BY ARTHUR S. GRUPE
Staff Writer
An entire city block in Downtown will become the site of two high-rise condominium towers later this year, a Canadian development firm announced Jan. 28.
Intergulf Development Corp. of Vancouver, British Columbia, bought the 60,000-square-foot parcel bounded by Kettner Boulevard, India, A and B streets for $7.27 million, said Lynn LaChapelle, one of the buyer’s agents along with John Casey.
Both work for San Diego-based Burnham Real Estate Services. The seller, Sarofin Realty Advisors of Dallas, was represented by Tim Cowden of Grubb & Ellis Co.
Carrier Johnson Wu Architecture Interior Design Planning of San Diego is designing the 24-story terraced concrete condominiums. The individual units will range from one to three bedrooms and will be as much as 1,600 square feet, LaChapelle said.
Another builder has announced plans for a new local development, this one in the master-planned community of San Elijo Hills near San Marcos.
Shea Homes San Diego plans to build 103 homes at the Acacia neighborhood in San Elijo Hills, said Teri Shusterman, director of marketing for the builder.
The homes, which will range from 1,670 square feet to 2,164 square feet, will feature French country, Craftsman, Spanish and prairie architectural styles. They will be priced from the low- to mid-$200,000s, she said.
San Elijo Hills is a mixed-use, master-planned community that includes single- and multi-family residential neighborhoods, parks, schools and a town square complete with retail shops, restaurants and offices.
On Otay Mesa near Chula Vista, Shea Homes started presales Jan. 21 at Stonebridge and Woodbridge, its two newest neighborhoods in the master-planned community of Otay Ranch, said Cindy Roush, sales director. At Woodbridge, the homes are priced in the $200,000 range, she said. Their floor plans will range from 2,519 to 2,888 square feet.
Otay Ranch was the top-selling new-home community in San Diego County during the fourth quarter of 1999, with 109 sales, according to the Meyers Group, a research firm that monitors new home sales. Since the grand opening of the community in April, more than 400 homes have sold, the company reported.
Newport Beach-based Fieldstone Communities Inc., said its Jan. 15 opening of Phase 12 at Horizons at Sunbow in Chula Vista saw buyers put down deposits on nine of the 12 homes offered for sale.
“It’s gratifying to see this kind of enthusiasm for a new home release,” said Bill Hamlin, a principal of Ayers Land Co., the developer of Sunbow.
Priced from $237,000, the Fieldstone Horizon homes are from 1,920 to 2,872 square feet in size. A Fieldstone official predicted a strong sales year for the company.
The company has already acquired 500 single-family house lots in five new projects in the county, said Andrew Murphy, San Diego regional manager for Fieldstone.
It isn’t just on Otay Mesa that local new home sales are brisk. With 110 home purchases already registered, Ryland Homes’ San Diego division kicked off sales Jan. 21 on Phase 12 of its Rancho San Vicente in Ramona.
Prices for the homes there range from $255,000 to $300,000, said Rod Gilliland, vice president of sales and marketing for Ryland.
$6.2M Scripps Ranch Church Project Is Completed
T.B. Penick & Sons Inc. has finished building the parish complex of St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Scripps Ranch, a company official said.
The complex at 11451 Blue Cypress Drive was finished late last month, and sits on a six-acre campus, said Marc Penick, vice president. The complex is comprised of a 15,000-square-foot church capable of seating 850 people, a 4,700-square-foot administrative building and 5,400-square-foot parish ministry center linked by a central bell plaza with a 250-foot-long cascading water feature.
Penick placed the value of the construction contract at $6.2 million.
About 250 tons of steel were erected in the 25,100-square-foot complex, with 90 percent of the metal exposed as an interior architectural element in the church. Inside, the steel frame supports an intricate ceiling comprised of approximately 60,000 linear feet of stained wood dowels.
The barrel-vaulted church interior has 200 pre-cast Romanesque columns surrounding the wooden pews, he said.
At the church entry stands a five-story-high Byzantine-style octagon dome clad in copper on the exterior and topped with a skylight, Penick said.
Shelly Hyndman, a principal of Encinitas-based Hyndman and Hyndman Architecture, designed the facility. She said she drew her inspiration from design ideas submitted by church members.
“One of the things the parish members liked was the arboretum in Balboa Park with its wood spindles and dowels, which is kind of what our ceiling was fashioned after,” Hyndman said. “The other inspiration was that they liked railway stations of the 19th century with their exposed steel structures, decorative grills and metal features.”
Hyndman also worked on the design of the Mormon temple at La Jolla Village Drive and Interstate 5. Her 15-person firm is designing a convention center in Highpoint, N.C.
“We won the competition against Skidmore Owens & Merrill , the biggest architectural firm in the world , to get that contract (for the convention center),” Hyndman said.
James Leary of James Leary Architecture & Planning of San Diego served as the parish building representative. Joel King was project manager. Subcontractors on the project included Classic Door & Glass of San Marcos, Carroll’s Metal Works of National City, J & J; Construction Inc. of Chula Vista and Challenger Sheet Metal of San Diego.
Real Estate Sales
Property: Lot 45 ER, Encinitas
Seller: Carltas Co.
Selling Agents: Chris Rogers of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer. John White of Cottas Co. represented the seller.
Buyer: Encinitas Ranch Apartments purchased a 120-unit site for $2.82 million.
Property: 10110-50 Sorrento Valley Road, Sorrento Valley
Seller: Tarragon Realty Advisors
Selling Agents: Phil Monroe, Barry Mahlberg, Dan Runyon and Adam Edwards of Burnham Real Estate Services represented the buyer and seller.
Buyer: Pacific Manager Services, Inc. purchased the three-building complex for $6.45 million.
Property: 4445 Marcellena Road, San Diego
Seller: Ian and Adina Aires
Selling Agents: Bill Trepanier of Prudential California Realty represented the buyer. The seller was represented by Don Instone of Instone Investments.
Buyer: Marcellena Apartments, LLC purchased a 24-unit site for $1.19 million.
Property: 6847 Potomac St., Paradise Hills
Seller: American Property Enterprises
Selling Agents: Dick Schneider and Kevin Mulhern of CB Richard Ellis’ San Diego Central office represented both the seller and the buyer.
Buyer: Mariners Investors, Inc. purchased a 172-unit apartment community for $13.85 million.
Real Estate Leases
Property: 13280 Evening Creek Drive. S., Sabre Springs
Lessor: Koll Development
Leasing Agents: David Marino of the Irving Hughes Group represented the lessee. The lessor was represented by Chris Pascale of CB Richard Ellis.
Lessee: IPivot signed a 3-year, $12 million lease for 105,000 square feet of space.
Property: 15250 Ave. of Science, Rancho Bernardo
Lessor: Iomega Corp.
Leasing Agents: Dave Marino of the Irving Hughes Group represented the lessee. The lessor was represented by Buddy Norman of The Staubach Co.
Lessee: Intel Corp. signed a 98-month, $5,808,000 lease for 55,454 feet of space.
