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Costa Mesa-based Essex Realty Management Inc. recently gained the management assignment for The Waters at Creekside, a 156,854-square-foot, nine building, garden-- style office complex in Costa Mesa.
Fairly small potatoes in the grand scheme of Orange County real estate, it's the type of incremental deal that has propelled Essex to 50% annual growth in the past five years, while the industry average hovered around 6%. Since 1995, the company has grown its third-party management line of business from 1 million to more than 6 million square feet. The company's goal, according to company president Jim Neiger, is to maintain a 35% growth rate over the next five years and reach 20 million square feet under management.
However, without consolidating its portfolio with another property manager, those lofty numbers may be unreachable for Essex if the market slowdown occurs as predicted.
"That has about the probability as taking a trip to Mars," said Walter Hahn, a real estate consultant with E&Y Kenneth Leventhal. "It's a competitive market out there and, in regards to new business and new buildings who would be looking for new property managers, it's going to be slow for the next few years."
Though the proposed numbers may be tough to reach, the Waters at Creekside office complex fits the Essex niche, which Neiger describes as "product in the A-minus to B range, from 50,000 to 300,000...