Related bets big on California with $6.5B development

Real estate powerhouse ramping up large scale developments on the West Coast

From left: Santa Clara, Calif. and William Witte
From left: Santa Clara, Calif. and William Witte

California, here we come.

New York-based Related Companies — one of the biggest developers in both the city and the country — is planning a $6.5 billion project in Santa Clara, Calif. Related’s proposal — 8 million square feet of offices, retail space, hotels and apartments — will have to go through an environmental review, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Related is also planning to construct two skyscrapers in San Francisco. Ground will not be broken on those towers until 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal. In Los Angeles, the real estate company is looking to build a $2 billion mixed-use project.

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The projects on the West Coast underscore Related’s intention to boost its profile outside of the New York market and tap into California’s growing demand for large scale investments.

“We’re now in a major expansion mode,” William Witte, chief of Related’s California division, told the Wall Street Journal. Until now, that division has mostly been focused on low- and moderate-income housing. “The economy is stable and growing, and appears like it will be for some time,” Witte said. [WSJ] — Claire Moses