By pacbiztimes Friday, October 1st, 2021

A new full-service commercial real estate firm has opened in San Luis Obispo County, specializing in real estate investment sales and leasing for clients on the Central Coast.

Archer + Co, headquartered in Los Osos, provides complimentary property valuations, wealth and asset preservation planning and investment opportunities, among other services.

Patrick Archer Wilkinson, a real estate investment advisor, started Archer + Co a few months ago. The company also includes Kyle Jones, who assists clients with real estate sales and leasing. Their expertise includes multifamily, industrial and hospitality.

“The main goal of creating Archer + Co was to create another local agency up here,” Wilkinson told the Business Times. “I’m excited to start something new and create something cool that people want to be part of.”

Archer + Co has represented the seller of an industrial building totaling 5,000 square feet in Grover Beach for $1.5 million, and represented the seller of a 13-unit apartment complex in Santa Maria for $1.875 million, according to the company’s website.

The commercial real estate firm also represented the buyer of a 16-unit apartment complex with townhouses in Grover Beach for more than $2.9 million, and represented the buyer in working with the seller to complete a lot line adjustment, then purchased a parcel for $1.445 million for an assisted living development in Arroyo Grande.

“We have been working with our clients and trying to dig up new opportunities for them,” Wilkinson said.

HOUSING HELP ON THE WAY IN SLO COUNTY

People’s Self-Help Housing is planning for new homeownership opportunities in the San Luis Obispo County communities of San Miguel and Nipomo.

The San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission approved tentative maps and conditional use permits for both projects in late July. The lot sizes in Nipomo range from 3,381 to 4,666 square feet, and from 4,464 to 8,671 square feet in San Miguel.

The San Miguel project went before the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors in late August for final approval, to remove a 60-unit limit previously imposed on the parcel and surrounding area.

People’s Self Help is working with civil engineering firms to design the grading and public improvement plans for both sites, according to Sheryl Flores, the nonprofit’s vice president of home ownership. Plans will be submitted to county staff for approval.

Once the public improvement plans are approved by San Luis Obispo County, People’s Self-Help will provide officials with bonds promising completion of the improvements, and meet the tentative map conditions of approval and record the final map, Flores told the Business Times in an email.

Meanwhile, People’s Self-Help will be soliciting bids from contractors to do the grading and install the public improvements. The site work is anticipated to take six to eight months for each project, Flores said.

“As we expect to receive many more intake forms than there are homes, we will likely have a lottery to determine the order to process the intake forms,” she said.

Families at each site work together under the supervision of People’s Self-Help construction staff to help build their own homes. Each household is required to work on their homes 40 hours per week, Flores said.

The owner/builders perform about 70% of the labor to build their homes, while contractors perform work that requires higher-level skills and equipment like plumbing, electrical, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and stucco.

“No down payment is required from the owner/builders,” Flores said. “Their ‘sweat-equity’ serves as their down payment.”

In Nipomo, the project is located at the intersection of West Branch Street and North Thompson Avenue. Plans call for subdividing an existing 1.68-acre parcel into ten lots and the construction of ten workforce housing single-family residences.

NEW HARBOR DIRECTOR IN VENTURA COUNTY

Michael Tripp, a veteran harbor official in Los Angeles County, will replace the last leader of Channel Islands Harbor, who retired in August, the county of Ventura announced Sept. 15.

He is expected to begin his role as the new director of the county-owned Channel Islands Harbor on Oct. 4. Tripp, who most recently served as planning division chief for the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors, was appointed by Ventura County Executive Officer Mike Powers following a nationwide recruitment.

In a statement released by Ventura County, Tripp said he’s “looking forward to engaging with the local community, expanding on the great work that is underway and bringing what I’ve learned to the Channel Islands Harbor.”
He will replace Mark Sandoval, who retired from his position Aug. 31 after joining the Ventura County Harbor Department in 2018.

• Brooke Holland covers commercial real estate for the Pacific Coast Business Times. She can be reached at bholland@pacbiztimes.com.