BH Properties Enters San Diego With Mixed-Use Buy

BH Properties has notched another deal in its acquisitions binge, making its first purchase in the San Diego market by grabbing a Mission Valley office and retail complex at a steep discount.

The Los Angeles-based firm paid $68M to buy the Hazard Center, which opened in 1990 and includes a 15-story office building at 7676 Hazard Center, a three-level retail center anchored by Barnes & Noble and UltraStar Cinemas, and a free-standing BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse at the intersection of Friars and Frazee roads.

The 14.5-acre property, which abuts a trolley stop, encompasses 270K SF of office space and 135K SF of retail as well as surface and underground parking. The seller, Principal Real Estate Investors, paid $100M for the mixed-use complex 21 years ago, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

“We have had San Diego County on our list of preferred markets for quite some time,” said BH Properties President Jim Brooks, in a statement. “Hazard Center, with its terrific location in central San Diego along with its roster of strong retail brands, checks all the boxes and expands our footprint in California.”

In 2010, the San Diego City Council approved permits for a redevelopment of the site with 473 residential units, but BH Properties is aiming instead to upgrade the retail shopping center. The renovation will include floor-to-ceiling glass storefronts, new signage, and reimagined paseos and outdoor spaces with new seating options.

The buyer also is planning improvements to the office tower, which is 77% occupied with tenants that include the law firm Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP and the Union-Tribune newspaper.

BH Properties, which owns 11M SF of real estate spread across 16 states, has purchased eight different properties in the first half of 2024, the company said in a release.

The company has been scooping up discounts in California. In July, BH acquired its first San Francisco office asset, buying a 117K SF downtown office building at 989 Market Street that was the headquarters of software company Zendesk.

The price for the half-empty building at 989 Market was $13.5M, about $115 per SF, nearly 80% less than the $61.3M that owner ABS Real Estate Investment paid for the six-story property a decade ago.

BH Properties’ buying spree in the Bay Area began in June of last year when it bought Holy Name University’s 60-acre former Oakland campus for $65M. A couple of months later, BH Properties paid $65M to buy a 322K SF mixed-use shopping center known as Anchorage Square at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.