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from OCBJ.com - Orange County Business Journal
OC Insider, January 25, 2010
Fair Play: Manley Sees Another Gem; Nancy ‘29’ Wilhelm
Investor, coin dealer and sports agent Dwight Manley has a knack for finding hidden treasure, whether it’s gold coins from a 19th century shipwreck or the untapped marketability of bad-boy hoopster Dennis Rodman. The multifaceted Shady Canyon resident sees another diamond-in-the-rough in the OC Fair & Event Center. With outlet developer Steven Craig (Craig Realty Group, Newport Beach), he’s made the high bid of $56.5 million for the Costa Mesa site, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to sell but local officials want to keep publicly owned. “There’s a lot of innuendo and nonsense floating around,” Manley says, suggesting the fair is safe. “We are not buying it as a ‘land play,’ but rather as a going concern that has a lot of different factions running it. We think we are perfectly suited to make it better and at the same time improve its bottom line.” Manley acknowledges the bottom line has to be improved considerably to justify his bid—“At 50-plus-times current earnings, we paid too much!” But no details on how he intends to make it better until the deal closes: “I don’t play poker with my cards face up” …
To news that OC’s median home price rose 9.6% last year (to $435,000), add this from the highest end of the market: Sanford Edward says he’s closing the sale of a front-row lot at his Strand at Headlands in Dana Point for $12 million, breaking by $3 million his prior high sale in mid-2007 and imputing a value of almost $57 million an acre. (Edward says a $12.5 million front-row sale announced in September 2008 was canceled when that buyer switched to a cheaper but larger inland lot.) The new buyer is the third Houston oilman at the Strand, Edward says: “Our sale pace has slowed … but our lot values continue to rise” …
Last week’s game-changing U.S. Supreme Court decision that lifted McCain-Feingold limits on campaign spending is a big win for OC’s conservative Lincoln Club. The club co-produced and largely financed ($100,000 of $250,000) “Hillary: The Movie,” a hit piece that was at the center of the court dispute …
David who? Well-known restaurateur David Wilhelm is the creative force behind a slew of OC eateries, including Chimayo, Savannah Chop House, French 75 and the Oasis Grill & Sky Lounge at John Wayne Airport. But the only Wilhelm to score a 29 in the popular Zagat guide is his ex-wife Nancy, whose Tabu Grill in Laguna Beach (Chef Kevin Jerrold-Jones) is the highest-rated SoCal restaurant for the second straight year. The Wilhelm comparison evokes a smile from Nancy, who says relations with her ex are “good.” David, now managing partner of Sorrento Grille in Laguna, says he’s “pleased” for Nancy and says the rating “is a statement about the rising level” of Laguna restaurants. He adds with a chuckle, “I guess she learned a little something from the time we worked together.”
Rick Reiff
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