Got expired Bed Bath & Beyond coupons? These retailers will take them

• April 28, 2023

Bed Bath & Beyond’s competitors are coming to the rescue of customers looking to use expired coupons issued by the failed retailer.

Big Lots said Thursday that it’s “assisting shoppers nationwide” by accepting the expired coupons until May 7. Customers that bring one of the iconic blue-and-whites into one of its 1,425 stores will receive 20% off a purchase of $50 or more. The offer is only valid in stores.

“At Big Lots, our mission is to help people live big and save lots, which means we’re always thinking of ways to step up and deliver even more value to consumers,” said CEO Bruce Thorn in a press release

Similarly, the Container Store said Wednesday it is offering a 20% discount on any single item to customers “who bring a competitor’s blue coupon to any store location,” with the offer ending May 31.

Boscov’s, a department store with 50 locations, is also exchanging mailed Bed Bath & Beyond coupons for $10 off purchases of at least $50. The offer lasts until May 31 and is valid in store, according to its website.

Earlier this week, Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy. The company gave customers until Tuesday to use its ubiquitous coupons. Now, the retailer is offering “deep discounts” on its products as it winds down operations. The store will stop accepting gift cards on May 8, and the brand’s Welcome Rewards points will stop being accepted on May 15.

History of Bed Bath & Beyond’s coupons

Bed Bath & Beyond introduced its oversized coupon for 20% off a single item three decades ago.

Over time, the oversized postcard-like mailer and digital coupon with an eye-popping purple-blue border and font blaring “20% off in-store or online” developed a cult following and became a successful marketing strategy to lure in repeat shoppers, a retail analyst previously told CNN.

The “Big Blue” coupons became a pop culture reference as celebrities and late-night talk show hosts popped it into their on-air conversations.

Rumors swirled on various social platforms that Big Blue coupons never expire, even though the weekly coupon does feature an expiration date.

Then the pandemic hit and walloped the retail industry. With stores closed for months, and consumers rethinking their nonessential purchases, Bed Bath & Beyond sales and profit took a hit. In late 2020, the retailer said it was scaling back on its popular coupon program to boost its business.

Two years later, company executives called the move a ‘big mistake,” admitting they had misjudged how much shoppers had come to embrace the regular cadence of the Big Blue coupons.

Now that the company is going through a liquidation process, Bed Bath & Beyond said it’s the end of the road for the coupons.

Bed, Bath & Beyond

The $11.8 billion mistake that led to Bed, Bath & Beyond’s demise
How coupons backfired on Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed, Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy plan will shutter, liquidate all stores
Bed Bath & Beyond is closing hundreds of stores, but they won’t be empty for long

​ Orange County Register 

The busiest days to fly around Memorial Day 2023

• April 28, 2023

Memorial Day may mark the unofficial beginning of summer in the U.S., but it’s the days ahead of it that kick off big airport crowds.

The holiday symbolizes the beginning of the summer vacation season for many Americans. But it’s hardly a vacation for airport employees, who typically get pummeled with the largest crowds of the year to date.

Some days around the long weekend are significantly busier than others, and if you can afford to be flexible when flying Memorial Day weekend, you’ll save money and avoid chaos.

The best and worst days to fly Memorial Day weekend

NerdWallet analyzed the past two years of Transportation Security Administration checkpoint data for the six days before and six days after Memorial Day, which shows how many passengers were screened at TSA checkpoints.

In 2021 and 2022, the Friday before Memorial Day was the most-crowded day to travel before the holiday, which is observed on the last Monday of May. As far as post-holiday, the Sunday after has attracted the largest crowds over the past two years.

Based on an average of the past two years, here are the most- to least-crowded days for the 13 days surrounding Memorial Day (including the holiday), ranked:

Sunday after Memorial Day (most crowded).
Friday before.
Thursday before.
Friday after.
Memorial Day (Monday).
Thursday after.
Tuesday after.
Wednesday before.
Sunday before.
Saturday after.
Saturday before.
Wednesday after.
Tuesday before (least crowded).

When broken out by pre- and post-Memorial Day travel, here are the three least-crowded days to travel ranked from least to most crowded. These are likely the best days to fly around Memorial Day weekend.

Pre-holiday:

Tuesday before.
Saturday before.
Sunday before.

Post-holiday:

Wednesday after.
Saturday after.
Tuesday after.

Why flying the Friday of Memorial Day weekend isn’t ideal

While the Friday before Memorial Day is always a big travel day, it was even bigger before the pandemic. For example, in 2019, the Friday before Memorial Day was the third-busiest day at U.S. airports for the entire year, losing only to the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the Sunday of Fourth of July weekend.

The Friday before Memorial Day has yet to reclaim a spot on the “busiest days to fly” podium since the pandemic (after all, the pandemic upended several travel norms), but it’s still noticeably more crowded than other airport visits from January to May. In 2021, the Friday pre-Memorial Day was the busiest day of the first five months of the year. In 2022, it was the second-busiest day in the same period.

Those figures indicate that the long weekend attracts a lot of folks who haven’t flexed their travel muscles in a while. Check-in and security lines will likely be longer — and potentially feel longer — if rusty travelers have forgotten, say, that you can’t pack a regular-sized jar of peanut butter in a carry-on.

Though flying the Sunday after Memorial Day draws bigger crowds, we can find some solace in the assumption that many of these travelers will be returning home. Perhaps they’ve already learned (or relearned) airport procedures and etiquette on the trip out.

The smarter, cheaper Memorial Day weekend itinerary

If you work a standard Monday-Friday workweek and have the holiday off, then leaving Friday after work and returning the Sunday after Memorial Day might make sense. This minimizes the number of vacation days you take, and you’d get eight full days of vacation.

But if you follow the classic Friday-Monday weekend travel itinerary, then you’ll pay — in terms of literal price and airport crowds. Deviate from that schedule to find lighter crowds and perhaps better Memorial Day flight deals, too. Try these travel days instead:

Travel on Saturday: Rather than rushing out from work Friday afternoon, take that evening to pack, spend Friday night in your own bed and take an early flight out Saturday.

Morning flights are often more reliable than evening flights: Those departing after 9 a.m. are twice as likely to be delayed than departures scheduled between 5 and 8 a.m., according to the Flight Disruption Outlook for Spring 2023 survey by travel booking site Hopper.

Fly home the Wednesday after: A lot of people opt for traveling on Memorial Day itself, and many people fly the day after. But relatively few people extend their trip one more day and fly Wednesday.

If you do, you’ll avoid the worst of the airport crowds. You increase your chances of saving money on airfare. Plus, you’ll be home in time for a delightful two-day workweek — which might be just enough time to wrap up lingering tasks without getting fresh projects dumped on your desk.

Fly home the Saturday after: You can still have a weeklong vacation and avoid Sunday’s crowds by flying home the Saturday after Memorial Day.

Then you’ll have a full day at home to knock out laundry and meal prep before the next workweek starts. After all, sometimes the most relaxing way to end a trip is taking a vacation from that vacation.

​ Orange County Register 

Californians continue to pay high gas taxes for bad roads

• April 28, 2023

California’s state fuel taxes are already the highest in the nation and, due to the state’s annual inflation adjustments could rise another eight percent in July. California’s drivers can rightfully wonder if the gas taxes they are paying to build and maintain roads are being put to good use.

California’s roads and bridges rank 47th out of 50 states overall in cost-effectiveness, safety, and condition, the 27th Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation finds. According to the report, only Alaska, Hawaii, and New York state get worse results from their transportation funding, which ranks each state in 13 road and spending categories.

Compared to neighboring states, California’s overall highway performance and cost-effectiveness are far worse. Nevada ranks 21st out of 50, Arizona ranks 30th, and Oregon is 37th overall. California is frequently measured against Texas. But when it comes to the cost-effectiveness and performance of their highways, Texas ranks 19th overall, well ahead of California’s 47th place ranking.

Costs in California are certainly higher than in most other parts of the country, including Texas. But high costs are not California’s only problem. The state ranks below the national average in 12 out of 13 highway categories. Poor pavement quality, heavy traffic congestion, and high road fatality rates are three areas that need immediate improvement.

With its higher fuel tax, California’s drivers should presumably get smoother roads and fewer potholes. Instead, California ranks last in the nation in urban arterial road pavement condition. Nearly 10% of California’s urban Interstate pavement is in poor condition, ranking 47th in the country. On urban Interstates, California has more than twice Texas’ percentage of poor pavement. For rural Interstate conditions, California ranks 46th in the country and has 3.5 times the percentage of poor pavement as Texas.

California’s drivers also lose time and money stuck in gridlock. The state’s drivers wasted 31 hours in 2021 sitting in traffic congestion, ranking 44th in the nation. In recent years, the number of people working and shopping from home has helped alleviate some of the state’s congestion. However, if major employers continue to require workers to return to the office, California’s traffic numbers could worsen.

In other safety and performance categories, California ranks 25th in structurally deficient bridges, 39th in rural highway fatality rate, and 23rd in urban Interstate fatality rate. Those traffic fatality numbers are far too high for California. Given the large amount of money California collects in fuel taxes, these results are particularly disappointing.

Thankfully, California’s path to improving its highways and rankings is clear. The state should prioritize maintenance efforts on repairing potholes, smoothing rough roads, and upgrading pavement to help drivers and increase safety. Transportation officials should also identify and expedite the modernization and revamping of the state’s most essential structurally deficient bridges.

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Orange County once innovated, creating the nation’s first variably priced toll lanes to deal with the region’s infamous traffic jams. As Southern California continues to add toll lanes, the long-term plan should be to create a network of variably priced toll lanes that connect all major highways. The network would offer drivers, buses, and emergency vehicles a region-wide congestion-free alternative to gridlocked freeways, helping drivers and businesses.

The state’s roads and highways are vital to trade and the economy and must be repaired and modernized. While construction and labor costs in California are undeniably higher than in most other states, California should be doing better than it is with its current gas prices. For the money they’re paying in gas taxes, California’s taxpayers deserve better and safer roads, smoother pavement, fewer deficient bridges, and less traffic congestion.

Baruch Feigenbaum is a transportation policy analyst at Reason Foundation and lead author of the 27th Annual Highway Report.

​ Orange County Register 

Restaurant owner Alicia Cox offers food and drink to OC beach-goers

• April 28, 2023

On a warm April morning, Alicia Cox is busy talking to vendors. Cox’s beachside venues span from Bolsa Chica to Huntington State Beach and host special events with notable musical acts like Snoop Dogg.

“KROQ does a secret show out here each year,” says Cox, founder of Prjkt Restaurant Group. Last year, The Offspring performed. Once Netflix bought out SeaLegs and everything around it for a super fans event. The launch of “Outer Banks 3” kicked off with a music festival called Poguelandia: An Outer Banks Experience featuring Khalid and Lil Baby. It attracted nearly 7,000 people and generated numerous digital impressions.

Cox is a Huntington Beach resident so she knows the area well. She partnered with California State Parks and now oversees its beachside concessions. SeaLegs at the Beach in Bolsa Chica, Huntington Beach House by Beach Boulevard, Sahara’s Sandbar & Pizza by state beach’s “main lifeguard tower” at Magnolia Street and California Fork and Spoon, which will open next year near Brookhurst Street.

Sahara Whitney, 11, is all smiles after cutting the ribbon on a restaurant named for her, with her mother, Alicia Cox, right, and Madelynn Hirneise, CEO of Family Forward, left, and Kevin Pearsall, Superintendent, State Parks for Orange County at Huntington State Beach in Huntington Beach, CA, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Cox began her career operating Orange County restaurants in 2011, when she created a business plan for SeaLegs Wine Bar. By the time her daughter, Sahara, was 1 the concept opened and the business grew.

It was followed by SeaLegs Wine Bar, SeaLegs LAX, and SeaSalt Woodfire Grill.

“Then, I came to bid on this,” says Cox, waving her arm at the sunshine washed sand surrounding her newly remodeled Huntington Beach House. It has an updated DJ booth, a Slush House that dispenses slushy margaritas, and a kitchen that serves birria ramen and giant burgers. A gold-colored hand statue by Damien Sanders of Monster Stage will be unveiled soon for photo ops on the sand.

Alicia Cox, CEO of Prjkt Restaurant Group, raises her hands as she joins others as they cut the ribbon on The Huntington Beach House at Huntington State Beach in Huntington Beach, CA, on Thursday, July 29, 2021.(Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

For Cox, the strategy is to bring people to the beach earlier. She’s starting with brunch.

“It gets people here earlier and they stay for the day,” she says. “I want to make sure that guests come in and have a really good experience in Huntington Beach.”

Cox’s aspirations for the area extend beyond her concessions.

“It’s about giving back to our community and changing the way my daughter and the kids around me think,” she says. “That ripple effect starts with something.”

We met Cox at Huntington Beach House to discuss her plans for the area’s concessions, what to eat by the beach, and how her unique partnership with California State Parks came to fruition.

(This interview is edited for brevity and clarity.)

Q. How did you forge the partnership with California State Parks?

A. I saw this bigger picture. We’re going to reimagine the way you play when you come to these beaches. California State Parks, they’re the largest real estate holder in the state of California, and we’re one of the top parks to come and visit. I’ve met the director of the State Parks and some of the higher-ups, and they’re looking at us as a model of where the future can go. That was the idea with Kevin Pearsall (State Park Superintendent III, Orange Coast District, California State Parks), he wanted it to be more like those world class beach experiences in Europe and Australia.

Q. Tell us about the state-of-the-art vending machines. 

A. There’s this conex box, which is a shipping container. There’s nothing there. Now we have state-of-the art vending machines. You scan a QR code and put in your credit card info. Then a little door pops open. You rent basketballs, Bluetooth speakers that you can use on the beach, and firewood. We have 24-hour options that are just right there. We’re able to take this dead piece of real estate and turn it into a useful experience for people on the beach.

Music lovers gather on chairs and benches at SeaLegs at the Beach on Bolsa Chica State Beach for dinner, drinks and an outdoor concert by the Metropolis Chamber Musicians in Huntington Beach on Thursday, April 8, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Q. Is that why you started hosting events?

A. We’re recreating recreation. People come out to the beach every weekend. It can’t be that same stale feeling all the time. The idea is that when we get finished with California Fork and Spoon, you can take your bike all the way from Brookhurst (Street) to Warner (Avenue) and go to every venue for a different type of experience. There’s a SeaLegs Doggy Dog brunch on Saturdays with doggy cakes and puppuccinos. We have a DJ that’s playing the Dog Pound album mixed into all sorts of music. Then we have sponsors that do free giveaways, like treats and cool tennis balls. At Sahara’s we’re getting a full liquor license. As soon as I get that, we’re kicking off a Biggie brunch with ’90s and 2000s music. We’re also partnering with Strut (from Costa Mesa) to do the first OC Pride event out here.

Q. Music is an integral component of your venues. What acts do you book?

A. My sweet spot is growing the grassroots Orange County music base. Artists that may be on the verge of going on the next level. It’s having that platform to showcase their talents. We want to put eyes on them. Bands like Yachty by Nature. He is a math teacher. When we first started working with them, they were a smaller band. Now, they’re so coveted. Being out here and watching these artists grow became a passion that I didn’t know that I had. So fulfilling. It’s awesome to see them become something bigger and to know that we’re part of that process.

Birria Ramen is among the dishes on the menu at the Huntington Beach House. (Photo by Jenn Tanaka)

Q. The food at each venue is so different. Birria ramen at Huntington Beach House, calzones at Sahara’s Sandbar & Pizza, and churro waffles at SeaLegs at the Beach in Bolsa Chica. How do you come up with the menus?

A. I always think, how can we showcase different food on the beach? I’m always researching. At Sahara’s, you’ve got this beach-style pizza. It’s how we’re making the dough. How the dough rises because we’re next to the ocean. We tested so many different doughs and researched pizzas in the area. We nerded out and learned all about what makes good dough.

Restauranteur Alicia Cox and her daughter Sahara Whitney, then 11, at Sahara Sandbar & Pizza at Huntington State Beach in Huntington Beach, CA, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Q. Sahara’s Sandbar & Pizza is named after your daughter. Is that why you donate $1 from every pizza sold to Families Forward?

Related links

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Status Update: Rocker and OC resident Sammy Hagar opens beach club in Surf City
How Long Beach’s Bamboo Club is celebrating its 4th anniversary
Lido Bottle Works chef Joel Gutierrez celebrates local farmers, reduces waste
Review: Yakiya delivers on its omakase promise to steak lovers

A. When I was bidding on the concept, I had to be really creative. I knew it was the widest gap of sand in the Western Hemisphere. Sahara was 7 or 8 at the time. She was talking to me and I was like, “Oh my gosh! Sahara, the most mysterious gap in the world, the desert!” When it was time for it to be executed, there was this moment where I thought, this is going to define her as a human being. Her name was on this. It had to be a teaching moment. My daughter had to realize that when she had an opportunity, she had to do good with it. So we started looking for a charity. We love documentaries and there was one about the motel kids in Orange County. To help other children, what can we do? Families Forward is an incredible charity that takes care of families who are on the brink of homelessness.

The last component was to actually get involved. We go and take warm meals to those families in Huntington Beach. It’s an unbelievably beautiful experience. It opens up such a perspective on life. It goes back to being grateful that we have all this so that we can do good for others. I’m glad that my daughter gets to be on the forefront of that.

For more information about Saturday afternoon concerts, visit sealegsatthebeach.com/events

​ Orange County Register 

Angel City FC’s Julie Ertz grateful to join ‘special’ team

• April 28, 2023

Julie Ertz’s Angel City FC debut might have ended with a loss, but it left the club with a what-if moment.

As in what if she had a full week of training to acclimate with her new team and surroundings. Ertz went 70-plus minutes in last Sunday’s loss against San Diego Wave FC.

“I’m so grateful to be here,” Ertz said. “I think the first word is absolutely ‘unbelievable.’ That’s the first word that comes to my mind.”

Saturday, Ertz will have her second game for Angel City as the club visits the Portland Thorns (7:30 p.m., Paramount+).

“I felt like she looked calm under pressure a lot, which I think translated to the rest of the team,” Angel City coach Freya Coombe said of Ertz’s debut. “I felt like they were a lot calmer on the ball as a result. Even when pressed, I think that she was able to deal with pressure really well and just play out of it calmly. And I think having her leadership in the center, to direct, is huge for us.”

Defender and captain Ali Riley believes the club will only grow the more time Ertz has on the field.

“We’re able to play a different style because we have her there,” Riley said. “We were able to win the ball back higher up the field. We had players playing the roles that they should be in, like Sav (Savannah McCaskill) being closer to the goal, having Alyssa (Thompson) and Claire (Emslie) being able to go 1v1 on the wing.

“We have players more comfortable in their positions and a lot of that is because we have the presence of Julie now, allowing players to be more attacking. I think we played a style of football that we’ve been aiming for.”

Angel City had high hopes of last week’s three-game homestand, but emerged with just one point. Angel City rallied to draw with Racing Louisville FC and lost their Challenge Cup game against OL Reign (2-0) and the first league matchup with Wave FC (2-0).

After Saturday’s game against the Thorns, they will face OL Reign on Wednesday in a Challenge Cup game in Seattle and return home against the Kansas City Current on May 7. It is a busy stretch, but one that gives Ertz more time to adjust to her new team.

“This team is special,” she said. “I knew it from the second I came in. This is a winning culture. This team wants to win. Every game they’re trying to figure out what it is. We need to continue to grow. It’s early in the season, which is great. Now it’s holding each other accountable both individually and collectively.”

Angel City FC at Portland

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Providence Park, Portland, Oregon

TV: Paramount+

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​ Orange County Register 

California woman jumps out third-story window to escape ‘vicious’ pimp known as ‘Dice Capone,’ prosecutors say

• April 28, 2023

Seattle, Washington (KPTV) — A man has been indicted this week on several charges after a woman made a harrowing escape from him in Seattle.

Self-identified “pimp” Winston Cornell Burt, also known as ‘Dice Capone,’ has been federally charged with sex trafficking through force, fraud and coercion, transportation of an adult female for prostitution through coercion and enticement, and two counts of unlawful possession of firearms.

Burt, 31, is accused of taking the 20-year-old victim from her home in California to traffick her for sex in Seattle, according to court documents obtained by FOX 13 Seattle.

Prior to his arrest on Nov. 6, 2022, court documents stated that Burt would kick, punch, and pistol-whip the victim if she expressed a desire to stop working for him.

One night, the woman tried to flee out the front door of an Airbnb where she, Burt, and other women were living, but Burt scooped her up and pushed her to the ground, according to the court documents.

Fearing for her life, she rushed upstairs with Burt after her and then leaped from the third-story window, according to the records.

She then ran naked into bustling Aurora Avenue, according to court filings.

When an Uber driver saw the woman in trouble, he picked her up. According to the US Attorney’s Office, Burt then chased them in his car and fired rounds at the van. The ridesharing driver was likewise armed and responded by firing back.

“(The woman) felt safer in the middle of a busy highway, practically naked, at night than being within arm’s reach of the defendant,” Gauen wrote. “Surveillance video from a nearby business has corroborated the woman’s account of what happened.”

They managed to get away from Burt and the woman was taken to the hospital by Washington State Patrol. According to court filings, she suffered black eyes, broken ribs, a broken leg, and spinal damage.

Burt was arrested on Nov. 6 while attempting to leave an Airbnb in south Seattle.

“The level of violence in this case is stunning – brutal beatings of young women, threats with firearms, emotional and physical control of every aspect of the victims’ lives,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “I commend the Seattle Police Department and King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for working quickly to get Mr. Burt in custody, thus ensuring the immediate safety of the victim and the community.”

The indictment demands the confiscation of two firearms, more than $24,000 in cash, and $100,000 in jewels.

According to the US Attorney’s Office, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion is penalized by a mandatory minimum of 15 years in jail and up to life in prison. According to the office, “transportation of an adult female for prostitution through coercion and enticement” is penalized by up to 15 years in jail, and illegal possession of a firearm is punishable by 10 years in prison.

Pimps and human trafficking

South LA prostitute known as ‘Pretty Hoe’ gets 15 years for pimping underage girls
Police circulate photo of human trafficking suspect who frequents Hollywood, North Hollywood areas
Sara Kruzan, convicted at 16 of killing pimp in Riverside, is granted full pardon
Pimping suspect arrested in North Hollywood may have been linked to nationwide network, LAPD says
YouTube rapper Benjiboy Staccs arrested in Anaheim, charged with pimping and pandering

​ Orange County Register 

Weight loss brand Jenny Craig considers bankruptcy 

• April 28, 2023

By Rachel Butt and Reshmi Basu | Bloomberg

Jenny Craig Inc., the weight-loss services provider backed by H.I.G. Capital, is considering a bankruptcy filing if efforts to find a buyer for its assets fail, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

A filing could come as soon as next week, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

The struggling diet company remains in months-long discussions with its lenders to re-work roughly $250 million of debt. Miller Buckfire & Co. has been running a sale process on behalf of the company, which has a loan scheduled to mature in October 2024.

While the company will likely pursue a liquidation, the talks are fluid and plans could change, the people said.

“Like many other companies, we’re currently transitioning from a brick-and-mortar retail business to a customer-friendly, e-commerce driven model. We will have more details to share in the coming weeks as our plans are solidified,” CEO and President Mandy Dowson told Bloomberg.

Representatives at H.I.G. didn’t respond to requests for comment.

CION Investment Corp. and Pacific Investment Management Co. are among major lenders to the company. As of the fourth quarter, CION marked its first-lien loan position at roughly 78% of par value and moved its investments to non-accrual status, according to a filing. Non-accrual loans indicate that the company’s financial situation is deteriorating or debt repayment is at risk.

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Carlsbad, California-based Jenny Craig offers structured programs to help members lose weight, including a recently launched line that delivers fresh meals to customers. It has nearly 500 company-owned and franchised locations across the US and Canada, and roughly 600 centers worldwide.

On top of diet changes and exercising, the weight-loss industry is embracing increasingly popular drugs to help customers shrink their waistline. Investors cheered after WW International, previously known as WeightWatchers, closed its acquisition of a telehealth provider that will help it access the growing market for new obesity drugs.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

​ Orange County Register 

Real estate news: Apartment developer buys offices near Outlets at Orange for $22.5M

• April 28, 2023

A 150,161-square-foot office building just blocks from the Outlets at Orange shopping center has been sold to an investor looking to convert the property into a multifamily project, according to the brokerage Newmark.

City Centre I, which sits on 6.8 acres at 625 The City Drive South, sold for $22.5 million to Watermarke Properties.

SEE MORE: 83 townhomes coming to Anaheim office site

Newmark, which represented the unidentified building owner in the sale, said Watermarke is pursuing entitlements for potentially 360 housing units at the site.

“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,” said Paul Jones, an executive managing director at Newmark. “The existing asset offered in-place cash flow, while the buyer secures entitlements for a new multifamily development.”

RELATED: Orange housing plan contains unrealistic homebuilding sites, state says

Newmark said zoning designations at the site allow for up to 60 units per acre. The ground floor would be reserved for retail spaces.

Conversions of offices, much like dormant malls, to apartments have become the latest salvo in California’s housing shortage. Since the work-from-home pivot, developers and property owners are eyeing under-used sites for redevelopment.

Local projects office-to-housing conversions include a two-building campus in Anaheim that’s being converted to 83 apartments and another two-office spread in Tustin that will add 18 duplexes and four detached homes to the city. Toward the coast in Newport Beach, a two-building, 42,697-square-foot office property was sold for $20.4 million to a local residential real estate developer. No plans for that property have been shared, so far.

SEE MORE: 40 new homes coming to Tustin, replacing 2 office buildings

University names business school after Patty Arvielo

Patty Arvielo, co-founder and chief executive officer of the Tustin-based mortgage company New American Funding, likely got the surprise of a lifetime when Vanguard University named its business school after her earlier this month.

The private university presented Arvielo with the honor at a surprise unveiling April 19 at the Costa Mesa campus.

Vanguard said Patty and her husband, Rick Arvielo, have partnered with the school and its vision as it restructures its academic program. The couple made a substantial contribution to the school, which did not disclose the amount, only saying it was the “largest academic donation in the university’s 103-year history.”

SEE MORE: Top Workplaces 2022: In good times and bad, New American Funding runs ‘with heart’

“For someone who didn’t think she was smart — or fit the profile of what smart means in America — my story is important and I share it to empower you,” she told an audience of nearly 800 students, faculty, staff and supporters in attendance. “Because that’s what this country offers and that is why our grandparents and parents came to this great country, to offer us the opportunities to succeed!”

The business program at Vanguard, a private, Christian-based school founded in 1920, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. It offers degrees in accounting, business administration, management and marketing.

“We are honored to align our business programs under Patty Arvielo’s name because of who she is — a phenomenal business leader and role model for Hispanic, female and all students whose life story and work demonstrate what is possible,” said VU President Michael J. Beals.

The Patty Arvielo School of Business will launch in the 2024-2025 academic year, Vanguard said.

Josh Dale, Bryce Grandison, Taylor Johnson, Rylan Mukssood and Shaun Wiechmann, students at Chapman University’s Argyros School of Business & Economics, won the NAIOP SoCal Orange County Real Estate Challenge. (Courtesy of NAIOP SoCal Orange County)

Chapman students win real estate challenge

A team of students from Chapman University’s Argyros School of Business & Economics won the NAIOP SoCal Orange County Real Estate Challenge.

The second annual contest featured graduate student teams from Chapman and UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business Center for Real Estate.

Chapman’s five-member team took home the Orange Cup at the April 20 event, which was held at UCI.

The competition determines the best use for a unique parcel of land in Southern California. To win, the team had to accumulate the most points during written and oral presentations to a judging panel of local commercial real estate industry leaders, and a live audience.

For the 2023 competition, the project was a 2-parcel site in Brea with four buildings. All are occupied in various states of leasing, but its location meant it was a good candidate for redevelopment.

Chapman University’s presentation proposed a focus on a healthcare-related office as well as a new nursing school and senior living community.

Chapman University’s team included Josh Dale, Bryce Grandison, Taylor Johnson, Rylan Mukssood and Shaun Wiechmann. The UCI team incluced Jon Bradford, Serena-Yuwei Dai, Dale Padelford, Alec Shaul and Zakary Win.

Real estate transactions, leases and new projects, industry hires, new ventures and upcoming events are compiled from press releases by contributing writer Karen Levin. Submit items and high-resolution photos via email to Business Editor Samantha Gowen at [email protected]. Please allow at least a week for publication. All items are subject to editing for clarity and length.

​ Orange County Register