During his 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association, Earvin “Magic” Johnson was a frequent visitor to a storied piece of New York City real estate: Madison Square Garden. Ten years after his retirement from the NBA, Mr. Johnson has been spending more time in the city, searching for real estate investments. He and other seasoned real estate investors from the West Coast are very active in New York City.

Mr. Johnson serves as the chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Development Corporation, which he founded in 1992. In 2001, JDC partnered with Los Angles-based Canyon Capital Realty Advisors to create Canyon-Johnson Realty Advisors LLC, which manages the Canyon Johnson Urban Fund. CJUF is the country’s largest private real estate fund focusing on the development, redevelopment, or repositioning of urban real estate. The fund focuses on emerging urban real estate markets and on fostering economic opportunities for the underserved residents of the urban neighborhoods in which it invests.

Last May, a partnership of CJUF and the Dermot Company paid $71 million for the landmark 35-story Williamsburg Savings Bank Building at One Hanson Place in Downtown Brooklyn. The seller was HSBC Bank, which acquired the property when it purchased the assets of Republic National Bank of New York. The partnership is in the process of renovating the office tower into 220 residential condominiums and retail area. It is Canyon Johnson’s second investment in the borough of Brooklyn. In partnership with Anderson Associates, CJUF in November completed Park Place Condominiums at 145 Park Place in the Park Slope neighborhood. The development is an eight-story mixeduse residential building with 47 residential condominiums, 4,500 square feet of ground level retail space,and underground parking for 25 vehicles.

Johnson Development Corporation is a partner with Loews Cineplex Entertainment in Magic Johnson Theaters.The mission of the partnership is to operate first-run multiplex theaters in underserved communities. In June 2000, the nine-screen, 55,000-squarefoot Magic Johnson Theaters opened in the 275,000-square-foot Harlem USA retail center on Frederick Douglass Boulevard between West 125th and West 124th streets.

Investors in Canyon Johnson Urban Funds include the California State Teachers Retirement System, the New York City Employee Retirement Funds-New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the New York City Teachers Retirement System, the New York City Police Pension Fund, and the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund.

Last August, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors helped finance the acquisition of the El Flamingo Theater in West Chelsea at 547-549 W. 21st St.The company provided a $6.87 million bridge loan to acquire 5,000 square feet of land and about 25,000 feet of residential and commercial rights. In January 2005, Canyon provided a $5.75 million bridge loan for another West Chelsea property, with development rights at West 24th Street and Tenth Avenue, adjacent to the High Line.

One of the most active investors searching for investment opportunities in Manhattan is San Francisco-based MacFarlane Partners. It is the leading minority-owned real estate investment management firm in America,with $2.2 billion in investor equity and $6 billion in properties completed and under construction. This month, the sales office will open at a 46-story condominium residence, known as Atelier, now under construction by the Moinian Group and MacFarlane Partners at 627 W. 42nd St. The tower will have ground-floor retail and a 100-car garage. The developers purchased the project last June from J.D. Carlisle Development group and UBS Realty Investors. Last year, the developers also purchased the adjacent Verizon building and a gas station at the northwest corner of West 42nd Street and Eleventh Avenue. The joint venture plans to build two residential towers with about 320 condominiums and 350 market rate rental apartments.

In February 2003, MacFarlane Partners agreed to purchase 49% of 338,000 square feet of retail space, the office space not occupied by Time Warner, and the 504-vehicle parking garage at the Time Warner Center. In addition, it acquired a $359 million participating interest in the project’s $1.22 billion construction loan. Last March, MacFarlane Partners closed on the purchase through a joint venture with the center’s developers, the Related Companies and Apollo Real Estate Advisors. MacFarlane invested in the Time Warner Center as part of its joint venture with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to invest in urban infill properties in major metropolitan areas nationwide. CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund.

MacFarlane Partners have invested, with the Related Companies, in a 24-story, 357,000-square-foot apartment building, Tribeca Green, at site 19B, at 325 North End Ave. in Battery Park City. The 274-unit residential rental building received more than $100 million in Liberty Bonds for construction.

Construction is scheduled to begin this year on a 60-story mixed-use residential rental and condominium tower at 440 W. 42nd St. between Dyer and Tenth avenues.The project will occupy an entire city block and include two retail levels, underground parking, and about 600 rental and condominium apartments.The project is being developed by a joint venture of Twining Properties, MacFarlane Properties, and the Related Companies.

Meanwhile, a joint venture of Mac-Farlane Partners and Vornado Realty Trust and Integrated Holdings are reportedly in negotiations to purchase the parking lot, clinic, and podiatric school owned by the New York College of Podiatric Medicine at 1800 Park Ave. The college originally leased the parking lot to a developer who planned to develop a mixed-use project that included a Marriott suite hotel and retail, office, and residential components.

Construction is scheduled to begin on a 21-story, 172-unit condominium, the Charleston, at 225 E. 34th St., at the entrance of the Queens Midtown Tunnel. The developer is a joint venture of LCOR and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which purchased the property last year from Benenson Capital Partners. Last year, the joint venture of LCOR and CalSTRS purchased a parking lot from Con Edison at the intersection of West 24th Street and Sixth Avenue at 101 W. 24th St. Later this year, the developers plan to begin construction of a 37-story, 191-unit condominium tower.

Last September, CalSTRS sold the 17-story, 146,000-square-foot office building at 551 Madison Ave. at the corner of East 55th Street for about $90 million. In 2001 they paid about $50 million to Angelo Gordon. It is rumored that CalSTRS might be the pension fund partner with Korman Communities in the December 2005 purchase of the 136-room Wyndham Hotel at 42 W. 58th St. The entity paid about $90 million to Ark Investment Partners.

Last September, a joint venture of BlackRock Realty and CalPERS paid $97 million to the Rudin Organization for the 238-unit residential rental apartment building at 30 Park Ave. In November 2004, a joint venture of Hines and CalPERS sold an office building at 55 Railroad Ave. in Greenwich, Conn., for $92.1 million, the highest price ever paid on a square foot basis for a suburban office building to Willett Companies.

California pension funds and minority-owned investor management companies have been successful in reaping the rewards of investing in the greatest city in the world.

Mr. Stoler is a television broadcaster and senior vice president at First American Title Insurance Company of New York. He can be reached at mstoler@firstam.com.