Strategies

Spring 2012
S A R E S • R E G I S
G r o u p N e w s l e t t e r
Strategies
In this Issue
Page 3. Guest Columnist Robert Steinberg discusses
how common values between California and China were
revealed in his design for a mixed-use mega-development
in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Provence.
Page 6. Deckers Outdoor Corporation, maker of
fashionable footwear and a major Santa Barbara-area
employer, acquires 13.8 acres in SARES•REGIS Group’s
Cabrillo Business Park for a 192,000-square-foot
headquarters campus.
Page 10. SRG is extending its lead in the vanguard of
sustainable multifamily and industrial development.
Reduced energy use begins at home; SRG’s corporate
headquarters cuts 11 percent in electricity.
Photo above: Artist’s conception of Pacific Pointe’s headquarters
industrial buildings adjacent to Long Beach Airport in master-planned
Douglas Park. First completions are set for this fall.
SRG’s Pacific Pointe Winning Strong
Early Interest; Grading Gets Under Way
Heightened demand for premium space in the
sprawling South Bay industrial market is putting the focus squarely
on SARES•REGIS Group’s collection of seven new buildings called
Pacific Pointe that total 677,142 square feet at Long Beach Airport.
Two Los Angeles firms signed letters of intent for SRG’s buildings
as grading for the project just got under way.
“We can’t say we’re entirely surprised by the strong early interest.
This is one of the most under-supplied markets in the country,
especially in terms of Class A for-sale buildings. We think the
timing is spot-on,” said Larry Lukanish, Senior Vice President at
SRG’s Commercial Investment Division.
Pacific Pointe’s premium headquarters industrial buildings are at
Douglas Park, a master-planned 260-acre development in Long
Beach, adjacent to the airport and close to two of the world’s
Continued on page 7
SARES•REGIS Group is one of the leading developers and managers of commercial and residential real
estate in the western United States. SARES•REGIS Group has a combined portfolio of property and feebased
assets under management valued at more than $4 billion, including 15 million square feet of
commercial and industrial space and more than 13,000 rental apartments. Since its inception the
company has acquired or developed approximately 44 million square feet of commercial properties and
20,000 multifamily and residential housing units. For more information, go to www.sares-regis.com.
sares-regis.com . srgnc.com

SRG Strategies . Spring 2012
SRG Developing Largest Building
In Santa Fe Springs In Seven Years
SARES•REGIS Group acquired 13.3 acres in Santa Fe
Springs and plans to develop a 305,361-square-foot distribution
building that will be built to LEED standards. The project is valued
at $30 million.
It will be the first large distribution building in seven years to
enter the Mid Counties industrial market of some 11 cities that
straddles Los Angeles and Orange County. Construction of the
state-of-the-art building is set to start in the second quarter, said
Larry Lukanish, Senior Vice President in SRG’s Commercial
Investment Division.
“We are pleased to be involved with another large development
in the City of Santa Fe Springs. It has been one of the region’s
premier locations for industry and distribution,” Lukanish said.
The company acquired the site after gaining development
approvals from the city, Lukanish
‘…there is very
little stock…
companies are
trending toward
larger distribution
buildings as
the economy
improves.’
said. The site was occupied by
a division of US Gypsum Corp. The
building at 9306 Sorensen Avenue
will have a 30-foot minimum clear
height, ESFR sprinkler system and a
large truck court with 55 dock-high
doors.
The current vacancy rate is 4.2%
for the 104 million square feet of
industrial buildings in the Mid
Counties, according to Colliers
International’s Clyde Stauff, who
represented the SARES•REGIS
Group in the site acquisition and
marketing of the new building. Stauff said the Class A building
will be the first large distribution facility built since 2005 and is
the only large building currently planned.
SRG’s building is the newest and largest entry into the Mid
Counties industrial market, which has a 4.2% vacancy rate.
“The way the market is, there is very little stock, particularly
among buildings larger than 200,000 square feet. Additionally,
companies are trending toward larger distribution buildings as
the economy improves,” Stauff said.
Mid Counties industrial vacancies have declined steadily from
nearly 7% in the last two years since the peak of the recession.
Since 2002, SARES•REGIS Group has developed 11 industrial
buildings totaling 830,000 square feet on 39 acres in Santa Fe
Springs. .
HISTORICAL VACANCY VS RENTS
Mid Counties Industrial Market
Q4 2007 - Q4 2011
$ PER SF PER MONTH (NNN)
$0.70
$0.65
$0.60
$0.55
$0.50
$0.45
$0.40
$0.35
$0.30
RENTS
4Q07 4Q08 4Q09 4Q10 4Q11
VACANCY
7%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
0%
% VACANT (TOTAL)
2

Guest Column
Common Values, Contrasting
Demands Drive Global Markets
Perspective Gleaned From Experience
In California, China; Similarities End
With Scale Of Mixed-Use Development
By Robert Steinberg, FAIA
Several common trends are dictating mixed-use
development internationally. In China, where unprecedented
development is under way, there are interesting comparisons,
as well as contradictions, to what is happening in the U.S. and
elsewhere.
Our outlook on where housing is going is based on being
active participants in two of the most dynamic markets in the
world: the hot California market and even hotter China market.
Steinberg Architects has been active in China since 2007.
From that perspective we have observed three common values
driving mixed-use development: Urbanization, Demographic
Transitioning and Authenticity.
Urbanization
The urbanization of the world is accelerating. People want to live
and work in cities. This is as true in California as it is in China. The
difference is in approach and scale.
In the U.S., mixed-use developments are being built adjacent
to transit, retail and employment. While ground-up, mixed-use
developments such as San Jose’s Santana Row have proved
successful, today’s investors don’t want the risk of such a largescale
challenge. Instead, the trend is to leverage in fill sites
adjacent to existing retail or complementary, synergistic locations.
This trend is leading to a surge in infill development of downtowns
in places like Sunnyvale and Walnut Creek. Likewise,
underutilized industrial space in Pasadena and downtown
Steinberg’s award-winning concept for Changsha. The megadevelopment
is envisioned with 80 million square feet spread
over 3-square miles in south-central China.
parking lots in Burlingame are being converted to mixed-use
developments.
In China, scale is much less of an issue. The Chinese are creating
Robert Steinberg is President
of Steinberg Architects.
Volume 16 . Number 1
entire communities from the ground
up. These massive mixed-use developments
are building both horizontally
and vertically.
Steinberg Architects is currently
actively designing several of these
mega-developments. After winning
an international design competition,
the firm will begin design for the
extensive Changsha Songya Hu
mixed-use project in China.
Set in the scenic outskirts of Changsha, a regional metropolis
with 7 million residents on the Xiang River about 400 miles north
of Hong Kong, Changsha Songya Hu will develop 7,000 acres.
Key aspects of the project include a waterfront business district,
an entertainment district, and an ecological model community
mixing residences and green public spaces. The total building
area is 80 million square feet – the rough equivalent of 30 Empire
State Buildings spread across a 3-square-mile area. Changsha
Songya Hu will include 63 million square feet of residential space,
5.5 million square feet of office space, 4 million square feet of
commercial space, 1 million square feet of hotel space and 1.5
million square feet of community space.
The design of this new city is also influenced by several demographic
factors.
Demographic Transition
Gen Y, the aging population and growing economic stratification
are elements of demographic transition affecting development
trends, too.
Gen Y influence – Gen Y (also known as the Millennial
Generation or Echo Boomers) is dictating trends the worldover.
Characteristics of the generation – which includes those born
around 1980 to 1995 – vary by region, depending on social
and economic conditions. However, it is generally marked by
an increased use and familiarity with communications, media,
and digital technologies, as well as a penchant for living in
the moment.
This Gen Y demographic eats out more often, so less food
preparation area is needed. Kitchen and dining areas are less
formal, more open. In fact, there is less room definition and a
sense of attitude. While the individual units may be smaller and
more informal, multifamily projects feature larger and enhanced
common areas and amenities – everything from bike workshops
to multi-media lounges to “gamer gardens.”
Aging population – The world’s aging population is creating
a huge demand for senior housing, as well.
During the last few years in the U.S., financing has been difficult,
so senior housing development activity actually slowed. However,
new models – shifting from ownership to rental and away from
isolated, stand-alone developments to intergenerational mixeduse
communities – are becoming the new standard. This
Continued on page 11
3

SRG Strategies . Spring 2012
SRG Breaks Ground On 340-Unit
Woodland Hills Apartment Project
SARES•REGIS Group has broken ground for a luxury
340-unit apartment community on a landmark 8-acre hillside
site with commanding views across Los Angeles’ sprawling
San Fernando Valley.
Development of the mixed-use multifamily community comes
at a time of increasing housing demand from the large, affluent,
young- and middle-aged adult population of Woodland
Hills in the City of Los Angeles’ westernmost district.
There are few new apartments in the pipeline because the
recession virtually halted new development. Meanwhile, a
large group of ‘Gen Y’ potential residents continues to enter
the rental pool, fueling apartment demand, according to
Bill Montgomery, President of SRG’s Multifamily Acquisitions
& Investment Division.
Maximizing Sweeping Views
In order to take full advantage of the panoramic views, the
development will utilize a “wrap” design in which the fourstory
apartment buildings surround and conceal the project’s
parking structures.
Situated at 20600 Ventura Boulevard, just west of Highway
101 and near the De Soto Avenue off-ramp, the development
enjoys an exquisite location on a slope of the Santa Monica
Mountains. Behind it is a nature preserve. Unobstructed
panoramic northern and eastern views extend for miles to
the San Gabriel Mountains.
The apartments will range from 565-square-foot studios to
1,634-square-foot three-bedroom units. The community
also will have a high parking ratio of 2.32 stalls per unit.
The development will be built to LEED specifications. SRG
is Southern California’s largest privately held developer of
LEED-certified apartments.
First-Class Amenities
The community’s large clubhouse includes a business center
with private offices for residents and a café bar area. A twolevel
fully equipped fitness center will have spa-like restrooms,
showers, lockers and infrared sauna rooms. The gourmet
kitchen will have a folding glass wall that opens to the
swimming pool. A sports bar/media lounge with attached
patio space also is planned.
Outside at the pool and spa are private cabanas and lounge
seating. Built-in barbecues and seating areas are throughout
the property. Two furnished multi-sided fireplace courtyards
and a children’s garden and play area are planned.
The community will include 6,000 square feet of retail space
and a handful of live-work units. .
Highly articulated exterior of apartments (below) in a ‘wrap’
design. Landscape plan (above) shows how apartments surround
and conceal parking while maximizing panoramic views.
4

Volume 16 . Number 1
SRG Begins Construction On 252
Apartments At Westgate Pasadena
SARES•REGIS Group has been named general
contractor for the second phase of Equity Residential’s
Westgate Pasadena, a premier transit-oriented and green
community of 820 apartment homes now under construction
on 11.7 acres in the historic commercial district of Old
Pasadena.
The new phase of 252 apartments includes subterranean
parking and approximately 7,000 square feet of retail.
Construction is expected to begin this year on the final 88
apartments. The first phase of 480 units, which earned a LEED
Silver rating, was leased up prior to completion last year. First
occupancies in the newest phase will be in October 2013,
said Mike Winter, Senior Vice President of SRG’s Multifamily
Development Division.
The development occupies three city blocks from West Del
Mar Boulevard to West Green Street between De Lacey and
Pasadena avenues. It is two blocks from the Del Mar Gold
Line Station and one block from Pasadena’s Central Park on
Westgate Pasadena, a premium Class A, LEED Silver community,
will have 820 apartments in 19 buildings, three to five stories each.
South Fair Oaks Avenue and the Rose Parade route on
Colorado Boulevard.
When completed, Westgate Pasadena will have 19 buildings
of three to five stories. The first two phases each have two
levels of underground parking. An overall density of 70 units
per acre provides for 40 percent dedicated as open space,
emphasizing pedestrian use and connections to the neighborhood
and downtown. The apartments average nearly 900
square feet.
The Westgate Pasadena masterplan was a Charter Award
winner for Thomas Cox Architects from the Congress for
New Urbanism, a leading organization promoting sound
urban design and walkable, mixed-use cities and towns as
alternatives to sprawl. .
5

SRG Strategies . Spring 2012
SRG Engineers $19-Million
AutoZone Lease Renewal
AutoZone, an original tenant in the SRG-managed building,
signed a 10-year lease renewal.
SARES•REGIS Group renewed the lease of a
446,624-square-foot Ontario, Calif., distribution building for
10 years with AutoZone, the giant auto parts retailer that
operates 4,467 stores in 48 states.
SRG, which manages the building at 1800 S. Wineville
Avenue, originally signed AutoZone as a tenant in the
building in 1998. Total consideration of the new lease,
which expires in 2023, was more than $19 million, said
Michael Wood, SRG Director of Leasing.
SRG represented the landlord, Ontario Industrial Partners.
Mike McCrary in Jones Lang LaSalle’s Ontario office
represented AutoZone. .
Deckers, Maker Of Fashionable Footwear,
Plans HQ Campus At SRG Park In Goleta
Deckers Outdoor Corporation, maker and
marketer of several lines of “functional and fashion-oriented
men’s and women’s footwear,” purchased 13.8 acres in
SARES•REGIS Group’s Cabrillo Business Park in Goleta to
build a 192,000-square-foot corporate campus. Thirty-five
acres of the park remain available.
Steve Fedde, Senior Vice President in SRG’s Ventura Region,
said the company plans to break ground in May on four
buildings, becoming the largest single user at SRG’s 92-acre
business park that won city approval in 2007. Deckers is
one of the largest employers in the South Coast region.
“Deckers is a homegrown company that was started in 1973
by a UC Santa Barbara student. The company has been quite
successful and it spans the globe with six brands, including
UGG and Teva. They’re a great addition to Cabrillo Business
Park, which is populated with several companies that also
had their beginnings in the Santa Barbara area,” Fedde said.
Deckers acquired the land last year for $19,930,000. The
low-rise buildings will serve Deckers’ administration and
marketing operations. One of the buildings will house a
company retail store that Fedde said will be a showcase
for seasonal rollouts of new products. It will feature a twostory
rotunda and will be equipped with technology to
accommodate the media that covers the footwear industry.
SRG also has been tapped to manage construction on the
project, which is adjacent to the Santa Barbara Municipal
Airport. Originally, the land was used to field-test NASA’s
lunar rover for Neil Armstrong’s moon landing and other
innovations developed by defense and aerospace contractors
with R&D operations adjacent to the site.
About 46 percent of the park will remain in natural or
landscaped open space, including 19 acres of restored and
expanded wetlands and grasslands with publicly accessible
trails.
Deckers will be relocating from nearby offices and will
employ about 500 workers at its new campus, Fedde said.
Executives at the publicly traded company were attracted
to the site for its abundance of open space and because
there were few options in the Santa Barbara marketplace
that could accommodate its requirements, he said.
Deckers will be the largest company at Cabrillo Business Park.
FLIR Systems Inc., a leading designer and maker of thermal
imaging devices for commercial and military applications,
acquired two buildings totaling 170,000 square feet from
SRG at Cabrillo Business Park in 2010. .
Artist’s rendering of showroom entrance and rotunda of one of four
buildings Deckers plans at SRG’s Cabrillo Business Park, Goleta.
6

Volume 16 . Number 1
SRG’s Pacific Pointe
continued from page 1
largest seaports, Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The first of the buildings will be completed this fall. They will
range from 33,455 square feet to 170,673 square feet and
will be built to LEED standards.
Long Beach Airport, part of the greater South Bay industrial
market, has the lowest vacancy of any major market in the
United States, Lukanish said. According to data from CB
Richard Ellis, which is marketing the project, the vacancy
rate in the South Bay market is 3 percent.
Brian DeRevere, a CBRE senior vice president, said, “Very little
of the market’s total inventory is Class A product and there’s
even less that users can purchase. SRG’s buildings represent
the only industrial product planned so far at Douglas Park.
We have big expectations for these buildings.”
Four buildings totaling 264,200 square feet are planned for
Pacific Pointe North, the 12.6-acre first phase of the project.
The building sizes are: 33,455 square feet; 41,136 square feet;
86,624 square feet and 102,993 square feet.
Construction of three larger buildings on the 21-acre second
Bird’s-eye rendering shows corporate-style entries and exterior design
features of Pacific Pointe’s buildings at master-planned Douglas Park.
phase, Pacific Pointe South, will begin in the second quarter
2012. The building sizes are: 108,658 square feet; 133,821
square feet and 170,673 square feet.
Each building includes two-story executive office space,
3 percent skylights and 30-foot interior clear heights. The
project will have secure concrete truck courts, dock-high
and grade-level loading.
The buildings will have heat- and
light-reflecting cool roofs and
interior T-5 energy-efficient
fluorescent lighting fixtures on
sensors, dramatically reducing
electricity demand.
The project recently drew the
attention of business editors at The
Los Angeles Times, which featured
Pacific Pointe atop its weekly real
estate page. The project also has
‘Very little of the
market's inventory
is Class A product
and there’s even
less that users
can purchase.’
attracted the notice of Globe Street, the internet real estate
site, and the Long Beach Business Journal. .
7

SRG Strategies . Spring 2012
Growing Software Provider Turns
To SRGNC For HQ Office Solution
As Silicon Valley’s technology firms look
to accelerate growth in a strengthening economy, they are
finding the search for additional office space is almost as
fast-paced as their search for additional talent. The valley’s
voracious appetite for large volumes of Class A space recently
has spurred rising rents, high absorption and development
of new corporate campuses.
Amid this competitive environment, SRGNC’s Commercial
Development Division was hired by Informatica Corporation
– the world’s No. 1 independent provider of data integration
software – to assist in exploring all options and develop a
plan for its new headquarters offices.
In February 2012, Informatica purchased two four-story
buildings totaling 290,000 square feet of office space at
Pacific Shores in Redwood City from Starwood Capital
Group. As a continuing service to Informatica, SRGNC
conducted the due diligence of the buildings sized at
141,000 square feet and 149,000 square feet.
“Pacific Shores is the ideal location for Informatica to grow its
headquarters in keeping with the already strong and vibrant
culture of the company,” said Dick Madden, Informatica’s
Vice President of Real Estate and Facilities. “Additionally,
owning our headquarter’s buildings will allow us to accommodate
our future growth and reduce long-term occupancy
costs.”
The company plans to relocate to the new offices in late-
2013 when its current lease expires.
Informatica continues to produce strong financial results,
including 2011 record revenues of $783.8 million, up 21
percent. For Informatica, Q4 2011 was the 35th quarter
of year-over-year revenue growth. The company also has
been growing its employee population in the Bay Area and
around the globe, so additional space for the company’s
headquarters building was a priority. .
One of two buildings purchased by Informatica, which was led
in the acquisition by SRGNC’s Commercial Development Division.
Sares Regis Group of Northern California anticipates the City of
Mountain View will re-designate this four-building office campus for
higher intensity use, enabling the property’s strategic repositioning.
RREEF Assignment Is Latest In Trend
To Squeeze Value By Repositioning
RREEF awarded Sares Regis Group of Northern
California an assignment that includes evaluating the
repositioning alternatives for a 400,000-square-foot office
campus on 24 acres in Mountain View. The four-building
campus, currently leased to Synopsys, is a prime example
of how institutional investors are striving to squeeze value
from their portfolios by repositioning assets to appeal to
large users as the economy improves.
“We are at a unique point in time where certain large users
in the technology sector and elsewhere are forecasting nearterm
growth and a need for contiguous space which is
driving demand for such opportunities,” said Jeff Birdwell,
President of Commercial Development at SRGNC.
Repositioning For CIGNA
SRGNC caught on to the trend early when CIGNA Real Estate
Investors selected SRGNC two years ago to evaluate the
redevelopment options for Marin Commons, a two-building
complex containing 456,000 rentable square feet of Class A
office space.
CIGNA took back the property in foreclosure from another
developer and retained SRGNC’s Commercial Development
Division to evaluate options to reposition the asset to
maximize value. In addition, SRGNC’s Commercial Property
Management Services Division was retained to review the
infrastructure, recommend how to control operational
expenses and maximize leasing opportunities.
While studying various options, including senior and for-sale
housing, SRGNC identified the potential for government use.
The SRGNC team presented Marin Commons to the County
8

Volume 16 . Number 1
of Marin as a smart alternative to a costly and unpopular
proposed expansion for the county’s Emergency Operations
Facility at Marin’s Civic Center campus.
Today the county owns a 315,000-square-foot building on
part of the campus after buying it from CIGNA. The county
leased the property back to SRGNC to manage their $50
million in renovations. SRGNC continues to work with
potential buyers on the balance of the property and expects
to enable CIGNA to realize a 30-percent net gain above the
asset’s value following the foreclosure.
Two Projects For Northwestern
Since then SRGNC has been successful in managing other
fee-based assignments from some of the nation’s largest
institutional investors and public corporations, adding value
and increasing cash flow from existing assets.
For example, SRGNC has been working on two projects in
Foster City for Northwestern Mutual. One project, a longterm
effort, has focused on creating a master plan for 20
acres of outdated light industrial office. The other is a 9-acre
redevelopment project. SRGNC won entitlements for both
projects.
The 20-acre project will include more than 700 residential
units and 300,000 square feet of commercial office space.
Ground has been broken for this project. SRGNC’s Multifamily
Development Division is building 307 units of high-end work
force housing near a key transportation crossroads in the fast
growing corridor on the San Francisco peninsula.
The office market is getting hot and the need for new office
space development is increasing.
The timing on developing the new rental housing will meet
the growing need for housing options on the peninsula. The
potential office space in the plan is well suited to accommodate
the small- to medium-size tech companies seeking new
headquarters.
The 9-acre redevelopment project, which includes more than
700,000 square feet of office space, is under construction
and anticipating suitable tenants.
Industrial Opportunities Evident
At Pinole Point Business Park, a 475,000-square-foot industrial
property on 73 acres in Richmond, SRGNC has been working
to attract industrial users with build-to-suit options.
The project was acquired in 2008, and in 2010 three existing
industrial buildings on 30 acres were sold to Industrial
Income Trust. The remaining 43 acres of undeveloped
property is being offered for development for build-to-suit
options. One tenant deal is in escrow to build 117,200
square feet of warehouse distribution space.
Pinole Point Business Park is well positioned to attract new
users and provide novel development opportunities for the
old spaces left vacant.
RREEF Solution At Hand
As for the new assignment from RREEF, SRGNC is anticipating
the City of Mountain View will re-designate the campus for
high-intensity office use in a general plan amendment
expected this spring.
“This property presents a fantastic redevelopment opportunity
to provide a large scale, transit oriented campus in a prime
location on 24 acres,” Birdwell said. .
SRGNC is in escrow on a 117,200-square-foot build to suit at
Pinole Point Business Park in Richmond, a project acquired in
2008 for repositioning.
9

SRG Strategies . Spring 2012
Corporate Savings: SRG Reduces Electricity
Use By Installing Energy-Efficient Lighting
SRG sliced nearly 11% off its electricity bills since
establishing its SRG Green program at its 26,000-square-foot
Irvine, Calif., corporate headquarters.
The cut in electricity use is due largely to energy-efficient
lighting retrofits at SRG’s 18802 Bardeen Avenue building.
Improved lighting was among the recommendations of
the SRG Green Committee that was formed in 2008 by
representatives from the company’s seven divisions.
“It’s remarkable how much energy can be saved with new
technology,” said Amy Yovan, Property Manager in SRG’s
Commercial Property Services Division. “Everyone who works
here appreciates the difference. People are more aware and
willing to change their behavior.”
Among the first measures adopted was the installation of
interior fluorescent lighting on motion-sensor switches, Yovan
said. The committee also recommended “daylighting” for
employees with office windows. In the second year of the
program, outdoor lighting was changed from metal halide to
T5 fluorescent fixtures. This also produced a brighter and safer
outdoor environment, notably in the parking lot.
Since the SRG Green program was created, electricity use has
fallen 10.9% from a monthly average 39,380 kWh for 2008-09
to 35,085 kWh in 2010-11.
The reduction in electricity converts to 35.5 metric tons of
CO 2 , the equivalent reduction of carbon emissions from burning
3,984 gallons of gasoline per year, according to the federal
EPA carbon equivalency calculator.
SRG Extending Its Lead In Sustainable
Multifamily, Industrial Development
Consistent with its commitment to leadership
in sustainability, SARES•REGIS Group has developed or is under
way on four major multifamily and industrial projects that are
being built to LEED standards.
Two apartment communities totaling 827 units in Huntington
Beach and Woodland Hills, which are in progress, will bring
SRG’s “green” unit total to 1,957 units of sustainably built
apartments, extending its lead as the No. 1 privately held
developer of green apartments in Southern California.
Construction is under way on 487 luxury apartment units in
Huntington Beach and 340 units in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.
Both are being built to LEED standards.
SRG previously developed 312 LEED Gold and 820 LEED Silver
multifamily communities in Anaheim and Pasadena respectively.
At SRG the lights have gone on for savings with greater
parking illumination (before and after) and less building-wide
energy use at corporate headquarters.
On the commercial development side, SRG is under way on
building 982,503 square feet of green Class A industrial buildings,
bringing its development total of sustainable commercial
buildings to 1,102,503 square feet.
SRG’s Pacific Pointe collection of seven corporate-headquarters
industrial buildings adjacent to the Long Beach Airport total
677,142 square feet. The company also is developing a
305,361-square-foot industrial building in Santa Fe Springs.
Its first green industrial development, the 120,000-square-foot
Canyon Point project in Anaheim, was awarded LEED Gold. It
was the first LEED-rated speculative industrial development in
Orange County and its three buildings were sold within eight
months of their completion.
10

Volume 16 . Number 1
Lifting Value And Sustainability
Quotient Keeps Asset Competitive
SRG continues to increase values and operational
savings at the multifamily assets it manages through an
awareness of sustainability and an understanding that for
a property to be premium it needs to be green.
“We are constantly surveying new ways in which sustainability
can drive down costs and increase investor value while
enhancing the quality of life for residents of the properties we
manage,” said Michael Bissell, President of SRG’s Multifamily
Management Division.
“We’ve seen no potential green solutions at odds with these
objectives,” he said. “Besides, there’s no question that an asset
cannot be best-in-class either in market competitiveness or
ROI unless it’s green.”
Bissell cites two Class A properties in San Diego and San
Francisco, both competitive markets for premium apartments.
In San Diego, Promenade Rio Vista in Mission Valley, a SRGmanaged
community of 970 apartments, is saving $25,000 a
year on electricity after working with Pacific Gas & Electric on
converting to low-watt bulbs. The conversion came at no cost
through a PG&E program covering the $16,000 in product
and labor.
Additionally, ValleyCrest Landscaping is installing hardscape and
synthetic turf on portions of the community where residents
can enjoy onsite restaurants, medical offices, salons and personal
services.
Another example is Strata, a premium Bay Area property with
192 apartments. Despite being recently completed and leased
up in 2009, SRG’s management team found room for improvement.
SRG slashed electricity use by installing fluorescent bulbs
throughout the property and light sensors in the stairwells and
model homes.
SRG’s managers also sharply cut water waste by installing
low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators at every turn.
That’s not all. Five EV car charging stations are being installed
in the garage. Additionally, the community now participates in
composting and recycling, and maintenance crews use only
green cleaning products.
The equivalent of 30 Empire State Buildings in building area
is envisioned for Changsha, the capital of Hunan, population
7 million.
Common Values Drive
The Global Market
continued from page 3
incredibly growing demographic will necessitate more senior
housing throughout the U.S.
In China, the concept of senior housing is bubbling and about to
explode. Historically, senior housing was never part of the culture;
however, the outcome of the “one child policy” has resulted in
not enough children to care for older parents.
Economic stratification – Another demographic movement
hitting China is growing economic stratification – something
already prevalent in many Western countries. There are very
pronounced – “haves and haven’t yet’s” in China.
It’s a common phenomenon the world-over: once you make
money, you want to move into a compound that illustrates your
wealth and puts you among others that share your economic
status – and keeps others out. Even in these mega-developments
there is strong product differentiation and physical separation
between price points.
Authenticity
Environmental and contextual considerations are key to providing
desired authenticity. For example, when we would talk to
architects in China, they would say “the last building designed
was round, the one before that was square, so I’d thought I’d
make this one a triangle.”
Contextual – Today, it’s not enough that the project looks
Continued on page 12
11

SRG Strategies . Spring 2012
Common Values Drive
The Global Market
continued from page 11
nice. People are searching for a deeper meaning to their living
environments. They are drawn to building designs that tell a
story, connecting to place, time, history or the future.
Our design plan for Changsha won by combining attributes
unique to this specific site. The design capitalized on the existing
lake and natural topography, and we combined it with the
octagonal street grid found in San Francisco. We created a vision;
a sense of place unique to this set of environmental opportunities.
Environmental – People are looking for a connection between
the man-made and nature. There’s a greater use of natural
materials with texture and character. And with increased housing
density, it’s even more important to provide an abundance of
natural light and a connection between inside and outside.
And, indoor and outdoor spaces are equally important. In China,
it is not unusual for every bedroom or living area to have outdoor
space.
One final thought
While there are many common development trends and
elements of design between China and U.S., there are still key
differences in how things get built.
In the U.S., institutional investors frequently fund projects. They
have a long-term vision. Every dollar spent on the project is
highly focused to have maximum impact.
Conversely, in China the process is dictated by the abundance
of labor and unsophisticated construction methods. In China,
materials are inexpensive and there is a huge labor pool. It’s all
about speed. They’d rather build something expeditiously even
if it means that they have to rebuild it a second time. It’s not
unusual to see new developments seriously deteriorate within
a few years of completion.
Summary
While there are different ways to achieve results, human spirit
desires are common worldwide. In the future – a competitive
global marketplace – there will be a need to be conscious of not
only what local competitors are doing but also other emerging
economies/cultures and where they are heading. It’s an exciting
time to be a part of the real estate industry. .
Steinberg Architects has 130 employees in San Francisco,
San Jose and Los Angeles.
Computer-generated high-altitude image shows conceptual
Changsha on the Xiang River, a branch of the Yangtze.
The SARES•REGIS Group Regional Offices
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