Developer Plans Single-Family Farmhouse Community

Newport Beach-based Planet Home Living plans to break ground early next year on a 15-single-family home community in Chatsworth after it scooped up nearly nine acres of vacant land near Stoney Point. The Orange County builder purchased the land from Calabasas-based Colmer Development for $1.65 million, Planet Home CEO Michael Marini said. Plans call for farmhouse-style homes in a rural setting, although the community at 10867 Topanga Canyon Blvd. is still in the design stages, Marini said. The new community — known as Stoney Point Estates after the rocky outcroppings near the Ronald Reagan Freeway — will consist of two-story homes on lots ranging from 20,000 square feet to 26,000 square feet. “Compelling locations are what drives us,” said Marini, who grew up in Agoura Hills. “We happened to really like the rural setting against the mountains.” The homes — from 3,500 square feet to 4,000 square feet — will have open floor plans and a master bedroom on both the first and second floors. Prices will start in the mid-$700,000s, Marini said. The new project marks Planet Home’s first entry into the San Fernando Valley. The company recently broke ground on a new single-family home community in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. Colmer Development had owned the property since 2004, but decided to sell after it failed to get construction financing, President Wayne Colmer said. “For smaller-sized homebuilders, construction financing is difficult, if not impossible, to get,” Colmer said. Despite a still depressed housing market, Marini said he anticipates plenty of demand for the company’s new product, due to what he said was a lack of new homes on large flat lots in the Valley. “The Valley, we think, has a lot of pent up demand,” he said. “This would satisfy a huge void.” Marini said the homes are planned to be ready for sale during the summer of 2013. Presto Pasta To Open In Granada Hills Family-owned Presto Pasta Inc. has signed a 10-year lease for a retail property at the Granada Village shopping center, a brokerage involved with the deal said. The Italian restaurant will occupy a 2,243-square-foot retail space at 17923 Chatsworth St. in Granada Hills, NAI Capital Inc. said. Senior Associate Steve Watson of NAI Capital represented Presto Pasta in its lease of space at Granada Village, owned by Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers. Presto Pasta owners Jeff Schuberg and Ken Schuberg hope to open their Granada Hills location during the fourth quarter, Watson said. The restaurant is taking about half of the retail space formerly occupied by Du-par’s Restaurant & Bakery, he said. “They will have an outside patio there,” Watson said. “It will be a nice location for them.” The Granada Hills eatery will be the first Presto Pasta location in the San Fernando Valley, Watson said. The brothers plan to open more restaurants in the San Fernando Valley next year, he said, although he declined to be more specific. Existing locations include Camarillo, Newbury Park, Santa Barbara and Ventura. However, the Santa Barbara Presto Pasta location has a different owner, Watson said. The 10-year lease at Granada Village was valued at $752,012, NAI Capital said. Lancaster Retail Buildings Sold Three buildings at East Lancaster Plaza shopping center have sold for more than $6.4 million, brokers said. The buildings — totaling 53,822 square feet — were sold to a private partnership through Auction.com, said Senior Vice President Fariba Kavian of NAI Capital Inc. Kavian represented LNR Partners LLC, which was the special servicer for the lender-owned properties, while investment broker Jimmy Zeidan represented the buyer. The three buildings are more than 82 percent occupied and tenants include 99 Cents Only Stores, Allstate Insurance and Subway, Kavian said. East Lancaster Plaza, located at the corner of E Avenue J and 10th Street E, also is home to Superior Grocers and U.S. Bank, although those properties were not part of the sale, Kavian said.