SRS Advises Retail Ground Lease Sale in Orange County

The buyer picked up the asset through a 1031 exchange.

Lake Forest Marketplace

Lake Forest Marketplace. Image courtesy of SRS Real Estate Partners

La Caze Development has sold the leasehold ownership of Lake Forest Marketplace, a 111,212-square-foot, multi-tenant retail center in Lake Forest, Calif. A private investor acquired the fully leased asset under a 95-year unsubordinated net ground lease through a 1031 exchange.

SRS Real Estate Partners Senior Vice President John Redfield brokered the $14.2 million transaction on behalf of the seller, while SVN Senior Vice President Jon Davis represented the buyer, which also assumed the current $9.4 million loan on the property, originated by StanCorp Financial Group, according to CommercialEdge.

Situated at 23831 El Toro Road on a 10-acre site adjacent to Interstate 5, Lake Forest Marketplace is within a dense retail corridor and close to other shopping centers, including The Arbor, The Orchard and Twin Peaks Plaza. The property’s tenant roster includes 99 Cents Only, Guitar Center, Island Pacific, Harbor Freight Tools, Bank of America, Del Taco and Dunkin’ Donuts, among others.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Orange County’s retail market had a vacancy rate of 4 percent and showed positive net absorption, with 12,845 square feet being absorbed by the end of 2022, as reported by Kidder Matthews. Assets in the market traded at a rate of $322.06 per square foot. Lake Forest Marketplace was sold at a below-market asking price, at $127.68.