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The Ratkovich Company in the News HISTORIC PURCHASE The Ratkovich Co. acquires the Orange Grove Circle complex that sits on a portion of property formerly part of the Anheuser-Busch estate Pasadena Star News – January 15, 2004 By Andrew Blazier, Staff Writer Pasadena - A 14- building apartment complex that was once a part of the Anheuser-Busch estate has sold for $20 million. The historic Orange Grove Circle complex, which occupies a portion of the Pasadena property once owned by the legendary St. Louis brewing family, was purchased by The Ratkovich Co., a Los Angeles-based real estate developer. The 64-unit, 6 acre development is the developer’s first purchase in Pasadena. “We want to do a good job here, and hopefully we’ll be welcomed elsewhere,” company President Wayne Ratkovich said. “It’s kind of hard to find any better real estate to own.” Ratkovich is only the latest in a series of developers who have invested in residential property in Pasadena. The market continues to be a magnet for more affluent professionals still in search of housing near an urban center, said Doug McEachern, who heads the Pacific Southwest real estate practice for Deloitte, an international accounting firm. “Housing in Southern California is at a premium,” McEachern said. “As the migration of people into California and birth rates continue to escalate, there is more demand for housing. There’s no place to build.” At the turn of the 20th century, the stretch of Orange Grove Boulevard was dubbed “Millionaires’ Row” after several well-known families purchased sweeping estates on the street. The Wrigleys, of Chicago Cubs baseball and chewing gum fame, and the Gambles, who formed soap and candle maker The Procter & Gamble Co. in 1837, were among many wealthy clans who built palatial vacation homes to escape chilly east Coast winters. The Mowry family, formerly of Pasadena, purchased the Orange Grove Boulevard estate in the early 1950s. The family constructed a 17-building community on a private road off of Orange Grove, a few blocks south of California Boulevard, between 1952 and 1957. It sold three of the units several years ago. The family had since moved out of the area, Ratkovich said. Under its new owner, the property will be renamed Town Homes at Orange Grove Circle. Ratkovich said the individual rents have not yet been determined. However, the complex’s Web site, www.OrangeGroveCircle.com, on Wednesday advertised a 1,800-square-foot, two-bedroom unit at a monthly rent of $3,300 and a 2,000-square-foot unit for $3,450 per month. McEachern said Ratkovich’s eventual strategy may be to sell the town homes as individual units at an increased profit. For now, though, the company says it intends to maintain ownership of the property for the foreseeable future. ‹‹ back |