Alex Meruelo Acquires Pine Court Complex

Developer and pizza chain owner Alex Meruelo has acquired the Pine Court shopping center and apartment project in downtown Long Beach for about $24 million from Pine Square Acquisition Corp. and 245 Pacific Acquisition Corp., according to Mark Tarlov, a vice president at Meruelo’s Downey-based Merona Enterprises Inc. Pine Court, on Pine Avenue near Broadway, includes about 100,000 square feet of retail space anchored by a 16-screen AMC theater complex, plus the 142-unit Pacific Court Apartments. Meruelo is a real estate investor and owner of La Pizza Loca Inc., a Downey-based chain of 60 shops that recently relocated its headquarters to Downey from Orange County, according to Tarlov. He said Meruelo has developed about 100,000 square feet of retail space in El Monte, South Gate and Torrance, as wellas a few small apartment complexes in those areas. Meruelo’scompany and the seller were both represented by Michael Burke, Richard Rizika, Michael McKinney and Steve Hen of CB Richard Ellis.