The Irvine Co.’s plans for a sister tower for its 200 Spectrum office building appear to be on the fast track after a flurry of leasing activity for the developer’s speculative office tower, which is nearing completion.
A heavy amount of groundwork has been done since the start of the year on the 400 block of Spectrum Center Drive as the Newport Beach-developer preps the previous site of a parking lot for another 21-story office tower. The new building’s architecture will mirror that of the glass-sheathed 200 Spectrum office, which is scheduled to open in the spring.
Irvine Co. officials said last year that the company planned to begin work on the second Irvine Spectrum tower this year, assuming leasing activity at its first 426,000-square-foot tower was strong.
That schedule seems to be on track, with 200 Spectrum 40% preleased and what Irvine Co. says are a few more deals close to completion, which could push preleasing close to 60%.
Mazda North America Operations is the largest tenant announced so far. The automaker is leasing 102,000 square feet on five floors for its North American headquarters.
WeWork, a New York-based provider of office space to entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses, is taking 44,000 square feet for its first Orange County location.
Huntsville, Ala.-based gaming company Curse Inc. is leasing 22,000 square feet at the tower, which will become its new West Coast base. It said it will relocate employees from San Francisco and Alabama to Irvine.
Upward Pricing
An $87.5 million Huntington Beach apartment sale I reported on this month has an even bigger per-unit price than first indicated.
Artisan, a rental complex near the Bella Terra shopping center, was bought last month by Beverly Hills-based Domino Realty Management Co. in a deal brokered by Shane Shafer and Peter Hauser with the Irvine office of Berkadia.
Allan Freedman of Berkadia’s Los Angeles office assisted in the deal with assumable financing.
The seller was Kennedy Wilson, also of Beverly Hills. It had owned the complex since 2012.
Artisan has 275 units, so the property traded hands for $318,181 per unit, a few thousand dollars higher than initially reported.
A couple of units were removed by the sellers during a recent renovation to make way for a rental office and gym, according to Hauser.
It’s the largest stand-alone apartment sale in Huntington Beach in several years on a per-unit basis, according to brokerage data.
Hotel Bound
Plans call for a former industrial building near John Wayne Airport in Irvine to be razed to make way for a hotel targeting business travelers.
Rockville, Md.-based hotel operator Choice Hotels International Inc. said this month that it signed an agreement with local franchise partner Jalili/Spitzig LLC to build a 122-room Cambria hotel and suites at 17662 Armstrong Ave.
The property, just off MacArthur Boulevard, now holds a vacant 29,000-square foot industrial property. It was considered for an extended-stay hotel a few years ago operating under the Elements name. The Westin-branded project, which would have been five stories and about 77,000 square feet, never happened.
Details on the size of the latest Cambria hotel plan haven’t been disclosed, but the project appears likely to be similar in size to what was planned for the Elements hotel.
The Cambria hotel and suites is expected to open in early 2017, according to Choice Hotels. It’s one of 30 Cambrias under development in the U.S. and Canada, a pipeline that would more than double its portfolio if completed.
Cambria’s Southern California development pipeline also includes a site in El Segundo scheduled to open this year.
The ownership group heading the Irvine project includes Monir and Houshang Jalili, who property records show having owned the Armstrong Avenue site for nearly 20 years.
Also part of the ownership group is Jim Spitzig of Level 3 Development, a Los Angeles-based hotel developer affiliated with a hospitality-focused design group.
The Irvine hotel will have 600 square feet of meeting space and an indoor swimming pool and fitness center, among other amenities, according to Choice Hotels, which has a $2.4 billion market value.
