Auto Aftermarket Firm AMP Moving to Irvine; MBK Buys Lots
COMMERCIAL
In this week’s Commercial Real Estate Update that begins on page 19, we talk with industry leaders to take the pulse of the Orange County real estate market. Though most remain bullish, they’re also wary of a slowdown in the national economy and the ongoing energy crunch locally. So their optimism comes with a caveat: be cautious.
Caution, then, or rather, efficiency was in mind with the design of a new workspace for Compaq Computer Corp.
Therese Zehnder, an associate with HOK’s Irvine office, helped design the offices for Compaq’s El Segundo Operations Center. Zehnder and her associates incorporated efficient design schemes, allowing Compaq to consolidate two of its facilities while cutting its previous 25,000 square feet nearly in half.
The new 13,630-square-foot office area caters to a mobile workforce. It houses 30 on-site employees and 60 virtual employees and has the capabilities to provide space for 200 mobile workers.
With its wireless technology, Internet cafe and sleek, cool-blue interior, the Compaq center seems primed for the 21st century. So much so that, when a media member sloshed cappuccino on the new carpet during an early February press conference, I fully expected a trap door to open and robots to roll out and clean up the spill. No suck luck.
HOK is working on the design of a second Compaq operations center in Northern California. No word on the possibilities of robotic domestic help.
AMP Research Finds New Digs
“Irvine has become a hot bed for the auto industry,” said Bill Halford, president of The Irvine Company’s office properties unit. Already home to office sites for Lincoln-Mercury, Kia Motors of America, Inc., American Isuzu Motors, Inc., Mazda Motors of America, Inc., Lexus, Toyota Motor Sales USA and the future headquarters of Ford Motors Premier Automotive Group, Irvine adds another car company to its automobile portfolio with the news that AMP Research is moving to town.
A designer of truck and automobile accessories for the automotive aftermarket, AMP Research has agreed to lease a 35,988-square-foot facility, which will house the company’s headquarters as well as additional corporate offices and space for product design, assembly lines and a warehouse. AMP will move into the building in March.
Originally a company tied to the motorcycle and mountain bike industries, AMP has gained ground with the automobiles with aftermarket products like The Bed X-Tender, Foldable Trunk and Aluminum Fuel Doors.
“The new, larger Irvine facility can better accommodate our increase in personnel and production volume,” said Jay Smith, Chief Operating Officer of AMP.
Real Estate Online
As Internet companies tighten their belts or ready their parachutes, Peracon Inc. is gearing up to enter the commercial real estate market as an Internet-only player. New York-based Peracon wants to become the first “Internet-based commercial real estate platform to provide buyers, seller and their agents with full-service, end-to-end transaction capabilities.”
In partnership with brokerage firms such as CB Richard Ellis and Insignia/ESG, Peracon has made available six properties through its site, www.peracon.com. Prospective customers undergo a registration and pre-qualifying process on the six properties that range in price from $15 million to $30 million.
One of the initial properties offered is Peninsula Marketplace, a new 95,376-square-foot Huntington Beach shopping center anchored by a Ralphs and a Longs Drug. Other properties are in Washington, D.C., New York, Palm Beach, Fla. and Portland, Ore.
“Standardizing the entire process provides for greater transparency and improved liquidity and reduces the transaction uncertainty for both buyers and sellers,” said William M. Kahane, Peracon’s chief executive.
Deals
Mark Larson and Gary Stache of CB Richard Ellis Private Client Investment Group have been busy, figuring in a number of deals. They recently closed deals in Newport Beach, Lake Forest and Mission Viejo.
In Lake Forest, Zeno Table Co. paid $12,910,00 to Makena Properties for 109,144 square feet of industrial property. Larson and Stache represented both buyer and seller in the deal.
In Newport Beach, JFAM Corp. purchased a 24,053-square-foot medical building for $5 million. JFAM acquired the property from HRPT, a trust out of Boston. Larson and Stache represented the seller; Rick Duggan of Duggan & Associates represented the buyer.
In the last deal, Mosesian Land Co. paid $2.5 million for a 9,967-square-foot shopping center in Mission Viejo anchored by Hollywood Video. Larson and Stache represented both Mosesian and the seller, Standard Insurance Co.
RESIDENTIAL
MBK Homes Ltd. acquired two properties in Southern California, with plans to develop 156 homes. O’Donnell/Atkins handled the deal.
MBK purchased an infill site in Brea and plans to build 83 townhomes on the parcel. The residences will range from 1,330 square feet to 1,550 square feet, with prices beginning in the low $200,000s.
