Hondo don't need condos. Newport Beach’s John Wayne Airport submarket has demand for Class-A (or even updated B) office, and supply is lacking.
Kearny Real Estate Co partner Hoonie Kang says that Kearny and AEW Capital Management recently acquired the 172k SF Newport Corporate Plaza in the John Wayne Airport submarket and are planning to upgrade it, specifically with the area’s tenant base in mind. Most of the businesses in the submarket are professional service firms who need about 10k SF, Hoonie explains. But a lot of the office space in the market hasn’t been upgraded in at least 20 years (the amenities still include tube socks and snap bracelets), meaning that properly repositioned properties will have an edge.
The acquisition includes five single-story buildings and ground leases on 12 land parcels with one building on each parcel. Collectively the buildings are 80% leased. According to Kearny managing partner Jeffrey Dritley, the new owners’ long-term options for the property include creating a new master plan that features other uses, or an exit strategy that allows a sale as a whole, in parts, or individually.
