A commercial strip center at 2515 East Coast Highway in Corona del Mar has sold for $13.7 million, roughly $700,000 more than its initial asking price, after drawing more than 10 offers in a bidding war largely fought between private investors. The buyer, local investor Phil Berry, acquired the property through his LLC, Shops at CDM, picking up a building that had stayed in one family's hands for more than eight decades.
The seller, Poole Properties, had owned the complex for more than 80 years, according to The Real Deal. The company traces back to its original incorporation as John Poole Radio Properties, Inc., with the Poole family maintaining continuous ownership of the Pacific Coast Highway parcel since the 1940s, according to Shopping Center Business. Berry already holds adjacent real estate in Corona del Mar, positioning him to consolidate nearby holdings as he takes over the property, per openPR.com.
The center itself spans roughly 14,000 square feet and is home to a small but locally rooted tenant mix: a restaurant, a salon, a tailor and an antique store. The tenants include Avila's El Ranchito Restaurant, Images Salon, Corona Del Mar Tailoring and D&G Antiques and Restorations, the same account notes. The property sits in Corona del Mar's village commercial district along Pacific Coast Highway, adjacent to local landmarks including The Bungalow restaurant.
A Premium Price for a Prime Coastal Corridor
The $13.7 million sale price works out to roughly $985 per square foot, far outpacing the broader Orange County average retail sale price of $572 per square foot recorded in the second quarter of 2026. That countywide figure itself marked a jump from $434 per square foot, with average sales prices rising 32 percent year over year in the second quarter, per a Kidder Mathews Q2 report. Retail vacancy across Orange County ticked up slightly too, from 3.6 percent to 3.8 percent in the same quarter, even as average asking rents climbed to $2.72 per square foot per month from $2.68 the year before, according to the same report.
Broker Nathan Holthouser of Coastal Commercial represented seller Poole Properties, while broker Ron Duong of Marcus & Millichap represented buyer Shops at CDM. The two facilitators oversaw multiple rounds of bidding largely between private investors before the deal closed. Holthouser is affiliated with Coastal Commercial, while Duong works for Marcus & Millichap.
Part of a Broader Rush Into Orange County Retail
The Corona del Mar deal landed amid a surge in retail investment across the region. Orange County generated $976 million in total retail investment sales during the first half of 2026, per a NAI Capital report, with strong investor demand specifically targeting smaller, high-quality coastal properties. Southern California as a whole saw retail investment reach more than $3.5 billion across Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties and the Inland Empire during the same six-month stretch, even as total square footage sold declined, reflecting capital concentrating into fewer, pricier deals rather than spreading across more transactions.
Other Orange County retail deals this year underscore that momentum. Gee Automotive Companies acquired three properties from Tuttle Click Automotive Group in Irvine and Tustin in April, paying $30.1 million for 40 Auto Center Drive, $49.9 million for 43 Auto Center Drive, and $26.8 million for the Tustin Auto Center — together marking the priciest retail sale in Orange County during the second quarter. In Anaheim, Chicago-based Northpond Partners purchased the fully leased, 23,626-square-foot Link OC retail center for $16.5 million in August, paying roughly $698 per square foot, according to The Registry.
Taken together, the deals point to a retail sector that analysts describe as recovering from post-pandemic doldrums, with Orange County's mix of low vacancy, rising rents and limited coastal inventory continuing to draw investors seeking opportunities in the market. For a property that spent 80 years in one family's hands, the sale marks a shift toward active, locally based ownership along one of Corona del Mar's busiest commercial stretches.
