Dealmaker: Newmark Executes $22.5M Office-to-Apartment Conversion Sale

(City Centre I, Orange, Calif.)

Newmark, New York, closed $22.5 million to sell City Centre I, a 6.8-acre multifamily redevelopment project at 625 The City Drive South in Orange, Calif.

The current property is a 150,000-square-foot Class A office building suitable for multifamily or mixed-use conversion. Current zoning designations for the site allow for up to 60 units per acre. The property occupies a transit-oriented location with direct access to SR-22, I-5 and SR-57 freeways and adjacent to the area’s largest outlet center, Outlets at Orange, as well as other retail and dining options.

Newmark Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon, Executive Managing Directors Paul Jones and Ken White, Senior Managing Director Chris Benton, Managing Director Anthony Muhlstein and Director Brandon White represented the undisclosed seller. Watermarke Properties, Corona, Calif., bought the property.

“City Centre I was an attractive covered land play in Central Orange County that received strong interest from a wide range of buyers and capital sources,” Jones said. “The existing asset offered in-place cash flow, while the buyer secures entitlements for a new multifamily development.”

Orange has seen significant redevelopment in the past several years, with state and local mandates driving the push for more housing units. Currently, well over half the housing units within one mile of City Centre I are renter-occupied, signaling a strong renter demographic for a suburban market.