Globest.com UPDATE: Birtcher Acquires $29M Former State Farm HQ

COSTA MESA, CA-Birtcher Development and Investments takes another step toward is major home furnishings project. Birtcher recently acquired the former regional headquarters of Bloomington, IL-based State Farm Mutual Insurance Co. for $29 million.Birtcher will raze the property, which sits on 20.5 acres at 3333 Hyland Road, beginning in October. The development firm, a Brandon Birtcher Co., will begin work on an eight-building, 300,000-sf South Coast Home Furnishings Centre in the first quarter 2006. The grand opening is set for the first quarter of 2007 and the project will be home to some 30 retailers, who will have individual suites.A dozen national furniture manufacturers will anchor the center. The project will also house home furnishings stores offering products ranging from linens and lighting, carpets and curtains, flooring and fireplaces, tiles and televisions, artwork and accessories for the home. The development will feature a food court, pedestrian walkways, a service center, centralized parking and other amenities.Following the land acquisition, Birtcher formed a joint venture with Newport Beach-based Buchanan Street Partners to develop the estimated $90 million project. Buchanan structured and secured financing from Key Bank for the JV development.According to Brandon Birtcher, president and owner of Birtcher Development & Investments, he chose Buchanan to partner with due to its experience in the “nuances of structured finance strategies.” The two firms also are partnering on the $42 million Birtcher Commerce Center, a distribution facility under development in Paramount.As reported earlier this year on Globest.com, Irvine-based Birtcher received approval on the South Coast project from the Costa Mesa City Council this past April. The project sits less than a mile north of South Coast Plaza and IKEA.Birtcher has retained Jim Snyder, Ken Gould, Andy Walburger, and Mike Abel of Lee & Associates as leasing agents for the speculative center. Other firms involved in the project include Lee & Sakahara Architects, Fullmer Construction, and Hunsaker & Associates.