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Rentals, Retail Proposed for Ricoh Santa Ana Site

A nearly 15-acre industrial campus along Red Hill Avenue in Santa Ana, long used by Ricoh Electronics Inc., is being eyed for a large apartment project by its new owners.

About 80,000 square feet of retail space is also being considered for the mixed-use development, which would be among the larger retail projects built in recent years in the vicinity of the Irvine Business Complex.

Arrimus Capital, a Newport Beach-based real estate investor and developer with a few other large Santa Ana apartment projects to its name, recently submitted early-stage plans with Santa Ana’s planning department to redevelop an existing three-building industrial site at the intersection of Red Hill and Warner Avenue into a project called The Bowery.

The proposed project would result in the demolition of the existing trio of industrial buildings—totaling about 210,000 square feet—and the construction of a new commercial and multifamily project.

Three phases of mixed-use development are proposed, with about 1,150 apartments built in five-story structures, in addition to the commercial space, according to city records.

The retail portion of The Bowery would consist of five buildings along Red Hill. Specific tenants or types of retail have not been disclosed.

A zone change will be required for the Santa Ana site, which is near the northwestern edge of the Tustin Legacy development, and is a few blocks away from the Irvine city line.

Representatives of the development recently told area businesses and residents that construction could start within a year or so after city approval, and that they’re aiming for Santa Ana’s city council to take up the project later this year.

Construction of The Bowery will take approximately 2.5 years once permits are issued, they said.

Architects Orange is handling design, city records show. A conceptual site plan for the site shows the development would also include fitness spaces, several pools, and a 6.5-level parking structure.

$43.5M Land Buy

Arrimus bought the site last August in a venture with fellow Newport Beach-based developer CT Realty Investors, under the RHW Holdings LLC name. The two firms have partnered on similar investments in the area in recent years.

RHW paid about $43.5 million for the site, according to property records. The deal was first reported by the Business Journal.

At the time of the sale, company officials with CT Realty—one of the country’s largest industrial developers—said that new industrial construction was a potential option for the site, as was apartment development.

The site was sold by Ricoh, a Tustin-based maker of digital copiers, printed circuit boards, scanners, printers and other products. The land, about three miles from John Wayne Airport, sold for just under $3 million an acre.

Ricoh—the manufacturing arm of Malvern, Pa.-based Ricoh USA, which in turn is a unit of Japan’s Ricoh Co. (OTC: RICOY)—counts several other industrial sites in the vicinity of the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway.

The manufacturer has been downsizing its local operations in recent years. The Business Journal estimated the company had about 1.4 million square feet of industrial space in the area as of a few years ago.

Santa Ana Center

The project is the latest Santa Ana project proposed by Arrimus, a development firm and owner of student housing and other properties headed by Christopher Lee.

He’s the son of Ray Wirta, one of the area’s best-known real estate executives. A few months ago, Wirta announced his retirement from Newport Beach’s Irvine Co. after nine years with the company. Wirta held the president role at Irvine Co. since 2016. He currently serves on the board of commercial brokerage giant CBRE Group Inc. and previously served as chief executive of the firm.

Other Arrimus projects in the city have included the multifamily entitlement of a 19-acre property down the street from the Bowery site, near the intersection of Red Hill and East Dyer Road.

Before getting that site entitled, it held nearly 335,000 square feet of industrial space.

Most of that property has since been razed to make way for a new 1,221-unit apartment development now called The Heritage, which is expected to hold about 18,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Arrimus and its financial partners bought the site in 2013 for a reported $34 million, and after getting it re-entitled, sold most of the site in 2016 to Phoenix-based apartment investor Alliance Residential Co. in two transactions valued at nearly $93 million.

Construction at The Heritage is well underway.

Arrimus and its partners are working on getting entitlements for another Santa Ana project, near the city’s MainPlace Mall.

They’re looking to turn a North Main Street office property just off the Santa Ana (5) Freeway into a 496-unit apartment complex.

It’s one of several residential projects proposed in the vicinity of MainPlace Mall, which itself could see nearly 1,900 apartments built as part of a proposed $300 million redevelopment of the 43-acre site. Centennial Real Estate of Dallas, which bought the mall in 2016, is overseeing that project.

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