Alpha Systems Lab Buys Costa Mesa Building
Expands With Demand for Surveillance Gear
By CHRIS CZIBORR
Video surveillance gear maker Alpha Systems Lab Inc. has more than doubled its space with the buy of a 35,000-square-foot building at 1690 Scenic Ave. in Costa Mesa for $3.4 million
Alpha Systems relocated to its newly acquired building from a 14,000-square-foot facility in Costa Mesa.
Company officials said they saw a 50% jump in sales last year with a surge after Sept. 11. This year, Alpha Systems said it projects a doubling of sales. The company counts annual sales of around $40 million and 50 workers, with plans to add 10 to 20 people this year.
Alpha Systems sells software and cameras that link to computers for surveillance. The company, which designs and makes its own products, has sold systems to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for use at border crossings and to the Defense Department for use at military heliports. AT & T; Wireless also is a customer, as are Latin American banks.
“I have communicated with The White House over the past few months and they expressed interest,” company President Rose Hwang said.
Heightened security concerns are fueling new interest in Alpha Systems’ products, according to the company and a real estate source familiar with the company’s move.
“We’re projecting huge growth for them,” the source said. “That company’s really on fire. It’s cheaper to install a video surveillance system than to hire 24-hour security staff.”
Alpha’s sales split equally between do-mestic and global markets. The company employs a “module” approach to assembling products so customers can tailor what they want.
Hwang, who came to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1976, started Alpha Systems with husband Mitchell Phan in 1990. The two originally ran a video store together and got the idea to start Alpha Systems after adding computers to their video store.
In the building purchase, Greg Velastegui, Jim Snyder and Pat Lacey of Lee & Associates represented Alpha Systems as well as the seller, Scenic Avenue Properties.
