NAIOP: Kill the Split Roll

Tom says the chapter is focused on a number of legislative priorities this year, including working with the California Business Properties Association to educate and defeat an initiative to undo Prop 13 protections for businesses in California, aka Split Roll. In addition, the org is looking at transportation; goods movement and mobility issues; water and air quality issues; local issues such as green building ordinances; and national issues, like supporting tax extenders. Tom has completed 10 centuries (100 miles or more by bike in 12 hours or less) and tries to ride in a few each year.

Tom tells us SoCal's real estate industry has significant positive momentum in 2015, though challenges remain. “Aside from the extremely competitive nature of the investment markets, NAIOP SoCal members are faced with challenges like slow but steady job growth, increasing regulatory constraints and limited infrastructure funding,” he says. Tom currently co-manages Lowe's public-private partnership activities, and oversees the firm's assignment with the cities of Culver City and Compton. NAIOP SoCal also announced the members of its 2015 Executive Committee and 40-person Board of Directors recently.

Remember our OC Creative Office event last fall, the first Bisnow to-do in this part of the country held in raw space, as pictured here? (If not, you should have been there.) It was held at Bixby Land's gen2 creative office development, and we're glad to report the space has been leased. Too Faced, a rapidly growing cosmetics company, inked a deal for more than 31k SF in the building, taking it to 100% occupied. The move effectively triples the office space usage for Too Faced, which is relocating within Irvine.

In Newport Beach, marketing tech firm GoldenComm bought its own 10k SF office building at 3420 Irvine Ave and moved in. GoldenComm tapped JA Stowell Construction to customize the new two-story workspace, which includes fiber optics and an open, transparent layout. The space also features a video studio and large conference room with one of the cooler conference tables we've seen lately.

Here's another reason for young professionals to move to OC (besides the jobs, lifestyle options, etc): Irvine's the No. 6 city in the country for celebrating Valentine's Day, according to WalletHub, with S.F. No 1. WalletHub looked at 15 key "love metrics" in 100 of the most populated cities, including restaurant meal costs, the number of attractions, and the number of jewelry stores and florists per capita. And retailers can rejoice: Americans plan to spend $18.9B on Valentine's Day-related expenses this year.