LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. – Los Angelesbased Laurus Corp., a private real estate investment and development firm founded in 1999, recently acquired an MOB in Laguna Hills as a “value-add” opportunity.
According to data from real estate research firm Real Capital Analytics, Laurus paid $15.9 million for the Saddle back Financial Center, a four-story, 72,928 square foot MOB on the campus of the 313-bed Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in the South Orange County submarket. Saddleback Memorial is part of the six-hospital, Costa Mesa, Calif.-based MemorialCare.
Brokering the sale for the seller, White Plains, N.Y.-based True North Management Group LLC, was the HFF National Healthcare Group and HFF’s Orange County office, both of which are part of Pittsburgh-based Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP (NYSE: HF).
Derreck Barker, of HFF’s Orange County office, was joined on the sales and marketing team by HFF healthcare team members Evan Kovac, Andrew Milne and Trent Jemmett.
According to HFF, the south Orange County submarket is one of the most affluent and highly educated locations on the West Coast, with an average household income of $116,000 within a five-mile radius of the property, which is near U.S. Interstate 5 and California 73. Laurus reports that the Orange County MOB market, with about 19 million square feet, had a vacancy rate of about 8.7 percent in 2016.
The Saddle back MOB was 68 percent leased at the time of the sale and Laurus said it plans to “renovate and refresh” the property from a “Class A-minus“ building into a “Class A” facility in order to attract new medical and professional services tenants.
The company, which tends to focus on general office, hotels and some shopping malls, adds that the adjacent Saddle back Memorial “is one of Orange County’s most successful hospitals, which was recently awarded Healthgrade’s 50 Best Hospitals in America.”
Also next door is the future $400 million Five Lagunas urban mixed-use village, a redevelopment of a former shopping mall.
Austin Khan, chief investment officer of Laurus Corp., noted in a news release: “Given the increase in demand for medical space in the market and the exceptional demographics of Orange County, Saddle back Financial Center presented a unique opportunity to acquire a high-quality project in a top-tier market with significant value-add upside through renovation and repositioning.” For more information, please visit HREInsights.com.
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