Building under new ownership

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Painters and landscapers are already working on the

Federal Pacific Savings Plaza, now officially under new ownership.

Escrow closed on the sale to Pasadena-based Hudson Properties LLC on

Friday afternoon.

“A number of tenants have already expressed interest, but frankly, a

lot of people held back until they were sure we actually owned it,”

Hudson Properties manager Terry Tornek said. “A lot of people have talked

about buying it, but now it has actually happened. We’re open for

business, our broker is already getting calls and we’re putting an ‘Under

New Ownership’ sign up today so people will know that all this talking

isn’t just talking.”

After almost a decade of sitting empty at the corner of Newport

Boulevard and 19th Street, the Spanish-style building owners learned in

February that Hudson Properties LLC wanted to buy it.

The company and Nickolas Shammas, the previous owner, were scheduled

to close the deal on the long-vacant property March 7 but they delayed

the sale to finish extensive paperwork, Tornek said.

Neither Tornek nor Shammas would reveal the sale price, which has not

yet been filed with the county assessor’s office.

The building will be used primarily for office space, but could also

be used for some light retail, such as a credit union or a restaurant, on

the first floor, Tornek said.

“This was really always intended as an office building,” he said. “It

was originally occupied as a bank headquarters and was designed in that

format, so I think it makes perfect sense.”

The company has already begun negotiating leases with prospective

tenants and hopes to have some leases signed by next week, with tenants

moving in as early as July, Tornek said.

The work the company is doing on the property until then -- repaving

the parking lot, glasswork and getting the fountains to run smoothly --

is “cosmetic work, not a gut rehab or structural work,” he said.

Shammas, a Los Angeles businessman, maintained all the mechanical

systems, including running the air conditioning every month, so all the

company has to do is beautify the property and get tenants signed up, he

said.

“This building has some very stylish features,” Tornek said. “The

building is just a very high-caliber construction and [has] a really

beautiful environment and a superb location. People are getting tired of

being in standard filing cabinet offices. Here they can open the windows,

and people like that [since] we have a benign climate.”

Among the building’s unusual features are teak doors and windows,

windows of multi-paned beveled glass, carved stone around the exterior of

the property, several fountains and trees.

Shammas said he thinks the newly sold building is bound for success.

“These people are sensational,” he said. “They’re the greatest.

They’re very successful real estate people who know what they’re doing

and they’ll be a huge success and a real benefit to the community. That’s

why I liked them: They’ll upgrade the community.”