Developers pays $18M for Garden Grove lot in apartment play

Kam Sang bought a 5.5-acre lot in Garden Grove for $18 million, with plans to build a 460-unit apartment complex.

The Arcadia-based developer bought the city-owned lot at 10115 Garden Grove Boulevard, the Orange County Business Journal reported. The price comes out to $3.3 million per acre.

The purchase allows the second phase of Brookhurst Place, which launched with a five-story, 180-unit apartment complex built at 12801 Brookhurst Street in 2018. The second phase next door includes a 460-unit, 300,000-square-foot apartment building.

The second phase was initially to contain 462 units, including up to 120 affordable apartments and 58 for-sale condominiums, plus 200,000 square feet of shops and restaurants and a 100-room hotel. It’s not clear whether the commercial additions or for-sale homes will move ahead as planned.

The project near Brookhurst Street and Garden Grove Boulevard in Garden Grove’s Korean Business District has been touted as the Orange County city’s largest mixed-use development.

The first phase is nearly fully occupied, with 1.1 percent vacancy, according to CoStar Group. Rents start at $2,372 for a one-bedroom apartment and top out at $3,625 for a three-bedroom unit. It has a clubhouse, gym, pool and spa.

Kam Sang has other large plans for Garden Grove, including approved plans to build a $277 million Nickelodeon Hotel & Resort, with the city agreeing to pay more than a third in subsidies.

In September, the developer and Arcadia-based Newage Garden Grove II filed plans to build the 500-room hotel on a 3.7-acre lot purchased from the city. The Spongebob water resort aims to draw tourists from nearby Disneyland.

Plans call for a 23-story hotel, a 9,500-square-foot ballroom, a 7,000-square-foot arcade, a 600-seat theater, a spa and fitness center, a lazy river and 22,300 square feet of shops and restaurants.

It would mark the third Nickelodeon resort following openings in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. The $300 million project is expected to break ground next year and be completed by 2027.

Kam Sang, founded in 1979 by Ronnie Lam, has developed hotels, shopping centers and mixed-use properties. Its portfolio includes the Waldorf Astoria in Las Vegas, the Ritz Carlton in Rancho Mirage, the Embassy Suites in Glendale and the Sheraton Hotel in Anaheim, according to its LinkedIn page.

— Dana Bartholomew

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