Newhall Ranch Project May Change Name

The 2019 Economic Outlook, an annual economic overview hosted by Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. and College of the Canyons, featured speakers including keynoter Mark Schniepp, director of Santa Barbara-based California Economic Forecast; Emile Haddad, chairman of FivePoint Holdings, the developer behind the ambitious, under-construction Newhall Ranch master community; and Lewis Horne, president of the Pacific Division at real estate brokerage CBRE Group Inc. At the program’s start, Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. Chief Executive Holly Schroeder prided her community on hosting businesses such as credit union Logix, which is moving its headquarters to the area; and medical device center Boston Scientific, the “only one selected by NASA to design a payload.” FivePoint’s Haddad suggested that his Irvine firm’s Santa Clarita Valley project, which is in the process of building a total of 21,500 residential units and 13 million square feet of commercial space — may lose its Newhall Ranch name in exchange for a title playing off of the city of Valencia. Horne, who started his career in Santa Clarita 35 years ago, spoke about the need to build more in the L.A. region. He evoked L.A. shopping mall The Grove to illustrate the type of live/work/play retail environments popularized by his friend Rick Caruso of developer Caruso. Horne stressed the importance of more housing construction in the face of a 53,000-person homeless problem in L.A. County. “We need affordable housing,” Horne said. “We need low-end housing, we need (upscale) housing, we need housing, housing, housing.” The upshot — Santa Clarita Valley, with its substantial boom as detailed by economist Schniepp in the form of FivePoints’ project, other mixed-used developments such as the James Backer-designed Vista Canyon, and the rapidly expanding medical field as indicated the Henry Mayo Hospital’s expansion project and the technology industry, as exemplified by online marketing agency Scorpion, seems poised to capitalize on current trends. “The people in this room have influence, which is more important than currency,” Horne said to a room which included College of the Canyons Chancellor Dianne Van Hook; and California Institute of the Arts President Ravi Rajan — both of whom who also spoke at the event. “There’s an opportunity here to actually create the city of the future while capitalizing on the momentum of the past,” Horne said. Retail Lawyer Andrew Ouvrier has joined the retail group of real estate-focused law firm Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP as a partner. Ouvrier boards one of the largest concentrations of attorneys in California devoted primarily to retail development and leasing. Ouvrier, who lives in Northridge, will work in the firm’s Los Angeles office. “Andrew brings a stellar track record in negotiating complex commercial lease agreements for some of the country’s largest institutional landlords and online retailers,” Mario Camara, senior partner on Cox Castle & Nicholson’s Management Committee, said in a statement. Ouvrier represents a wide variety of landlord and tenant clients, including institutional investors and entrepreneurial individuals and entities. He has represented landlords in office leases totaling more than 10 million square feet nationwide, and has represented numerous office tenants, including leading e-commerce companies. Recent projects under Ouvrier’s legal guidance include a 2.25-million-square-foot project in Century City and 950,000 square feet of Long Beach property. Studio City Sale A Studio City retail building located at 12250 Ventura Blvd. that was most recently home to the mattress business Bedfellows has sold for an undisclosed price, marking the two-story, 4,200 square-foot property’s first trade-off since its 1940 inception. Jonathan Steier, principal of Studio City retail leasing and investment brokerage firm JS Realty Co., represented both the buyer, 12250 Ventura LLC, and the seller, Tozer Living Trust. According to CoStar, Richard Tozer had been the building’s longtime owner. The late Tozer’s wife, Barbara Tozer, acted as the seller on behalf of Tozer Living Trust. The currently vacant storefront sits along a prime shopping corridor. The new buyer plans a full remodel of the building, including opening up the 20-foot bow truss ceilings. Staff Reporter Michael Aushenker can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or [email protected].