The Deal Sheet

Here's one way to make Black Friday less stressful: Just buy the whole mall. Retail Opportunity Investments Corp has done that twice recently. In one deal, it acquired Five Points Plaza in Huntington Beach for $52M.

The 161k SF shopping center is anchored by Trader Joe's and Old Navy, and is 99% leased. San Diego-based ROIC funded the acquisition with cash, borrowing under its unsecured credit facility, and the issuance of $8.8M in ROIC common equity. The company also has a pending deal to acquire the 95k SF Peninsula Marketplace for $32M. The property, also in Huntington Beach, is anchored by Ralphs and CVS and is 100% leased. The company has bought $386M worth of malls so far in 2013, and ROIC CEO Stuart Tanz notes that the company will continue to look for off-market retail deals in core West Coast markets, with an eye toward stable cash flow and growth prospects.

SALES

Manufacturer Johnson Controls sold 49k SF industrial building at 12393 Slauson Ave in Whittier to CEG Development, an engineering firm, for $4M. Lee & Associates SVPs David Bolt and Tim Cronin, in Newport Beach and Commerce office respectively, repped the seller and the buyer in the deal. David says that the building, which included undeveloped land as well, had strong interest from multiple bidders.

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Irvine-based Auction.com facilitated the sale of 11 commercial assets in six states recently, for a combined total of more than $56M. Among the properties was a 131k SF office building in Long Beach. Located on Ocean Boulevard, the building was listed by Cushman & Wakefield. The online auctioneer also recently won two awards for its consumer residential property platform at the 5th Annual Golden Bridge Awards. The company received the top honor with a Gold Award for Innovation in Consumer Brands, and the Silver Award for Innovation in Services.

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Pennsylvania-based Liberty Property Trust completed its acquisition of Cabot Industrial Value Fund III for almost $1.5B, including 177 industrial properties in 24 markets totaling 23M SF Most of the properties are in existing Liberty industrial markets, but the sale also represents the company's first foray into Southern California. Among the SoCal properties are seven buildings totaling 671k SF. The largest building is in Ontario, at 204k SF. Two buildings are in Garden Grove and one each is in Hawthorne, Rancho Cucamonga, San Fernando, and Simi Valley.

LEASING

Bonefish Grill is opening its first California location at the Market Place in Tustin in November. Bonefish Grill features seasonal seafood and non-seafood dishes using local purveyors and other sources. The restaurant will occupy about 5,200 SF to accommodate indoor dining space, an outdoor patio and a bar area.

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Jones Lang LaSalle has been selected to lease MetroCenter at South Coast, a three-building office campus totalling more than 750k SF in Costa Mesa. Leading the leasing efforts are JLL OC SVPs Jay Nugent, Andy White, and George Thomson. The property also features a Fitness Super Sport, Starbucks, Fruitthies, Quiznos, and MetroCafe, and is within walking distance of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

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Canadian-based Avison Young expanded its Orange County presence by opening a new office, aà 6,000 SF location at 2030 Main St in Irvine. The company has also added a seventh member to its Irvine location, naming Stefan Rogers as VP.

CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Vivante on the Coast, a seniors housing property at 1640 Monrovia Ave in Costa Mesa, has opened. The facility, developed by Nexus Cos, consists of 185 residences, including 40 residences dedicated to memory care. According to the developer, Vivante will provide residents with a living experience currently unavailable in the area. The property is a half mile from Hoag Hospital, encompasses nearly 200k SF on a seven-acre, gated campus.

FINANCING

Meridian Capital Group and Beech Street Capital oversaw the $62.5M refi of Emerald Isle, an age-restricted multifamily property in Placentia, on behalf of a sponsor based in Orange County. The 10-year, fixed-rate financing package is composed of a $56.5M CMBS first mortgage and a $6M mezz loan, both featuring five years of interest-only payments. The new debt allows the owner to prepay existing loans due in 2015 without contributing additional equity to the transaction.