Medicine
“Lysosomal Cystine Enhanced
Apoptosis in Cultured Human
Mesenchymal Stem Cells”
$200,000 – 2 year study
■ Doris Trauner, M.D.
University of California, San Diego
“A Study of the Cognitive Domain of
Executive Functioning in Individuals
with Cystinosis”
$167,865 – 2 year study
In patients with cystinosis the amino acid
cystine accumulates in the tissue due to the
inability of the body to transport cystine
out of the cell. Over a period of years, the
cystine damages various organs including
the kidneys, liver, muscles, white blood
cells, eyes and central nervous system.
Other complications occur that include
muscle wasting and difficulty swallowing.
As the cystine accumulates in the cells, the
various organs slowly deteriorate.
“I feel very close to the CRF cause,” said
Kondracke. “Because I’ve been through
many of the experiences that its organizers
have, beginning with the shock and horror
of finding out that someone you love is
afflicted with a terrible – and, so far, incurable – disease. The horror is worse with
cystinosis because little children are the
victims and the progress of the disease can
be much more devastating.”
“In several ways, CRF is a model for all
the action that private groups around the
country need to take – and are taking—to
find treatments and cures for disease,”
Kondracke said.
“Like other leading private foundations,
CRF was formed by people who care the
most about curing this rare disease – the
parents of children who suffer and die from
it. It is a tribute to those parents that they
have raised more than $2 million for
research in just three and a half years, a
prodigious amount in view of the fact that
only 400 children in the U.S. and 2,000 in
the world are afflicted at any one time with
cystinosis. Moreover, the disease lacks a
celebrity to give it media exposure.”
“CRF is a model, too, because its funding
is directed not just at basic biological
research, but at ‘translational research’
that will have immediate impact to lengthen and improve the lives of cystinosis
patients. And CRF research should serve
as a model because the disease can affect
many different organs of the body, leading
to collaboration across disease specialties,”
Kondracke said.
15
‘Shiver Me Timbers;’ SRG-Led Charity
Effort Builds Pirate Ship In City Park
S
ARES•REGIS Group sailed into
uncharted waters recently when
executives from its construction
division completed directing a massive twoyear volunteer effort to revitalize an Irvine
city park that concluded with building an
80-foot-long play pirate ship, complete with
cannons, a crow’s nest and rope ladders.
Photo by Andrea Wilson
“It was the first pirate ship any of us had
ever done. It turned out to be a real beauty,”
said Bill Albert, President of the company’s
Multifamily Development & Construction
Division.
The pirate ship is the centerpiece of the
second phase in the facelift of the city’s
6-acre Adventure Playground.
Originally developed in the early 1980s, the
park – which features forts, a mud pit, rope
bridge, cargo nets and a small amphitheater
– had fallen into disrepair due to budget
cuts. Given the “free-play” nature of the park
it never rated the maintenance or improvement funding priorities to keep its structures from deterioration, said an Irvine city
official.
Cy Baumann, a retired McDonnell Douglas
executive who heads a group called
Rebuilding Together, saw the community
need and called Albert and SARES•REGIS
Group two years ago because of the scope of
this project and its unique requirements.
“I have to be moderate on what I ask for
because Bill and SARES•REGIS Group
have been so generous in the past,”
Baumann said.
Libby Cowan of the city’s Community
Services Department estimated that donated materials and labor would hit as much
as $400,000.
“We’ve been working on this thing for two
years,” said Albert. “Because it was such a
big undertaking we told Cy and the city that
we’d have to break it up into two phases.”
The first-phase renovation of the existing
features of the Adventure Playground was
completed last year. Last November, Albert
again assembled his team of more than
20 subcontractors and volunteers, many
of whom came from the Irvine Stake of the
Mormon Church. On one day in May about
Jeff Stack (third from left ) with SRG Multifamily Development & Construction Division team (l to r) Jim
Ivory, Brigg Bunker, Sam Hull, Greg Albert, David Gardner. Ron Dyer and Bill Albert in the crow’s nest.
250 volunteer workers descended on the site
for the extreme makeover.
“This project involved architects, landscape
architects, civil engineers, structural engineers – the whole array of consultants you
would use on a development project. They
all donated their time. It was a tremendous
amount of labor and material,” Albert said.
“We demolished and rebuilt a changing
room that kids use after playing in the mud
pit. We built an addition to the playground
staff’s office and we spruced up what they
call their ‘builder’s corner,’ where the kids
go and use a saw and hammer nails. We also
built a fire pit and the City of Laguna Beach
donated a lifeguard tower for the mud put.
Additionally, we did a whole lot of artwork
on all these structures,” he said.
But the pirate ship was the “pièce de résistance,” Albert said.
“Our consultants all design and build apartments and condominiums. Our structural
engineer said, ‘I’ve never done a pirate ship
before. I’m going to have to give the structural engineering my best guess.’
“He did the calculations, and the city –
which got way out of the box in terms of
approving things – said ‘OK, if that’s his
best guess we’ll approve it and give you the
permits.’
Continued on page 16
16
THE
SARES REGIS
GROUP
REGIONAL
OFFICES
Announcements
●
CORPORATE OFFICE
John Hagestad, Managing Director
Geoffrey Stack, Managing Director
William Thormahlen, Managing
Director
Peter Rooney, President,
Commercial Investment Division
Vince Ciavarella, President,
Commercial Property Services
Division
Jim Thomas, President, Multifamily
Property Management Division
Bill Albert, President, Multifamily
Development & Construction
Division
Bill Montgomery, President,
Multifamily Acquisitions &
Investments Division
18802 Bardeen Avenue
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 756-5959
www.sares-regis.com
REGIS HOMES &
REGIS CONTRACTORS
18825 Bardeen Avenue
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 756-5959
JEFF BIRDWELL has been promoted to President of the Commercial
Division for SRGNC, announced Rob Wagner, SRGNC Managing Partner.
Birdwell has been with SRG for 18 years and has run the Northern
California Commercial Division for the last nine. During that time the
division has developed more than 2.6 million square feet of commercial
buildings, valued at approximately $1 billion. Birdwell has been instrumental in forging a number of key relationships with major companies,
including Symantec, Tibco, Electronic Arts, Stanford Management
Company and Informatica. The division’s revenues also have grown
considerably and are projected to reach $3 million this year.
MARTIN T. O’HEA has joined SARES•REGIS Group as Senior Vice
President of Finance. He is responsible for all capital market activities
for the commercial and residential divisions, including all construction,
bridge and permanent financings and joint venture equity transactions.
In addition, he will team with senior management on the development
of asset management strategies and work with the acquisition and
development teams on the underwriting of new investment opportunities.
With 20 years in the real estate finance industry, O’Hea comes from
Legacy Partners Commercial Inc. in Irvine, where he was Senior Vice
President of finance.
O’Hea graduated magna cum laude from Boston College with a degree
in accounting. He is a certified public accountant and is a member of
the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
SARES•REGIS GROUP OF
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Robert Wagner, President
Mark Kroll, Executive Vice President
901 Mariners Island Blvd., Suite 700
San Mateo, CA 94404
(650) 378-2800
www.srgnc.com
SACRAMENTO
Bill Heartman, Regional President
1435 River Park Drive, #415
Sacramento, CA 95815
(916) 929-3193
‘Shiver Me Timbers’
Continued from page 15
VENTURA/LOS ANGELES
Russ Goodman, Regional President
500 Esplanade Dr., #470
Oxnard, CA 93031
(805) 485-3193
“One fellow, Emory Sonderegger, is a
retired accounting professor and also a
Swiss craftsman who has a complete
woodshop in his garage. He spent six weeks
building the ship’s wheel and milled all the
material to build the cannons we made.
PHOENIX–COMMERCIAL
Eva Bates, District Manager
1600 W. Chandler Blvd., #150
Chandler, AZ 85224
(480) 497-6759
“Ron Dyer, our VP of operations, and I built
the crow’s nest personally. So we kind of
liked that,” Albert said. “But we’re glad it’s
over. It’s been a lot of work.”
TEMPE–RESIDENTIAL
David Shearer, Regional Manager
1553 West Todd Drive, #212
Tempe, AZ 85283
(480) 821-1671
DENVER–RESIDENTIAL
Jennifer Nessett, Regional Vice
President
900 E. Louisiana Ave., Suite 101
Denver, CO 80210
(303) 715-9600
Consultants and subcontractors and their
companies working on the project were:
Zack Dafaalah of Pacific Coast
Reprographics; Mike Clubb of Clubb
Grading; Don Briscoe of Force Framing;
Marty Masoner of Park West Landscaping;
Udaya Pattamata and Mike Boyd of
Danielian & Associates architects; Matt
Tisler and Michael Schrock of Urban Arena
landscape architects; Danny Smith of James
Hardie Building Products; Joel Spear of
Southern California Pipeline; Chuck
Favreau of Favreau Engineering; Fred
Gonzalez of FGC Paving & Flatwork; Mike
Rizuto of Concrete Construction Corp.;
Spencer Kuhn of Ozone Roofing; Ernie
Argon of Gabco Painting, City of Laguna
Beach for lifeguard towers; Carol Kellton of
Tool Time Catering; Valerie Hardman and
Angela Taylor of Outdoor Dimensions;
Joe Talley of Talley Metal; Troy Jenkins of
Walker Windows Solar Industries; Dan
Judge of Dan Judge Netting Manufacturer
and Trex Decking Material.