Irvine real estate firm secures $60.9M loan to start work on Magnolia Coast project

Irvine-based Shoppoff Realty Investments announced this week it has secured a $60.9-million mortgage to refinance its debt and help fund the build-out of the long delayed Magnolia Coast project in Huntington Beach later this year.

The real estate firm acquired the 28.9-acre parcel, located near Magnolia Street and Banning Avenue, for $26.5 million in 2016 and has spent years securing the necessary entitlements to build 250 residential units with a hotel and retail space on the oceanfront oil-storage facility, formerly known as the Magnolia Tank Farm.

Shopoff President and Chief Executive William Shopoff in a news release issued Monday called the financing a “key step forward in bringing Magnolia Coast to life.

“With construction slated for late 2025, this project represents an important opportunity to support the local workforce while potentially contributing to the growth and vitality of Huntington Beach,” he said in the statement.

The project — granted a land use amendment from the California Coastal Commission last July and final approval from the Huntington Beach City Council in September — will comprise more than 200 single-family detached and attached homes, as well as a five-unit affordable multifamily complex and a 215-room boutique hotel with 19,000 square feet of retail space.

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Shopoff officials anticipate construction could begin in the fourth quarter of this year, thanks to a $60.9-million senior mortgage from Lionheart Real Estate Strategies II, a real estate debt fund managed by New York-based Lionheart Strategic Management, LLC.

The loan will allow the firm to refinance its existing debt, while providing the additional funding necessary for the development activity to begin.

Andy Klein, managing director and co-head of investments for Lionheart Strategic Management said in Monday’s release his firm was pleased to help Shopoff bring more housing to a “significantly undersupplied market.”

“This deal reaffirms Lionheart’s ability to close quickly on large predevelopment loan facilities alongside institutional counterparts while navigating complicated redevelopment schemes and challenging local zoning regulations,” he said.