According to the San Clemente Times, NY Firm D.E. Shaw has bid $195 million to buyout some of SunCal Properties, including Marblehead Coastal, after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.  Marblehead Coastal real estate will be one of the last new developments along the Orange County coastline and encompasses 247 acres on the western side of Interstate 5 between Avenida Vista Hermosa and Avenida Pico.  The hearing regarding this bid is expected to occur in October.  Hopefully this will bring back life to this fanastic development to come offering custom lots with ocean views, villa style homes, and new upscale dining and shopping.

For more information about Marblehead Coastal, please visit our page exclusively dedicated to this new development or give your exclusive San Clemente realtors a call at (949) 281-5444

Coming as no surprise following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, SunCal’s biggest backer of the Marblehead Coastal real estate development, SunCal has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this past Thursday on this community according to the Los Angeles Times.  This 313 home planned coastal community in San Clemente represents just one of 23 SunCal housing projects in various stages of Chapter 11 due to the collapse of Lehman Brothers.  SunCal will need to make quick decisions on which communities to sell off and liquidate and which ones to keep in order to ride out the real estate storm.  SunCal, nevertheless, has indicated it has no plans to sell off Marblehead Coastal.  

SunCal  has indicated that it has “alternative sources” of financing to maintain the wetlands at Marblehead Coastal, some of the 125 acre open space to remain on this piece of land.  Hopefully the other communities that SunCal sells off will help to raise the capital to build this highly anticipated community once the real estate market settles and supports this type of development.  In the meantime, this 243 acre development sitting on an ocean front plateau will continue to be delayed and remain vacant.  Hopefully some good news will arise from this soon. (Marblehead Coastal is the yellow box at the bottom of the picture)

For more information on Marblehead Coastal real estate or to request updates from our team as they arise, please contact us. 

In the latest unnerving chapter of the Marblehead Coastal saga, the San Clemente City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to call in performance bonds against SunCal Marblehead LLC to complete infrastructure projects in the development.  According to the Orange County Register’s article on this matter, the City Council authorized city attorneys to file suit against SunCal claiming that they are in default of a 2005 development agreement; if there is no response by SunCal, the City Council will then call millions of dollars in performance bonds to complete projects such as finishing Avenida Vista Hermosa west of Interstate 5 and the widenings of Avenida Pico and El Camino Real near the development.  The City views these improvements as vital public safety issues and can no longer wait for SunCal to work out its financial troubles with bankrupt Lehman Brothers, SunCal’s financial backer in the Marblehead Coastal project.

Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and other financial giants, money is tight right now and real estate development has slowed dramatically due to lack of funding available for these projects.  It is likely to be a few years before we see home and commercial construction on the site of Marblehead Coastal, so the City Council’s vote seeks to remedy the safety issues caused by unfinished roads.  The widenings of Avenida Pico and El Camino Real is of great concern, and rightly so; the sudden narrowing of major San Clemente streets is dangerous and causes unnecessary traffic.  This move by the city forces SunCal to finish these infrastructure improvements in a timely fashion, something they have been unwilling to do since the 2005 development agreement was signed. 

It is frustrating to see such a wonderful coastal development like the planned Marblehead Coastal community fall by the wayside, both from a real estate and economic standpoint.  The commercial and entertainment portions of the planned development would be a nice boost for San Clemente from a financial and social perspective, adding to an already wonderful coastal town.  On top of that, a prime piece of coastal real estate is sitting untouched, which is frustrating to a real estate professional like myself as I’m very excited to see more examples of why San Clemente real estate is some of the best California has to offer.  While it will take time for the vision of Marblehead Coastal to come to fruition, at least the city is taking the right steps to ensure that SunCal improves public works projects instead of making San Clemente residents deal with SunCal’s lack of progress on these fronts.

For more information on Marblehead Coastal and San Clemente real estate, please contact us.

The bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers on Sunday (view article here), while striking a huge blow to the nation’s financial industry, had a very profound effect on San Clemente as well.  SunCal’s major financial backer with regards to the Marblehead Coastal development is Lehman Brothers, leaving many questions to be answered on how SunCal plans to complete the residential and commercial development.  According to an article in Monday’s Orange County Register, the San Clemente City Council hopes that answers will come soon from SunCal, as the city has a lot invested in the coastal development.  As of Monday, SunCal continued infrastructure work along Avenida Pico and had not yet responded to San Clemente City Manager George Scarborough.

This is the latest in a series of setbacks for SunCal and the Marblehead Coastal development.  In July of this year, SunCal halted sales at the development and closed the sales center.  As we showed in a previous entry, it seemed that SunCal was getting back on track with a new round of funding that allowed them to continue work on the development’s infrastructure.  Now that Lehman Brothers has gone belly-up, who know what the future holds for this prime piece of coastal real estate?  There is no doubt in my mind that the development will come to fruition, it will just take longer than originally planned, and whether or not SunCal will be involved remains to be seen.

San Clemente Coastal Living will continue to provide updates on Marblehead Coastal stories as they develop.  For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Marblehead Coastal property, one of the last oceanfront communities to be developed in Orange County, is beginning to pick up steam.  According to the Orange County Register’s article “Marblehead Coastal project showing signs of life,” Marblehead Coastal master developer SunCal has obtained the required financing from its lender to continue work on the development’s infrastructure.  This includes pouring the concrete for the deck of the Avenida Vista Hermosa bridge; building curbs and installing utility lines on Avenida Pico; and preparing to grade one of the commercial sites in the next few weeks.

Marblehead Coastal promises to be a spectacular development, both from a residential and infrastructure perspective, making the news of continued progress in the preliminary stages very encouraging.  The homes themselves, built in the classic European villa style, promise to be some of the most beautiful and unique pieces of real estate in San Clemente.  The commercial side of the development will include a large outlet center with retail shops, restaurants and a new movie theater, along with a hotel and business centers.  Infrastructure is crucial in small beach communities like San Clemente; it adds value to the real estate while creating a variety of new amenities for San Clemente residents and guests.  As Marblehead Coastal will also offer trails, parks, large open spaces and gorgeous ocean views, the development will offer something for everybody.  Clearly, San Clemente continues to distinguish itself as the premier coastal community in Orange County!