Argyros family firm sells Santa Ana site for $51M

Ledcor’s Dave Lede and Arnel & Affiliates’ George Argyros with 1801 East Fourth Street

The firm is moving on after 16 years of ownership.

Arnel & Affiliates has notched the top multifamily land sale across Orange County so far this year.

The firm, founded by George Argyros and his family in the 1960s, has sold a fully entitled 8.5-acre development site at 1801 East Fourth Street Santa Ana for $51 million, according to the Orange County Business Journal.

Ledcor Group, a construction firm based in San Diego, bought the land.

Arnel has owned the property for at least 16 years. In 2006, the firm looked to redevelop the site into 600 units through a partnership with Shea Homes, but the plans ultimately fell through during the 2008 financial crisis.

In 2020, Arnel hired Waterford Property Company to help entitle the site for redevelopment, Waterford co-founder Sean Rawson told the outlet. The site marked Waterford’s largest entitlement project across Orange County to date, he added.

Arnel scored approvals to redevelop the land into a 644-unit rental complex in 2021. Waterford estimated a $225 million cost to complete the property, according to the plans disclosed to the Santa Ana Planning Commission.

The project is now estimated to cost around $315 million, sources familiar with the deal told the Business Journal.

Ledcor is planning to start construction on the project — its first in Orange County — in mid-2023. Earlier this year, the firm finished a 35-story apartment building in Long Beach — the tallest in the city.

— Isabella Farr