Chevron to Sell Real Estate, Put Focus on Its Oil Interests : Assets: Two-thirds of portfolio value is in O.C. Seacliff/Seagate project in Huntington Beach will be sold.
Chevron Corp. said Friday that it will sell all its remaining California real estate holdings and refocus its business on its oil interests, a move that will result in the sale of its 450-acre Seacliff/Seagate master-planned community in Huntington Beach.
Chevron said it has begun marketing its 40,000 acres of California real estate as well as a number of office and industrial buildings, and hopes to sell them by the end of the year if it can obtain satisfactory prices.
The San Francisco-based oil giant refused to reveal the value of its real estate holdings, but said they generated $184 million in revenue last year.
Two-thirds of the company’s real estate portfolio’s value is in Orange County, where it owns about 900 acres in Huntington Beach, 2,400-acres of undeveloped land in Coto de Caza and about 1,000 undeveloped acres in Coyote Hills, which borders La Habra, Fullerton and La Mirada.
Also for sale are Torrey Pines Science Park, an 85-acre research park for the biotechnology industry in La Jolla, and the Ontario Center, former site of Southern California’s Ontario Motor Speedway and now a retail, hotel and residential development.
All of the properties are held by Chevron Land & Development Co., Huntington Beach Co., Pacific Coast Homes and affiliated companies.
“Our land and development group . . . has recorded a profit every year since its inception in the mid-1960s,” said Chuck Hartquist, Chevron Land’s president. “However, we believe this business may not fit with the long-term” company strategy.
Craig Rice, Chevron Land’s vice president, said Huntington Beach properties to be sold include the Seacliff/Seagate project, a mixed-use development of residential, industrial and retail.
Within that project is Seacliff Country Club, which has a championship golf course, and a number of housing developments currently under construction. A total of 5,000 houses are planned for construction over the next 10 to 15 years.
Chevron also plans to sell its 80% interest in Seacliff Partners, a partnership with Pacific Coast Homes and New Urban West Inc. in Santa Monica, which is building the master-planned neighborhoods in Huntington Beach.
