Inside Edition: THE ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER
B I A O C Feature:
Shopoff Realty Investments Update
William A. Shopoff
President & CEO, Shopoff Realty Investments
It has been an interesting time to be in the housing industry and learn to lead our team through the various issues that we have faced with over the past year. First of all, we had to deal with the immediate impacts of COVID-19, including a virtual shutdown of many parts of our industry, and the fear and anxiety that we all embraced. We then found ourselves in the midst of a tremendous housing boom, led by a combination of low interest rates and people’s desire to redefine shelter. I am pleased to report that our team at Shopoff Realty Investments was up to the task and we managed to obtain entitlements on about 5,000 new homes and apartments. This includes entitlements in SoCal, with 141 townhomes in Chula Vista and 115 townhomes in Anaheim. This was largely done via public hearings or zoom – something I never envisioned would occur, but has ultimately allowed us to continue to move our business forward, and in some cases more efficiently. In fact, we were pleased to deliver several new communities over the past year to our homebuilder clients so they can continue the important work of housing our neighbors. This included a sale to Pulte Homes of a master planned community in Riverside, which will provide 138 homes to that growing area of Southern California. As a company, we are very bullish about continued good fortune in our industry, but remain cautious about the prospect of higher prices coupled with the potential for higher interest rates. As we all know, this is a double whammy to home buyer demand and remains a concern as we move to deliver new projects. Our Parkhouse Residences at Uptown Newport project is set to break ground this Summer, and we believe this type of luxury product will be well-received by new home buyers, as well as those taking advantage of the market, selling larger homes and moving into lock and leave type residences. We see opportunities in the infill markets and have several sites where we intend to change the use from retail/office/industrial to new residential communities. Additionally, we see great opportunities in the single family build-to-rent concept and believe it will be an important component of the future of our industry. In fact, we have a build-to-rent project we are scheduled to break ground in Summer 2021 in La Quinta that we believe will fill a real void in that market for young families and snowbirds alike.
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Southern California
BUILDER |
April 2021
