Newport Beach Group Buys Into Bay Area Firm

A group headed by First Southwest, a Newport Beach partnership, has acquired 50% interest in a development company that owns 800 acres on four sites in San Mateo County--a 20-minute drive from downtown San Francisco.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

First Southwest bought out San Francisco-based Amfac Inc.’s interest in Visitacion Associates, a San Mateo company that owns the land, located on San Bruno Mountain. The other half of Visitacion, which was formed in 1973, is owned by Crocker Land Co..

First Southwest is a partnership of Southwest Diversified Inc. in Newport Beach and First City California II, a San Francisco subsidiary of $3.2-billion First City Financial Corp. Ltd of Vancouver, British Columbia.