Spotlight: Shopoff Realty Investments and Its Real Estate Entitlement Model
The Irvine firm buys land and underused commercial property, carries it through municipal approvals, and sells the entitled result to homebuilders.
September 11, 2026
Shopoff Realty Investments is an Irvine, California sponsor whose returns are built on land use approvals rather than rent. The firm acquires raw land, underused commercial property, and defaulted or matured loans, re-entitles the sites for a different use, and sells to builders once the approvals are in hand. William Shopoff founded the business in 1992, and the firm describes its 34-year history as including operations as Asset Recovery Fund, Eastbridge Partners, and The Shopoff Group.
How an entitlement deal works
In February 2025 Shopoff acquired 5600 Beach Blvd in Buena Park, a 13.76-acre site holding two industrial buildings of roughly 370,031 square feet, occupied by the Amway Corporation under a sale-leaseback. The firm began re-entitlement work with the city immediately, securing unanimous Planning Commission and Airport Commission approvals in May 2026 and unanimous City Council approval in July 2026 for 231 townhomes and duplex units plus 50 for-rent senior affordable units, 281 homes in total. According to the firm, Amway occupies the property through the end of 2026, at which point the national homebuilder that joint-ventured on the acquisition takes control and begins construction, with homes expected in 2029 and 2030. The in-place tenant carries the site through the approval period.
Some holds run far longer. Shopoff acquired the 25-acre Uptown Newport Village site in Newport Beach in December 2010 and completed entitlements in 2013, receiving unanimous Planning Commission and City Council approvals for 1,244 residential units, 11,500 square feet of commercial space, and two one-acre parks. Phase I produced One Uptown Newport, a 458-unit apartment community developed through a joint venture with The Picerne Group and completed in December 2019, and Parkhouse Residences, 30 condominiums across five buildings. In August 2026 Shopoff sold the last Phase I parcel, the 1.06-acre Park Palm site entitled for 23 townhomes, to Shea Homes.
What the track record counts
The firm publishes a track record as of March 31, 2026 covering senior management across its affiliated entities: 389 public and private offerings, $32.97 billion in aggregate value, 7,221 real estate transactions, 39,457 residential lots or units entitled, and 47.24 million square feet of commercial property entitled. The footnote beneath it gives the composition. Of 1,086 current and full-cycle assets, full-cycle land assets number 289, split 239 hard assets and 50 loan assets, and full-cycle commercial assets number 764, split 99 hard assets and 665 loan assets. Most of the commercial count is loan positions rather than owned buildings. Shopoff also states that performance has varied across the period and that certain offerings generated losses, detailed in its PPM track record.
Capital and distribution
Capital comes through Regulation D limited partnerships sold by Shopoff Securities, Inc., a FINRA and SIPC member. Chief operating officer Jo Merriman oversees that division, including offering materials and capital raising across broker-dealer and RIA platforms. Chief strategy officer Daniel Oschin served as president of ADISA, then REISA, in 2012 and sat on its board from 2010 through 2013.
Shopoff listed 25 current holdings as of August 12, 2026, concentrated in Southern California and extending to two Chicago office properties, an office center in Dayton, an office building in Charlotte, and land and development sites in Arizona.
The largest of them started as a fund. The Shopoff OC Development Fund closed in October 2023, fully subscribed at approximately $40 million and more than two months ahead of schedule, according to the firm, and funded entitlement work on parcels of the former Westminster Mall, including a former Sears and an operating Macy’s acquired in 2022. That project, branded Bolsa Pacific at Westminster, broke ground on April 15, 2026 across more than 83 acres, planned for 2,250 for-sale and rental homes, more than 210,000 square feet of retail, more than 120 hotel keys, and 15 acres of open space.
