Tenants Still Have Leverage
(If They Look in the Right Places)

PM Realty Group SVP Oliver Fleener (right, with colleague Tim Joyce) tells us the office market there will continue to get tighter over the next couple years. In certain areas, landlords and projects are doing better than others, such as where the Irvine Co controls a larger share of the product. However, there are great deals to be found "on a project-by-project basis” in other places, he says.

Recently Oliver repped Citadel Servicing Corp in its renewal and expansion at Irvine Spectrum Office Plaza at 15707 Rockfield in Irvine. The deal nearly tripled Citadel's original size at this location, taking it to over 14k SF. Oliver says the 61k SF building wasn't as well leased (58%) compared to the surrounding buildings, and so it provided a good opportunity. “After all, vacancies are averages, which means a high-occupancy project is usually balanced with a nearby low occupancy project,” he notes. PRES Cos director Adam Espinoza repped the owner, PRES Cos.

NGKF Global Healthcare managing director Garth Hogan (who's based in OC, but snapped returning home from St. Louis, where one of his largest clients, Ascension Health, is HQ'd) tells us that the drive to develop ambulatory care projects throughout the country is strong, but there's a special twist in California. Here, OSHPOD earthquake requirements make it very costly to build in-patient facilities, so hospitals are moving many of their services out of the hospital and into medical office buildings, Garth says.

Recently Newport Beach-based NCA Real Estate tapped NGKF Global Healthcare Services to pre-lease the 110k SF MOB it plans to develop across from the main entrance to St Joseph's-Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. The new four-story building, with a five-story parking structure, will be designed for larger scale physician groups, a growing trend under the Affordable Care Act. Besides being near a nationally ranked hospital, Garth adds, the project also has the advantage of proximity to the Shops at Mission Viejo. (A little surgery, a little shopping.) Along with Garth, colleagues John Scruggs and Ryan Clark will rep the developer in the pre-leasing.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County acquired 1801 East Edinger Ave in Santa Ana in a deal brokered by Stream Realty Partners. (If it's like real life, it totally just stole it from Little Brothers Little Sisters and forced them not to tell mom.) As active donors to the organization for many years, Stream was glad for the opportunity to support Big Brothers Big Sisters in the relocation, Stream's John Pomer tells us.

With nonprofit status, organizations are able to utilize specific tax credit financing to be used toward the purchase of real estate, John says. It's a complex process, but Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County has a very sophisticated board of directors who are experienced in that field, he adds. The property is at the corner of Edinger Avenue and Ritchey, off the 55 Freeway. According to Big Brothers Big Sisters, it will provide a professional environment for its operations, with large open spaces. Stream's Ben Gott and Korbin Duley, as well as CBRE's Ross Bourne, Chip Wright, and Justin Hill, also worked on the transaction.

The crowdfunding real estate market is finally about to make a name for itself–and Bisnow has a front row seat. This Thursday we're releasing our free video featuring Fundrise CEO Ben Miller to get you up to speed on all the latest developments. Meantime, here are five reasons you can't afford to ignore crowdfunding (the partially crowdfunded Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs in California, pictured).

1. Crowdfunding could shake up the industry like Kickstarter has done for unknown artists. Thanks to the Internet's arrival in real estate funding, we could unlock $3.5T in investable dollars.

2. It helps boost job growth and revenue for entrepreneurs. States are catching wind of these perks and stepping up to loosen securities laws.

3. The online platform cuts out middlemen and gives developers a direct, fast pipeline to capital. Since investors move in flocks, it just takes a couple good returns for word of mouth to take over.

4. It's going global: Fundrise was first, but new entrants are on their way. Chicago attorney Jordan Fishfeld is working to broaden the definition of “accredited investor” to bring foreign investors into the mix.

5. Infinite scalability: It doesn't take long for crowdfunding companies to snowball. LA-based Patch of Land is active in eight states after one year, with over $100M/month in applications for funding.