Shopoff Realty Investments Sells 320 Acres of Land to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority
Chino Hills, Calif. – July 30, 2020 – Shopoff Realty Investments (“Shopoff”), a national manager of opportunistic and value-add real estate investments, announced today that the company has successfully sold 320 acres of land in Chino Hills for conservation as permanent open space. The land was originally purchased as part of a larger portfolio that has since been separated and monetized.
“This expansive stretch of land is completely undeveloped and borders Chino Hills State Park on three sides,” explained Shopoff Realty Investments president and CEO William Shopoff. “While Shopoff is usually in the business of land entitlement and development, we recognized early on that this piece of property was unique with its steep hillsides and rustic terrain, and would be best left undeveloped as open space, providing more protected land for the benefit of the public.”
Shopoff sold the property to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), who will own and manage the land. This permanent preservation was made possible by use of funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The property will now provide connectivity and habitat for wildlife and will expand the protected lands adjacent to Chino Hills State Park.
One factor that complicated this sale was that the property’s mineral rights were sold off by previous landowners in the early 1900s due to the land’s potential for oil and gas production, a common practice for many properties in this region. Without ownership of these mineral rights, the property could not be sold using state conservation funding.
Brian Rupp, Shopoff’s executive vice president of development added, “In order to make this sale possible, we had to obtain the mineral rights for the property, which were sold many decades prior. Ultimately, we were able to track down the heirs, and negotiate a purchase of the mineral rights, allowing us to complete the sale of the land to MCRA.”
Rupp continued, “This sale was only possible with great cooperation and effort from many partners, including Sauls Company, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation Board, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Hills For Everyone. We are pleased to see that this land will be permanently preserved as open space.”
About Shopoff Realty Investments
Shopoff Realty Investments is an Irvine, California-based real estate firm with a 28-year history of value-add and opportunistic investing across the United States. The company primarily focuses on proactively generating appreciation through the repositioning of commercial
income-producing properties and the entitlement of land assets. The 28-year history includes operating as Asset Recovery Fund, Eastbridge Partners and Shopoff Realty Investments (formerly known as The Shopoff Group). Performance has varied in this time frame, with certain offerings generating losses. For additional information, please visit www.shopoff.com or call (844) 4-SHOPOFF.
Disclosures
This is not an offering to buy or sell any securities. Such offer may only be made through the offerings memorandum to qualified purchasers. Any investment in Shopoff Realty Investments programs involves substantial risks and is suitable only for investors who have no need for liquidity and who can bear the loss of their entire investment. There is no assurance that any strategy will succeed to meet its investment objectives. The performance of this asset is not indicative of future results of other assets. Securities offered through Shopoff Securities, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC, 2 Park Plaza, Suite 770, Irvine, CA 92614, (844) 4-SHOPOFF.
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