Onni Group Expands Holdings With Acquisition in Long Beach, California
After investing in a massive shopping center in Burbank, California, a Canadian developer has scooped up more retail space in Long Beach, Los Angeles County’s second-largest city.
Onni Group, based in Vancouver, bought three properties with a combined 68,000 square feet of retail space for $68 million, or roughly $1,000 per square foot, according to CoStar data. The properties, called Marina Shores, are at 6670, 6600-6700 and 6500-6550 E. Pacific Coast Highway. At the time of closing, the deal marked the highest total price paid in a retail real estate transaction this year in Long Beach, according to CoStar data.
The seller was Jacksonville, Florida, real estate investment trust Regency Centers Corp., which acquired the properties in 2008 for $28.5 million.
Onni Group and Regency Centers representatives did not respond to an emailed request for comment. However, Regency CEO Lisa Palmer said on a Nov. 5 earnings call that the company sells centers that typically are “lower growth or non-strategic.”
The properties, built on 6 acres in 2001, were fully leased at the time of the sale to tenants including Petco, Five Guys and Orangetheory Fitness.
Regency Centers owns 26 properties in greater Los Angeles totaling 3.4 million square feet, according to its website. In total, the company owns 400 shopping centers across the country, adding up to more than 54 million square feet.
For Onni Group, the purchase comes after it acquired a majority of the 1.2 million-square-foot Burbank Town Center for $136 million in early November. The purchase included the buildings only, which are subject to a ground lease. In addition, the developer has built four apartment complexes in downtown Los Angeles and plans to redevelop the 912,634-square-foot former Los Angeles Times building as residential and office space.
The Long Beach downtown retail market’s average rent is $32.06 per square foot, lower than the Los Angeles average of $33.21 per square foot, according to CoStar data. The market’s average vacancy rate is 5.3%, mirroring the Los Angeles-area average.
Author Credit: CoStar