CDI Plans 500,000-SF Retail Project

MURRIETA, CA-Covenant Development Inc. has agreed to pay $12.1 million for a large, contiguous block of land in the Golden Triangle area. In the deal, CDI picked up 38 acres from a local group, Jefferson 38 LLC. The site, which is raw land, is located at 25580 Jefferson Avenue. Dan Walsh and Dave Stolte of NAI Capital Commercial represented both parties in the deal.Early word has CDI planning for a 500,000-sf retail center on the property, with several large tenants in negotiations. For now, though, specific plans on the site have not been made public.The property was originally mapped for a project including a major big box retail component, an entertainment segment and a hotel. It’s not known at this time if all of those components will be in the final plan. A source close to the project says “it will be another 45 to 60 days” before the specifics are made public.With land scarce in much of Southern California, one of the pockets where large chunks of developable land remain is in the Golden Triangle area, which includes the municipalities of Murrieta and Temecula. Stolte tells Globest.com that the push for development is somewhat similar to the real estate run seen in Irvine about 25 years ago. “It’s one of the fastest growing areas in the country,” Stolte says. The Golden Triangle area has experienced a population explosion, according to Stolte, with more than 200,000 people added over the past 25 years.Earlier this year, another major land deal closed in the area with Jefferson Business Center LLC, a group of Newport Beach developers, picking up 15.6 acres. The company is developing 20 freestanding buildings totaling 243,000 sf. The project has an estimated cost of $32 millionThe property is located in Murietta between Fig and Elm streets, near Interstate 15, and, according to Chris Migliori, executive vice president in the Anaheim office of GVA DAUM, the ensuing project will be one of the largest small building industrial complexes in the area. “The new development will be aimed at small businesses engaged in manufacturing, warehousing and retail activities,” Migliori told Globest.com earlier this year.