Real estate news: 3 small apartment complexes sell for a combined $18 million

• July 7, 2023

A 17-unit apartment complex at 13931-13951 Illinois St. in Westminster sold for $6 million or $352,941 per unit, according to CBRE.

CBRE represented the seller, which it identified only as an out-of-state private real estate investor. The team also represented unnamed Orange County-based buyers in the deal.

“The property offered investors the opportunity to increase the return by improving the rent roll as well as add two detached accessory dwelling units to the property,” said Dan Blackwell, an executive vice president at CBRE.

The property at 13931-13951 Illinois Street, built in 1963, includes 14 single-story buildings on roughly 1 acre. All of the units are two-bedroom apartments.

The property owner, CBRE said, renovated at least 80% of the units recently. Updates included new windows and sliding doors, laundry hookups in some units, fresh interior paint, ceramic tile flooring and refinished cabinets.

Two small apartments traded in 1031 exchange

Two small apartment communities with a combined 38 units sold for $12.12 million in a 1031 exchange, CBRE said.

CBRE said it represented the buyer and seller in the sale of 18 units at 1800 W. Glencrest Ave. in Anaheim for $4.8 million. The seller of 20 units at 1887 Monrovia Ave. in Costa Mesa got $7.32 million.

The 20-unit Monrovia Arms Apartments at 1887 Monrovia Ave. in Costa Mesa was built in 1959 and features a single two-story building,

“I knew the owner of the 20-unit multifamily property in Costa Mesa was interested in selling after more than 20 years of ownership,” said Blackwell at CBRE.

CBRE colleague Andrew Boukather knew the owner of the Anaheim property who was “interested in exchanging his 18 units for more units in Costa Mesa.”

Neither party was identified but are based in Southern California, the brokerage said in a statement.

An unidentified Los Angeles-based investor bought the 18-unit property in Anaheim, CBRE said. The property at 1800 W. Glencrest Avenue was completed in 1962 and includes two, two-story buildings.

Newport Beach-based CapRock Partners and venture partner Ares Management have sold Tropical Logistics Phase II in North Las Vegas to Stockbridge Capital Group for $87 million. (Courtesy of CapRock Partners)

CapRock, partner sell Vegas center for $87 million

Newport Beach-based CapRock Partners and venture partner Ares Management have sold Tropical Logistics Phase II in North Las Vegas to Stockbridge Capital Group.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed by either firm, but the website CommercialSearch reported the sale price was $87 million.

The 21.9-acre Class A complex at 6325-6185 N. Beesley Drive was fully leased at the time of sale, CapRock said. The firm did not identify the tenants. Neighbors along Interstate 15 include Sysco, WestRock and TemperPack.

The property marked the third development completed in the Ares and CapRock joint venture.

“The sale of Tropical Logistics Phase II marks another successful milestone for our joint venture in Las Vegas,” said Jon Pharris, Co-Founder and President of CapRock.

The Orange County chapter of the United Nations Association appointed Julie Laughton as its ambassador of affordable housing. She is chief executive officer and owner of Julie Laughton Design Build in Laguna Beach. (Courtesy of Julie Laughton Design Build)

Industry people

The Orange County chapter of the United Nations Association appointed Julie Laughton as its ambassador of affordable housing. She is chief executive officer and owner of Julie Laughton Design Build in Laguna Beach. Laughton will work with local leaders in government, business, academia and nonprofits to address Orange County’s affordable housing crisis.

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 

841,065 left California. Where will you find them?

• July 7, 2023

“Numerology” tries to find reality within various measurements of economic and real estate trends.

Buzz: Where did 841,065 ex-Californians go in 2021? That’s an outflow larger than the number of people living in Wyoming or Vermont or Alaska or North Dakota or the District of Columbia.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet looked at the latest state-to-state migration data from the Census Bureau to see where that flock might have the biggest clout within their new home state.

Fuzzy math: What might be the potential influence of all these ex-Californians?

Topline

Let’s start with the raw number of relocations.

The top destination was Texas, with 107,546 moving from California to the Lone Star State in 2021. Next was Arizona at 69,432, Nevada at 62,437, Washington at 57,576, Oregon at 51,623, Florida at 37,464, Colorado at 33,648, New York at 31,335, Georgia at 28,908, Idaho at 27,193, and Utah at 23,219.

Note: Seven of those 10 states are west of the Mississippi.

Conversely, Delaware got the fewest ex-Californians, with just 116. Then came West Virginia at 368, Vermont at 1,043, North Dakota at 1,525 and South Dakota at 1,670.

Details

Let’s compare those big relocations to state populations. We are translating migration patterns into the odds that you’d bump into an ex-Californian, class of 2021.

There’s a 50-to-1 chance that a resident of Nevada moved there from California in 2021. Yes, 62,437 California transplants vs. a state population of 3.11 million add up to one of every 50 Nevadans. No state had a greater inflow of Californians.

Next on my scorecard of ex-California influence was Idaho at 69-to-1, then Oregon at 82-to-1, Hawaii at 89-to-1, and Arizona at 104-to-1.

Or look at California’s main economic rivals. There’s 271-to-1 odds a Texan is a former Californian, Class of 2021. That’s the 15th highest. In Florida, it’s 576-to-1, No. 34.

And where’s it hardest to find this group of ex-Californians?

Tops? Delaware at 8,575-to-1 odds, then West Virginia at 4,804-to-1, Kentucky at 1,716-to-1, Alabama at 1,481-to-1, and Louisiana at 1,333-to-1.

Bottom line

When Californians leave, they often don’t leave the West.

Ponder the California outflow as its share of a state’s overall inflow from elsewhere in the nation.

Again, Nevada tops these rankings with California accounting for 47% of its 132,648 interstate arrivals. Next came Oregon at 39%, Idaho at 28%, and Arizona and Washington state at 26%.

Rivals? Texas was No. 8 at 18.2% and Florida, No. 38 at 5.6%.

Jonathan Lansner is business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]

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​ Orange County Register 

California’s reparations proposal symied even before it’s revealed

• July 7, 2023

California’s three-year-old Reparations Task Force might have been much better off had it taken a week or so after the latest U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action before revealing its plan for monetary and other compensation to the descendants of African-American slaves.

For the court’s 6-3 decision ending affirmative action in college admissions (and likely in many other areas, too) makes it very plain that if California lawmakers actually adopt many of the task force’s 100-plus recommendations, they will quickly be struck down in courts that abide by decisions of the nation’s highest judicial body.

That’s because receiving benefits from the task force’s suggestions – and that’s all they really are – would depend mostly on ancestry and race rather than anything that has happened to any living individual.

That’s a complete no-no, wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the Supreme Court’s governing opinion eliminating race-based affirmative action at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, which served as stand-ins for all the other institutions that have practiced affirmative action for decades.

Meanwhile, the justices essentially upheld what California universities and some employers did after this state banned affirmative action via a 1996 ballot initiative.

Roberts wrote that if individuals have demonstrably overcome handicaps, overt racial or religious bias, poverty and other serious roadblocks to success, it’s fine to give them special consideration in college admissions. But race or ancestry by itself is no longer enough to merit such treatment.

That’s essentially what California universities have done since the late 1900s. The results have created student bodies not quite as diverse as before, but still allow for a very robust mix of races and ethnicities at this state’s colleges. Essentially, the California campus’ route around the end of affirmative action has been endorsed for use nationwide.

The same thing should happen with the Reparations Task Force recommendations, which provide formulae for the state to award billions of dollars worth of grants to the descendants of former slaves. They would be compensated not only for slavery, but also for post-slavery discrimination including injustices perpetrated by courts, health care systems, universities, real estate agents, red-lining banks, apartment landlords and employers, among others.

The task force recommends a blanket apology for treatment of African-American slaves, former slaves and their descendants in California, even though it was never formally a slave state. The group said nothing about other forms of slavery practiced here for many decades, including forced labor by Native Americans whose settlements were often destroyed, similar forced labor by imported Chinese workers and some other human trafficking offenses.

There is no mention of the fact that California fought to end slavery in the Civil War, although prior to that, slave owners could and sometimes did bring enslaved individuals here with them. The state’s African-American slave population rarely exceeded 10,000.

But the distinguishing fact about the task force recommendations is that they hinge almost entirely on ancestry – only direct descendants of African-American slaves need apply for any benefits if a procedure is ever established.

That runs directly contrary to the Supreme Court’s logic in striking down affirmative action. So it probably won’t fly in any court where a lawsuit might be filed against the restitution plan or any materially significant part of it that state lawmakers might someday pass.

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Of course, that does not rule out an official apology from the state for whatever role California played in sustaining or encouraging slavery. Nor would it rule out special grants to schools that serve predominantly minority student bodies. Such grants exist today.

Nor does it negate the recommendation that the state Department of Justice lead an effort to root out racial bias in courts and prisons. It also does not prevent carrying out the recommendation for “listening sessions” about racial injustices, collecting personal testimonies for historic preservation and use of school curricula to help end racism.

None of those things provide direct material benefits to any individual, even if they could lead to major improvements in the lives of many who believe they suffer discrimination today.

But direct financial benefits to individuals based on this plan are unlikely to materialize, despite the strong sense among many African-Americans that this would be yet another injustice against them.

Tom Elias’ email address is [email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Douglas Schoen: Chris Christie may lose the battle but win the war against Donald Trump

• July 7, 2023

Trump-acolyte turned Trump-rival Chris Christie is off to an intriguing start in his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. Since launching his dark horse candidacy in early June, Christie has taken swipes at Trump and DeSantis and garnered a modest bump in the polls.

Although a longshot for the nomination, Christie has been stronger than most pundits predicted. Due to his consistent schedule of television interviews and soundbites of him attacking Trump, he is receiving more national media attention than most other Trump challengers.

Arguably more important than the momentum and early success of Christie’s campaign is the blueprint he is laying out for other candidates. While Christie himself may have a limited path to winning the GOP nomination due to his unpopularity within the party, he’s creating a salient, persuasive, and effective anti-Trump playbook that not only another Republican could use to make up ground on the former president, but one that Democrats must leverage in 2024 to rebuild a winning coalition.

Christie’s head on approach to the GOP frontrunner has focused on Trump’s faults, missteps, and lies. He has all but said his purpose for running is to defeat his former friend and ally who he calls a “loser” and a “child.” 

The Christie playbook has included calling out Trump’s election lies, highlighting his repeated electoral losses, pointing to the evidence in Trump’s indictments rather than blaming the Department of Justice, questioning why so many of his former staffers say he should not be president again, and framing him as an unserious candidate who wants to be President again solely for personal gain.

During a CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper, Christie repeatedly lambasted him, saying Trump “doesn’t give a damn about the American people.” He continues to make the rounds on CNN, NBC, ABC, and Fox News shows to attack Trump’s record and his grievance politics. 

This strategy marks a stark difference from the rest of the field, including second leading candidate and Trump’s main rival Ron DeSantis, who has mostly tiptoed around criticizing Trump even when given clear opportunities to do so. Yet, it has been validated by a strong jump for Christie in the key state of New Hampshire, where he now finds himself in third place in the two most recent polls from the key state. In fact, the New Hampshire Journal poll has Christie just four points behind DeSantis.

The anti-Trump remarks have also garnered Christie a steadily growing donor network, which is critical to qualifying for the RNC debates. On June 18th, after just twelve days of campaigning, Christie announced he had reached 15,000 of the 40,000 donors required to make the debate stage. 

Christie has generated enough buzz to draw attacks from Trump himself, despite Trump’s claim that he only targets the opponent who is currently in second place. While sitting at just low single digits in national polls, Christie clearly has the former president’s attention and knows it, as he joked in this tweet.

To be sure, the former Governor of New Jersey faces a steep climb to the nomination due to his poor ratings among the GOP base. CBS/YouGov’s June poll found 79% of Republican primary voters currently say they are not even considering him, and a Monmouth University poll found his favorable ratings 26 points underwater. 

Yet, Christie has the potential to create the biggest lasting impact in the Republican Party – even if he doesn’t win. Christie is taking on Donald Trump directly, and by doing so, may be the one who can pave the way for a post-Trump Republican Party.

By continuing his viral attacks on Trump through the summer and fall, he may be able to take the former president down a notch in the polls and create an opening for a viable alternative who can follow Christie’s script. 

Indeed, even if a candidate with a strong chance to win employs Christie’s playbook, Trump is still the prohibitive favorite to secure the GOP nomination and the indictments have only further consolidated the Republican base behind him. 

Thus, Christie’s anti-Trump playbook likely offers more benefits to the Democratic Party in a 2024 Biden-Trump general election rematch. 

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Due to President Biden’s low approval ratings and poor marks on the economy, the Democrats must run a negative campaign that leverages Christie’s lines of attack to present a choice between Biden and Trump. Christie’s emphasis on Trump’s selfishness and irresponsibility may not work with GOP primary voters but will likely be persuasive with independent and moderate general election voters who were crucial to Biden’s 2020 win.

These voters, whose support will be imperative in 2024, swung to Biden largely because of fatigue from Trump’s drama and recklessness, which is exactly what Christie’s campaign is seizing on. Further, the nonstop attacks on Trump will turn out the liberal base for Biden and galvanize grassroots fundraising.

Realistically, Chris Christie’s campaign will be a success if he can knock down Trump and DeSantis enough to give an alternative, more sensible candidate a chance at winning the nomination. But the more likely scenario is he will refine anti-Trump messaging that will prove crucial to the Democratic Party’s effort to give Trump one final defeat.

What is the payoff for Chris Christie, a senior position in the next Biden administration or a high-level ambassadorship?

Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic political consultant. 

​ Orange County Register 

Pruning and propagation: 5 things to do to keep your garden healthy

• July 7, 2023

1. You can keep your geraniums and roses blooming by removing their flowers as soon as they fade and by adding fertilizer on a regular basis. Weekly application of a granular or liquid fertilizer is the surest way to keep any summer-flowering ornamental plant, as well as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, blooming heavily, especially when they are grown in containers.

2. We are often hesitant when it comes to pruning fruit trees but there is no reason to be that way. After fruit is harvested, feel free to reduce the tree’s height. Many veteran gardeners consider eight feet to be a standard height for fruit trees, facilitating an easier harvest than when trees are allowed to grow taller.

3. Milk, diluted 1:10 in water has proven to be effective in controlling fungus, especially powdery mildew. Apply the spray weekly to crape myrtle, roses, grapevines, squashes, and other fungus susceptible plants. Leaves should be completely covered, top and bottom, with the spray. Skim milk and raw milk work the best; it is thought that the phosphate in milk is what deters the fungi. 

4. If you sow seeds at this time of year, you will need to keep them hydrated throughout the day. This can be achieved by covering the soil where they are planted with burlap, which should be soaked each morning. Check daily to see if seeds have sprouted, at which point you can remove the burlap.

5. In response to a column that promoted desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) as a medium-sized, drought tolerant California native tree, Thomas McClure sent the following instructions regarding its propagation: Remove 24-30” (3/4” caliper) woody shoots from the trees in December or January and bury them about 12” deep.  He says  that “no water is needed if the winter is wet” and “new growth will appear some time in the spring.” Describing his success in this endeavor McClure writes: “My 30-foot tree has ‘kids’ that are now about eight feet tall.”

For more information about area plants and gardens, go to Joshua Siskin’s website, thesmartergardener.com. Send questions and photos to [email protected].

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​ Orange County Register 

Park and ride lots not for RV, big rig storage; orange, white stripes for construction zones

• July 7, 2023

Q. Honk, at the park and ride lot in Irvine near the 5 Freeway at Jeffrey Road there are numerous RVs and big rigs parked for extended periods of time. Is Caltrans leasing out space to cover its debt, or is this an enforcement issue?

– Michael Neben, Irvine

A. Looking at his tax bill, Honk figures he alone covers Caltrans’ budget.

No, the state isn’t getting any cash from such folks parking there, and, yes, perhaps their vehicles should be elsewhere – unless they are commuters.

Park and ride lots are supposed to be just for those who park there to share rides, such as employees in a vanpool or anyone in a carpool arrangement, “and are not intended for residential, commercial or long-term parking,” said Nathan Abler, a Caltrans spokesman.

Under the California Vehicle Code, he pointed out, vehicles in many situations can often be towed after 72 hours. Further, Abler said, “the effective vehicle storage of commercial trucks is forbidden within state park and ride facilities.”

Caltrans, he said, works with the California Highway Patrol to combat such violations.

The public doesn’t need to rely on Caltrans to root out wrongdoing.

“If someone believes a vehicle is in violation of these ordinances, we suggest they call their local CHP non-emergency line,” Abler said.

In the Irvine lot, the phone number is posted. Or, anyone can Google around to find the number for the closest CHP station house.

In Orange County alone, there are nine park and ride lots overseen by Caltrans. Because they are state facilities, the CHP is the policing agency for them.

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Q. I noticed that for a while on the 5 Freeway through Carlsbad the lanes use different striping, orange and white – why this color pattern? The 5 Freeway had been under construction for a very long time in this area. I was under the assumption that striping is very specific to California roads.

– Dennis Crane, Costa Mesa

A. You are correct, Dennis, and even Uncle Sam insists that lane markings are a certain way so motorists traveling the country don’t get confused.

That striping was an experiment, to see if it will help make drivers more aware – after posted signs – that they are in a construction zone and get more of them to slow down.

In California’s first look at the strategy, two patterns were tested: alternating white and orange stripes, and a white stripe with orange borders.

Canada, New Zealand, Wisconsin, Texas and Kentucky have tried out their own versions. San Diego County’s orange-and-white striping was removed last month, but you certainly might see that color pattern appear elsewhere.

Orange-and-white striping could become a regular sight in construction zones in the state – if not the nation.

“It’s looking pretty promising, too,” said Steve Welborn, a Caltrans spokesman for San Diego County.

To ask Honk questions, reach him at [email protected]. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk

​ Orange County Register 

A post-clemency prosecution shines a light on a broken system

• July 7, 2023

A month before he left office, then-President Donald Trump freed Philip Esformes, a Florida nursing home operator who had served nearly five years of a 20-year sentence for bilking Medicare and Medicaid. Despite that commutation, the Justice Department plans to retry Esformes for the same conduct that sent him to prison in the first place.

Critics of that unprecedented move say it undermines the pardon power and violates the Fifth Amendment’s ban on double jeopardy. As witnesses at a recent congressional hearing emphasized, the case also illustrates the sorry state of the federal clemency system, which in recent decades has become increasingly stingy, inefficient and haphazard.

Esformes was arrested in 2016 and charged with numerous crimes related to a scheme that prosecutors said involved bribes, kickbacks and medically unnecessary treatments, all of which helped fund a “lavish lifestyle.” After an eight-week trial in 2019, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. directed the jury to acquit Esformes of six charges, including two counts of health care fraud, deeming the evidence underlying them insufficient as a matter of law.

The jury convicted Esformes of 20 other charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering, payment and receipt of kickbacks, and obstruction of justice. But it failed to reach verdicts on six counts, including the central charge of conspiring to commit health care fraud.

Based on the 20 convictions, Right on Crime Executive Director Brett Tolman noted in his congressional testimony, “Mr. Esformes was facing 5 years in prison.” But federal prosecutors successfully urged Scola to sentence Esformes as if he had been convicted of health care fraud, which “increased Mr. Esformes’ sentence by 15 years.”

Although it defies conventional notions of justice, federal judges are allowed to punish defendants for crimes that have not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case, Scola explicitly said he considered the six undecided counts in determining Esformes’ sentence.

The Justice Department nevertheless wants to take another stab at convicting Esformes of those crimes. It argues that the commutation Esformes received does not preclude another prosecution, because it says nothing about the unresolved counts.

Trump explicitly left in place three years of post-release supervision, plus restitution and forfeiture totaling about $44 million. But it is hard to believe he thought he was leaving the door open to a trial that could send Esformes back to prison. That prospect instead seems to be the result of a mistake that could have been avoided if Trump had been better advised.

“A good system would have made him aware of the hung counts and the fact they could be retried,” University of St. Thomas law professor Mark Osler notes. Then Trump could have pardoned those counts, which would have prevented a retrial.

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As Osler sees it, that oversight is emblematic of a broken clemency process that is highly bureaucratic, needlessly complicated, painfully slow and maddeningly opaque. The current system involves seven sequential layers of review and effectively empowers prosecutors to block mercy for defendants they put away.

Presidents frustrated by that process often have been tempted to take shortcuts, Osler notes, resulting in “hasty clemency grants in the last days of an administration.” Trump, for example, granted 78 of his 94 commutations during his last 31 days in office.

Although Americans might assume that pattern is traditional, it did not emerge until the Clinton administration. And as acts of clemency became increasingly concentrated toward the end of a president’s time in office, they also became much rarer: Trump granted 2% of petitions, for instance, down from 12% under Ronald Reagan and 36% under Richard Nixon.

It seems unlikely that Joe Biden, who currently has a backlog of nearly 17,000 petitions, will make a substantially bigger dent in them than his recent predecessors did. Meanwhile, his administration’s vindictive pursuit of Esformes casts doubt on the finality of clemency, sending exactly the wrong signal about an important but woefully underused remedy for injustice.

Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine. Follow him on Twitter: @JacobSullum.

​ Orange County Register 

Former Edison, Orange Coast College football coach Bill Workman dies at age 82

• July 7, 2023

Bill Workman, who built Edison’s football program into an Orange County powerhouse in the late 1970s and early ’80s, and later coached at Orange Coast College, has died at age 82, his daughter Julie confirmed.

The longtime Fountain Valley resident died Monday after fighting Lewy body dementia the past few years, she said.

In his 13 seasons as Edison’s coach, Workman guided the school to CIF-SS Big-Five Conference titles in 1979 and 1980, and a Big-Five co-championship in 1985, his final season.

His teams won a then-county record 32 consecutive games from 1979-81 and featured standouts such as Kerwin Bell, Frank Seurer, Mark Boyer and Bill Malavasi.

“Great coach,” said former Edison coach Dave White, who played and coached for Workman. “He was a player’s coach. You liked playing for him. He made it fun to work hard.”

Workman compiled a 109-33-5 record at Edison. The Chargers won seven Sunset League titles, and never posted a losing record.

In 1980, Edison won the section championship by defeating rival Fountain Valley 14-0 before a crowd of nearly 29,000 at Angel Stadium.

But Workman focused on much more than winning.

The graduate of Whitter College was known for mentoring players to be responsible and strive for success on and off the field. He advocated for players to be tested for drugs and alcohol.

“His most important thing was being with the kids, and mentoring young kids,” Julie said of her father. “He taught the guys how to act, and how to respond in certain situations.”

On the field, Workman instilled the program with pride. He added a popular lightning bolt to the team’s pants for games and started the “Stand Tall” tradition of Edison players placing their hands at their waist between plays, Julie said.

Workman left Edison for Orange Coast College, where he replaced longtime coach Dick Tucker.

Workman highlighted his 13-year tenure by leading the Pirates to a Mission Conference title in 1990. He resigned in 1999 with a 63-70 record.

During White’s final season as Edison’s head coach in 2016, Workman was a frequent visitor on the Chargers’ sideline. He also attended the Edison-Fountain Valley rivalry game last season.

“(He was) a second father to me,” White said. “He’s in a better place now.”

Workman is survived by his wife Sheri, daughters Julie and Jana and nine grandchildren. Two of his grand-daughters, twins Sydnee and Jordyn Norwood, play basketball at Crean Lutheran.

Funeral service plans are pending, Julie said.

Please send football news to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on Twitter

​ Orange County Register