SANTA MONICA, CA-Local developer John Warfel, principal of Metropolitan Pacific Capital, has acquired the Criterion Theater complex on the Third Street Promenade shopping street from an unnamed family trust. The $50-million residential mixed-use project is slated to include 37,000 square feet of retail space, 12,000 square feet of office space and 32 apartment units.

“Pedestrian oriented areas and urban infill are our specialties,” says Warfel, who has multiple projects in the pipeline both in downtown Santa Monica and in the Old Pasadena shopping area of Pasadena, CA.

Santa Monica is a famously difficult place to win approval for new development, which Warfel says works to his advantage. “It’s difficult to get things approved, and the real estate is expensive also,” he adds. In the end, however, “you end up with a high value per square foot.”